Some excellent historians have studied how New France was managed by Count de Frontenac, who was an Administrator in the Talon regime.  This greatly explored domain has, unfortunately, very few secrets to reveal.  Also, it is not in this area that I wished to carry out my investigations.  I dedicated my research to retrace the Canadians in the period which we called at home, the French Domination.   The documents that I consulted provided me with essential facts.  These archival documents provided me with not only concrete historical material; they especially provided me with  the reactions of Canadians and the reason for their conduct at certain periods in the history.

The actual historical teachings in France and in England were first and foremost “a science of mankind”.  I undertook the objective to capsulate the Canadian man during certain important phases in his past.  The characteristics of his history seemed to me to be: the first attempts at settling in the XVI th century, the foundation of towns in the XVII th century, the population’s origin, the activity and influence of the class of peddlers and merchants, the management of the colony by the Marine Ministry, the struggle against the Indians and the English, the voyages and conquests of the Canadians and finally, the courage and heroism by the French of Canada in Acadia, in Louisbourg and to the final hours of the battle of Québec on the 13th of September 1759.

The small Canadian nation of yesteryear, astonishingly coherent and organized, was not uniquely one made up of lumberjacks and labourers, which has been too often presented as a sentimental image.  It was, in effect, many other things because it formed a complete society and created an original civilization.

R.R.
 

Canada was the country of adventures for three centuries.  Rich gentlemen, the youngest of families, soldiers from Marine Companies, officers from the Carignan Regiment, those are the ancestors of today’s French Canadians.  These men have created a colony and given birth to a nation.  But they were not thinking of this at that time.  They had come to America seeking freedom, hunting, voyages and fortune.  What they especially encountered was an adventurous life.

The nobility, particularly the provincial nobility was greatly impoverished in France in the XVI th century; it became miserable in the XVII th century and in the XVIII th, it was destitute.  An economical cause was the reason for this lamentable state.  The seigniorial revenues had remained unchanged.  While the peasantry was getting richer, their Lords were succumbing to misery. The squires were starving in their manors while the farmers packed their stables. 
 

 The gentlemen soon had only one recourse:  to till their own lands themselves.  Many took on this task because working the land was not considered demeaning.

But others, many others who had no desire for a peasant life style, sold lands and manors and joined the service; that is to say, they became soldiers.  The regiments in the era of the last Valois(s) and the early Bourbon(s) were replete with gentlemen carrying a musket.  The Duke of Epernon, the Marshal of Guébriant, the Marquis of Bréauté, all began their brilliant careers as simple private soldiers.

Many of the ruined nobles and many of the younger family members were attracted to Canada.  The King gave vast lands to those who wished to establish themselves there.  A poor family in France could become rich in the colony.

Jean-François de La Roque, the first of all the adventurers to Canada arrived at this reasoning.

He was named La Roque and as he was a Lord  as a result of his mother’s lineage and, from the land of Roberval in Picardie, he was called Mr. De Roberval.  He came from an ancient household and the La Roque(s) were as numerous in Gascogne and in Languedoc as the Goyon(s) in Brittany, the Vassal(s) in Limousin  and  the Périgord(s) or the Hennequin(s) in Ile-de-France.  These large and numerous families, these households, all bore surnames, names of lands.  The father of Jean-François de La Roque was called Mr. De Chastelrin and sometimes Mr. d’Aspremont.  The La Roque(s) also had the surname of Couillaud and Couillaugat.  This brave surname appears in certain documents, notable in parts of the legal proceedings of Marshal de Gié.  Bernard de La Roque, Lord of Chastelrin and of Aspremont, is often shown as: Bernard de La Roque dit Couillaud, La Roque dit Couillaugat.

