France, under Henry III, established a Consul in Fes, Morocco, as early as 1577, in the person of Guillaume Bérard, and was the first European country to do so.[7][8] Under Henry, France named the first Consul of France in Morocco in the person of Guillaume Bérard. Bérard, a doctor by profession, had saved the life of the Moroccan prince Abd al-Malik, during an epidemic in Istanbul; when he came to the Moroccan throne, bd al-Malik wished to retain Bérard in his service.[9]