Wilmont Kreis

Guillaume Guillemot: Born to privilege as a seigneur in Brittany, he rose to great prestige in France. He was proposed to the King to be Governor of New France, and traveled to the colony in October of 1651 along with another French Aristocrat, Jean de Lauson. Arriving in Quebec, he was disappointed when the Compagnie des Cent-Associes named Lauson as Governor of Canada and Guillemot as Governor of Trois-Rivieres. He traveled inward to the Trois-Rivieres where he met Pierre Boucher. The town at that time was the outpost against severe Iroquois attacks, and Guillemot planned to make this his claim to fame and greater office. To be continued next week. Read More 

A Merry Quebec Christmas to all my readers.

Jesuits and Sulpicians: For residents of the United States, much of early French-Canadian religious history is confusing. Although there were missionaries in the early English Colonies most were Protestant and they did not hold the same prominence and clout as their French-Canadian counterparts. Uniquely Catholic, in the early days almost all in New France were Jesuits who preferred hard work to leisure. Although they provided priestly duties to the colonists, their primary goal was salvation of the natives and they seemed to be happiest when suffering in the wilderness. They held this role exclusively until the late arrival of a more gentlemanly sect from Montreal: The Sulpicians. More on them next week. Read More 

Calvados is a region in north-western France. It is also the name of a famous (at least in France) Brandy distilled from hard apple cider from apples of the same name. It can be purchased in American liquor stores (you may have to search). It is expensive and has, should I say, an acquired taste—fun to watch your friends faces when they take their first sip (it’s alcohol content is also quite high). In addition to the liqueur, and the apples, many French-Canadians came from the Calvados region, so the correlation was simple and fun, although I may have exaggerated its popularity in French Canada. Read More 

Jesuits and Sulpicians: Sorry for the lapse in the blog. The computer is a wonderful yet terrible thing. But enough of that and back to The Beaver Wars. The Jesuit order of monks came very early to Canada to teach and possibly convert the natives. They were a hard working order who preferred working in the wilds of the back-country. The Sulpicians on the other hand came late, with the beginning of Montreal. They tended to be more of the aristocratic stripe and worked with the French Canadians in the towns (particularly Montreal). For various reasons including their espoused missions, the groups did not get on well and sided with one side of Canadian Society or another. At least this is my read on it, with apologies to the Vatican. Read More