Mr. de Roberval’s father, Bernard de La Roque, was involved in the trial that the vindictive Anne of Brittany instituted against Pierre de Rohan, the Marshal de Gié, in 1504.  Gié, accused before the Paris Parliament of high treason, was at risk of losing his life.  During a period of sickness of Louis XII,

, the Marshal thought himself to be a Minister of the new King, François d’Angoulême.  Queen Anne had a premonition of becoming a widow.  Wishing to take refuge in her duchy of Brittany, she had all of her wealth loaded aboard boats on the Loire, at Blois.  The flat boats headed towards Nantes but did not reach their destination because the Marshal had them all seized.  He had assembled troops in preparation for the new regime, which he believed to be imminent.  However, Louis XII regained his health.  The Queen, furious with Gié, insisted he be arrested.  To ensure her vengeance, Anne of Brittany assumed all costs of the trial.  The Marshal found himself in a terrible position.  All of his enemies revolted against him.  Cardinal d”Amboise, Louise de Savoie, the squire d”Albret, all presented damning testimony.  The brothers Pontbriand, were Bretons whom he had once protected. Betrayed and accused him.  Amboise feared Gié who was liked by Louis XII, Louise de Savoie detested him because as governor of the young François d’Angoulême, he exercised a lot of influence on him.  As it stood, the Marshal, like by the reigning king, liked by the future king, constituted a danger for Anne of Brittany.  Furthermore, additional accusations were being attached to the case being raised by the Queen.  It was claimed that he should also be convicted of treason and of trying to take over the army and fortresses.

The Attorney General presented a terrifying indictment seeking Gié’s head and confiscation of all of his assets.

Gié defended himself energetically and found in the soldiers, his companions at arms, testimony in his favour.  Roland de Ploret, Bernard de La Roque and Jacques d’Epinay dit Segré proved that the accusations were absurd, false and improper.  Plored, La Roque and Segré had been arrested along with the Marshal.  In January 1504, Gié invoked the testimony of La Roque.  On October 24th, a judgement lifted the Marshal’s <secret> and declared Ploret, La Roque and Segré free of all persecutions.  Finally, the judges who did not uphold the charge of high treason, let alone treachery, found him guilty of a vague slanderous charge of “excess of power”.  The Marshal was condemned to losing his dignity for five years and being banished from the Court.

 Bernard de La Roque, devoted to the sovereign Counts of Armagnac like all the members of his entire family, had been the “standard bearer for Mgr. d’Armagnac”.  He signed as a witness on the marriage contract of Marguerite d’Armagnac with Pierre de Rohan, Marshal de Gié.  In his documents, he referred to himself as “gentleman to Mr. de Rohan, Baron of Gié”.  In 1513, he was Governor of Carcassone and Chief Steward to the King.  In 1515, Prince François d’Angoulême ascended to the throne.  He knew of La Roque through Marguerite d’Armagnac and through Gié and named him Embassador attached to the Sultan.  Bernard de La Roque, who appeared to be a cunning man, returned to the town of Cacassone with a firm concession for commerce with the Levant.

The son of this courteous soldier was well off in the Court.  Raised in the close intimacy of Prince François d’Angoulême, he was always protected by the latter who became King of France.  And since this was in the era of  assigning surnames and nicknames, François the First called him the <Little King of Vimeu>.  It was such that La Roque possessed large seigniories in Picardie and exercised a level of authority that seemed to amuse King François.  At the Court, he was also nicknamed the Elected (one) of Poix.  He was Lord of Poix, of Roberval, of Noé-St-Remy, d’Acy.  Had he {charged} himself to collect the taxes in the Poix election?  The collectors were called the Elected Ones.  It seems he had quickly dissipated a large fortune inherited mainly from his mother, who was a Poitiers and a relative of Diane, Duchess of Valentinois.  The land of Roberval, (for which he bore the name), was left to him from his grandmother who was a Popincourt and descended from “an illustrious family from Picardie”.  He always had money problems.  His château de Roberval was seized.  He borrowed sums of money from his relatives, the La Roque(s) and La Roque(s) in Languedoc and Armagnac. The Popincourt(s) in Picardie, Guillaume de La Roque de Blaizins and Jacques de La Roque as well as Jean de Popincourt figure prominently on numerous bookkeeping documents that remained in the château de Roberval.

