# French Lodge at Savi (1671)

URL: https://allhistories.com/benin/timeline/1671-french-lodge-at-savi
Location: Savi, Atlantique, Benin
Themes: main-event

Following the Allada embassy to Louis XIV, the French sought a foothold on the Slave Coast. Rather than staying under the control of the Allada court, they turned to the Hueda kingdom, whose king was eager to attract European commerce. In 1671 the French West India Company opened a lodge at Savi, the Hueda capital, beside the royal palace. Over the following decades the French presence moved partly to Glexwe (Ouidah), where a fortified compound later known as Fort Saint-Louis de Grégoy was built; it remained a French establishment into the nineteenth century. The French post bought captives mainly for Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint-Domingue. The Hueda kings carefully controlled the foreign traders, keeping their warehouses near the palace, collecting customs, and requiring all trade to pass through royal officials and brokers. The French lodge was soon joined by English, Dutch, Brandenburg and Portuguese establishments, turning Savi and Ouidah into a cosmopolitan trading centre. French involvement in the region, begun in 1671, would continue through the slave and palm-oil trades until the colonial conquest of Dahomey in the 1890s. At this point in the timeline (1671), the King of Dahomey (Ahosu) was Houegbadja (1645–1685); the King of Whydah (Hueda) was Ayohuan (c. 1669–c. 1690); the King of Allada (Ardra) was Tezifon (c. 1660 – ?).

## Why it matters
The French post at Savi began nearly two centuries of French commercial presence leading eventually to colonisation.

Ruler at the Time: [Houegbadja](https://allhistories.com/benin/rulers/houegbadja)

King of Whydah (Hueda): Ayohuan
King of Allada (Ardra): Tezifon

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — French West India Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_West_India_Company)
- [Wikipedia — History of Benin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Benin)
- [Wikipedia — Ouidah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouidah)
- [French Wikipedia — Ouidah](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouidah)
- [Wikipedia — Allada, Hueda and The Rise Of Dahomey (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Dahomey)