Its modern sense of "agent appointed by a sovereign state to reside in a foreign place to protect the interests of its citizens and commerce there" began with use of the word as appellation of a representative chosen by a community of MERCHANTS living in a foreign country... https://www.etymonline.com/word/consul
Its modern sense of "agent appointed by a sovereign state to reside in a foreign place to protect the interests of its citizens and commerce there" began with use of the word as appellation of a representative chosen by a community of MERCHANTS living in a foreign country... https://www.etymonline.com/word/consul