Residing at the Court, he was Squire of the Master Stables and two poems by Clément Marot are dedicated to him (unless they were dedicated to another La Roque, also a Squire of the Master Stables in the same era).  If these two small works are dedicated <to Mr. La Roque>, another poet from the Court, Michel d’Amboise devotes a piece of poetry to him which begins with, “Excuse me, my Captain”, and bears the dedication: “To François de La Roque, Lord of  Roberval”.

His father had been an officer to the Count of Armagnac and bearer of his standard, and he had been an officer to the Marshal of La Marck and bearer of the Company’s insignia.  But if he was a soldier, he was mainly a courtier and spent a lot of time in the circle of the King’s sister, Marguerite de Navarre.  She mentions him in her “Heptameron”.  As a member of the group of people belonging to the Court, François de La Roque is included in the collection of the 310 “crayons” (lithographs) of the Court that are preserved in the Condé Museum in Chantilly.  The Clout(s), Perréal(s) and Corneille(s) from Lyon have represented the men and women of the learned and elegant society who surrounded the King.  A society which practiced irony and which assigned itself surnames and nicknames.  Robert de La Marck, Lord of Fleuranges, under whom Robert de La Roque served in the Italian war, was known by all in the Court under the surname “Young Adventurer”.  Bernard de La Roque was known “as good-natured de Couillaud and de Couillongat.  Triboulet has his picture among the 310 “crayons” (lithographs) from the Court in France.  Was it this clown or the King who gave Roberval the surname of “Elected (one) of Poix?  This surname is on his portrait.

The little “King of Vimeu” spent long months in Picardie where his lands were located and which he managed very poorly.  The Bishop of Meaux, Briçonnet, was familiar with the entourage (circle) of the Queen of Navarre.  At Briçonnet, La Roque met Lefebvre d’Etaples, Farel and Caroli; that is, all of the first converts to Calvinism.  He heard the French hymns of his friend Marot sung.   And he absorbed the influence of this environment so well that, in 1535, he belonged to the “new opinion”.  His name is prominent on the leaflets that were published and distributed in the streets of Paris, accompanied by the sound of blaring trumpets.  He was there in the company of Pierre Caroli, doctor in theology, Master Jean Le Rentif dit le Prêcheur (the preacher) de Braque, François Quartier, Lord of Roignac and his wife, and Clément Marot.

He left France hastily, but returned soon after because he was covered by the protection of the King.

It is then that he was haunted by the thought of a colony in Canada.  Was he thinking of making a fortune?  His own fortune was in poor state.  There were ongoing legal proceedings, notably with Jean de Boutiliac.  

.  He would one day be forced to oppose the sale of his château de Roberval which originally came from “the late Miss Aloy de Poupincourt, to her living kin Dame de Roberval, “ayeuile” (older relative) of the said Jean-François de La Roque”.  Or was he contemplating creating a Protestant colony in Canada?  This will later be the main thought of Admiral de Coligny who will attempt to create a Calvinist colony in North America.

There exists in the British Museum, a Planisphere traced by Desceliers, a French cartographer, which shows Canada.The document is dated 1550.  The country’s contours are clearly indicated.  The Saint-Lawrence, its shores and islands are easily identifiable.  The ocean is called the France Ocean, which apparently elated François Rabelais’ patriotic heart.  Fabulous animals, such as dolphins, unicorns, dragons were swimming in the huge Canadian river.  The lands already bore some names.  We see trees, animals, plants and, larger than the trees, are savages (Indians) painted in.

Exactly in the middle of Canada is a group of French soldiers, all wearing breastplates and carrying a fleur-de-lys flag.  In the front of these soldiers is a man in armour, with a plumed helmet, who appears to be lecturing them, showing the country they are in.  This man is La Roque de Roberval.  Of this there is no doubt because the cartographer inscribed his name below the figure.

According to one document, King François the First openly favoured the La Roque(s).  He had already paid off Roberval’s most pressing debts.  And La Roque obtained from the King, Letters Patent appointing him Lieutenant General and Viceroy.

The little King from Vimeu became Viceroy to Canada.  He had huge projects and wanted to accomplish major activities.  He was going to start up a colony.  When he boarded ship at Honfleur, men and women embarked with him on three ships: La Lèche-Fraye, La Valentine and l’Anne.  They were the future settlers, the future subjects of his Canadian vice-realm.  Among the passengers was one of his relatives, Miss Marguerite de La Roque.

