While collecting data for my travel report about Morocco, I found several books, including the Rough guide to Morocco, mentioning the fact, that walls of Essaouira were constructed by the captive French architect Theodore Cornut. However, none of the articles gave any details regarding how and where he got captured, for how long stayed captive, what was his deal with the sultan for constructing the walls, etc.
I started searching the web, but found only two articles giving alittle more details than just the word "captive" :-)
One (http://www.moroccotravelandtours.com/teaandtheatlanticbyAnouarMajid.htm) says that the architect was "captured during a failed assault on Larache", and another (http://uk.travel.yahoo.com/020816/8/18fwu.html) states that he was never captured at all, but simply hired by the sultan for a good pay, all story about captivity being a romantic legend.
I would highly appreciate if you could guide me to some sources of information on this subject. If the story is, indeed, a legend, there must be some reason for such a legend to appear…

Essaouira was built by Christian prisoners of the Alawi Sultan Sidi Mohammed in 1760 and designed by the French Architect,Théodore Nicolas Cornut... It was designated Morocco’s main harbour in 1765, which attracted numerous Jewish merchants to the city, giving it it’s colloquial name of today, ‘Mellah’.
It had been employed by Louis XV to the erection of fortifications in the region of the Roussillon. It has perhaps worked as architect -urbanist to Balearic islands, and in any case to Gibraltar where, it was found when the Sultan Sidi Mohamed has made call in its services.

The plan Cornut for the construction of
Essaouira, is found in Paris, to the national library. Cornut has drawn it, or reproduces, 25 October 1767 to Sète, after having definitively left Essaouira where it would have worked during three years,After the construction, the Sultan confided the city to competent soldiers and to merchants whose ten Jews appointed by special Dahir, so as to represent the trade of the Makhzen with the foreigner. They made stump, joints by emigrants of the Souss, Haha of the Gharb etc... Attracted by appropriateness's of work of the new port.

Merchants of the ++Makhzen(king's soldiers) were to the number of thirteen whose as previously signaled, ten Jews and three Moslems.

Hi Hoke,

i would like to help you know some points about the walls of Essaouira, firstly i'm a moroccan young boy aged 25,my name is Saïd,i work as a guide touristic in the desert of morocco(Zagora) and other places of course,i read your post and i've collected some important ideas to let you know the truth about Théodore Nicolas Cornut:


Essaouira was built by Christian prisoners of the Alawi Sultan Sidi Mohammed in 1760 and designed by the French Architect,Théodore Nicolas Cornut... It was designated Morocco’s main harbour in 1765, which attracted numerous Jewish merchants to the city, giving it it’s colloquial name of today, ‘Mellah’.
It had been employed by Louis XV to the erection of fortifications in the region of the Roussillon. It has perhaps worked as architect -urbanist to Balearic islands, and in any case to Gibraltar where, it was found when the Sultan Sidi Mohamed has made call in its services.

The plan Cornut for the construction of
Essaouira, is found in Paris, to the national library. Cornut has drawn it, or reproduces, 25 October 1767 to Sète, after having definitively left Essaouira where it would have worked during three years,After the construction, the Sultan confided the city to competent soldiers and to merchants whose ten Jews appointed by special Dahir, so as to represent the trade of the Makhzen with the foreigner. They made stump, joints by emigrants of the Souss, Haha of the Gharb etc... Attracted by appropriateness's of work of the new port.

Merchants of the ++Makhzen(king's soldiers) were to the number of thirteen whose as previously signaled, ten Jews and three Moslems.