The French consulate founded in Gdańsk in 1610 was probably the fi rst consulate in the Polish- -Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was established by the King of France, Henri IV. The State Archive in Gdańsk holds a document dated on 23 April 1610 nominating Jean de La Blanque to the post of the French consul in Gdańsk. This was part of a wider diplomatic plan by the French monarch to set up a French alliance with Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.