And Rabelais, who gave surnames to everyone and who knew Roberval, mentions him in Pantagruel, referring to him as Robert Valbringue.

The Universal Cosmography of André Thevet appeared in Paris in 1575.  In the second volume of this work, the author refers to Roberval’s travels and he recounts a strange story, a drama of love and vengeance where Roberval is the main character.  Thevet said he was quoting from the heroine herself, Miss de La Roque whom he had met in Périgord where she was living on her lands.  “Roberval, my family as wll as my mentor”, wrote Thevet, “brought with him a good company of gentlemen and craftsmen of all types, as well as a few women, one young maiden with whom he was closely related named Marguerite, who he greatly respected and confided all his business as a family member.  Among the gentlemen who accompanied him, there was one who went along more for the love of Miss Marguerite than for service to the King.  

Miss Marguerite was apparently able to conceal her love from her relative for a long time.  As well, narrates Thevet, her chaperone Damienne, native of Normandy, was protecting her.  But the space is really confining on a ship.  Roberval was getting lonesome and the crossing was long.  He liked to talk with his lovely relative.  The Viceroy’s cabin was not far from Marguerite’s.  He would go to her to share his grand colonial projects.  But the young maiden was not always in her cabin.

One pleasant day or probably evening, Mr. de Roberval surprised Marguerite and her lover in an amorous and tender conversation and he exploded in a terrible and Calvinistic temper.

The ships entered the Saint-Lawrence.  Canada stood before Jean-François de La Roque with her immense forests, her deep lakes, her Indians and her wild animals.  The ambitious man finally reached the realization of his dreams.  He was going to become rich and powerful.  He was already the Viceroy of all the bears, of all the beavers and all the maple trees in Canada.  He would be able to build castles (châteaux), much more sumptuous than his Picard-style manor.  La Fortune was before him.

 But Roberval no longer had these thoughts.  One only thought occupied his mind: Marguerite’s betrayal.  And he was seeking revenge.

And Canada provided it for him.  The ships bordered the shores of an island.  It was ravishing, with high grasses and its flowers, this Laurentian island.  A musket was fired from the Lèche-Fraye and scattered thousands of birds.  The sailor lowered their lines and in the span of one hour, the ships’ cooks had hundreds of fish before them to prepare for the evening meal.

This island is the paradise for hunters and fisherman Roberval was told by his companions.

Marguerite was also looking at the island.  The young man whom she loved was near her side; he had eyes only for her because neither Canada nor the island were of any interest to him.

Mr. de Roberval then gave the command to lower a launch.  Those on board thought he wanted to know the island, to explore it.  He gave the order to load guns and ammunition in the launch.  Everyone thought he wanted to hunt on the island.  He gave the order to bring supplies and clothing.  So consequently, it was thought he wished to settle on the island and set up a colony.  But when he ordered Captain Jean-Alphonse de Xaintonge to seize Miss de La Roque and her servant Damienne, to make them descend into the launch, to transport them to the island and to abandon them, everyone understood that Mr. de Roberval had found his vengeance.

Marguerite seemed to possess a strong soul and a firm heart.  The La Roque(s) were a passionate people.  She descended into the launch without granting her cruel relative neither any eye contact nor any words.  She no doubt glanced tenderly towards he fiancée as he rushed towards her.  But he was prevented from approaching the ladder or the section where Mr. de Roberval was standing.  The launch was slipping away, carrying Marguerite.  Then, escaping from the soldiers, the young man jumped overboard and started swimming towards the launch that he reached and was able to climb aboard.

And Roberval yelled at Captain Jean-Alphonse to keep the man in the launch and to abandon him on the island with Marguerite.

When the ships hoisted their sails and continued on their journey, the soldiers and sailors watched the island for a long time as it disappeared in the distance.  

They named it the Island of the Young maiden because of poor Marguerite, abandoned on its shores with her servant and good-looking young man whom she wanted for a husband.

Thanks to Thevet’s Cosmography, the adventures and outcome of Marguerite de La Roque have been made known to us.  And, since the Cosmography is illustrated, an amusing image carved on wood shows the valiant woman on her Canadian island, firing her musket on wild animals.  A child is sleeping in a crib of leaves, close to her.  Neither the young and loyal young man who followed her, nor the brave Damienne are shown on the wood engraving of Thevet’s book.  And that is because they had both died as a result of exposure to the primitive and savage surroundings.

The child also died and Marguerite remained alone on the island where she too would have died, despite her courage, had passing fishermen who took her on board not saved her.  Thevet wrote that the poor woman arrived in France after “having lived two years and five months on the Canadian island and came to <Perigord> while he was there and told of her unfortunate past”.

The adventures of Marguerite de La Roque have left imprints on the French literature of the XVI  th century.  One of the tales of the Heptaméron os the Queen of Navarre, is the novel of Marguerite in Canada.

Poets and authors were all dreaming of this mysterious country.  The French were passionately fond of accounts of voyages.  The Anerica adventures were gradually replacing novels about knighthood and chivalry.  Pope Léon X had taken a delighted pleasure with them.  The poet Melin de Saint-Gelais lectured about them.  The “analyzers” of the Renaissance found that relations during travel piqued at their scientific curiosity and their taste for the supernatural.  They had recently discovered that the earth was round and that it rotated.  This astonishing discovery, while reluctantly admitted to, prepared them to believe most anything.  Melin de Saint-Gelais, who had enthusiastically read Jean-Alphonse’s “Adventurous Voyages” manuscript, decided to publish it.  At the beginning of his edition, he had inserted a sonnet praising the new lands.  And he wished that the Dauphin de France would make its conquest.  Jean-Alphonse had been a pilot to Roberval in Canada and was one of the first ones to talk about this unknown land.

There was so much poetry in these new regions!  Authors and poets were dreaming of it.  The faun and the flora of America, the Indians, all created a decorative mix that enchanted the imagination.  Jodelle speaks of the Indians in an ode.  In his Discours (speech) against Fortune which Ronsard addressed to Odet de Coligny, he evoques the Savages (Indians) Montaigne refers to them also in the Essays and mentions that they may not be inferior to the Europeans, although they wear no trousers.

The Savage (Indian) makes his appearance in the French literature shortly after the discovery of Canada.  He was to provide a long and illustrious literary career.  Voltaire with his “ingénu” and Chateaubriand with “Atala”, form part of this library dedicated to the Savages (Indians) of America.

Rabelais’ work, particularly, indicates signs of the influence of Canadian stories and the voyages of  Pantagruel were inspired by those of Cartier and Roberval.  The “navigations” in the “Quart Livre” owe a lot to the connections with Jacques Cartier, Roberval and Jean-Alphonse de Xaintonge, all of who are disguised by Rabelais who gives them the assumed names of Jamet Brayer, Robert Valbringue and Xénomane.  Moreover, Jacques Cartier is included in all writings during the “Ouydire” episode.

But a XVI th century author was to become so awestricken with Canada, to the point of using it as the main arena for one of her stories.  This author was the Queen of Navarre.  In effect, the “Seventh Journey of Heptameron” contains a narrative entitled: Strange Love and Fortitude of the Woman in a Foreign Land, which begins with: Roberval was crossing the ocean to this island in Canada and was named in charge by the order of his master, the King, a position which he had sought.  If the country’s atmosphere had been opportune, to remain and build towns and castles (chateaux) for which there was such a beginning, that each could know…”.  And, following this brief preamble, the good Queen wrote a romantic novel which unfolds on an “island of Canada”.  We  know of this adventure because it is the one involving Marguerite de La Roque.  Furthermore, the Queen of Navarre clearly qualified that she in no way made up this Canadian novel and that her details had been provided by a witness.  A witness who did not seem to demonstrate any shame to relate such a story in which he holds such a cruel role.  

Because this witness was Roberval.  <It is not such a novel issue my ladies to face up to your virtuous acts, said Marguerite de Navarre, and it offers an opportunity for me to relate what I have heard said from Captain Roberval>, and so, the cynical Jean-François de La Roque voluntarily related the terrible adventure of his young relative in Canada and this story had such success in the Court that the Queen of Navarre made this one of her most successful novels.

With this Canadian novel, Marguerite de Navarre became the forerunner to Daniel De Foë and of all romantic adventures.  And she created, without being fully aware, a literary style: the exotic novel.

But in this attraction, only too real and romantic, one aspect has remained obscure.  The hero’s name is unknown.  Neither Roberval, nor Thevet, nor the Queen of Navarre have revealed his identity.  A romantic novel where the lover’s name is not known.  This gap is regrettable.

One must find him amongst Roberval’s companions in his expedition in 1542.  There were many of them and there is a choice between Nicolas de Lespinay, Captain Guinecourt, Jean de Noirefontaine, Dieulamont, Jacques de Frotté, Francis de Mire or Jean de La Salle.

But no one will ever find out the name of this young man who had travelled to Canada “more for his love for Marguerite de La Roque than for service to the King”.
 

Jean-François de La Roque’s attempt at establishing a colony in Canada is known through only a few rare documents.  The principal source of information is a narrative published by Richard Hakluyt in London in 1600, the manuscript that has since been lost.  Hakluyt was a Chaplain in the British Embassy in Paris in 1583 and was so passionate for geography and voyages that he took it upon himself during leisure times from his duties, to gather stories of distant travels.  He published and salvaged numerous documents certain to have been destroyed forever.  He may have had in his hands a connection drawn up by Roberval himself, of by one of his lieutenants.  Because, similarly to the Cartier connections which were supposedly the works of Jean Poulet, the Roberval connection originates probably from one of his adventurous companions.

In 1540, La Roque was in the King’s good graces.  What arguments could he have conjured to persuade the sovereign to confide him with the mission to establish a colony in Canada?  In any event, François the First appointed his Lieutenant General, “Jean-François de La Roque, knight errant, our faithful central core, for the good and entire trust that we have in his common sense by long experience, his loyalty and other praiseworthy virtues……..” to Canada where he assigned him the responsibility to “laws by us, to construct and erect towns, forts, temples and churches to communicate our holy catholic faith… and growth of our holy Mother the Catholic Church from whom we are the first and chosen son”.  Had the King already forgotten that La Roque was of “the new opinion” because he had charged him to propagate the catholic faith?  Or had Jean-François de La Roque prudently returned to the orthodoxy?  The first Calvinists, particularly those from the Court, frequently changed their “opinion”.  Briçonnet returned to Catholicism and even persecuted the Protestants.  And it was never known is the Queen of Navarre was a heretic.  Like Briçonnet, who was also known as Viscount de Montbrun, Marguerite de Navarre, who was also known as Duchess of Alençon, was quite fickle.  But Roberval will prove by his death that he was definitely a Protestant.

It was to found a colony that the King charged him with.  The terms of his Commission were formal.  He would be required to build towns, forts and churches.  And, to start off his colony, the King gave him authorization to use criminals from the kingdom’s prisons.
This is how the following came to embark on his ships:  François Gay, a prisoner in Toulouse and his fiancée Mondyne Boispie “aged 18 and with no accusations”, Jean de Lavau “accused of having stolen a golden ring”. Bernard de Mirepoix “accused of murder:, Mariette de La Tappye “accused of killing her son-in-law”. Pierre de Pars de Castelneau “accused of homicide”, Pierre Tissène, “accused of beatings, sick”, etc.  These were nice people to bring to Canada: thieves, assassins, and the unwell!  Thankfully, if this can be said, Roberval’s colony did not succeed and he returned this riff-raff back to the prisons of France where they had originally come from.  Later, honest people: officers and their soldiers, young people of the lower nobility, peasants and poor young maidens endowed by the King.

François de La Roque had a subsidy of 45,000 pounds from the King.  He had freighted three ships and Jacques Cartier had five under his command

The Spanish archives in Simancas (Simancas, Estado, Castilla), is conserving very peculiar letters relative to the Canadian colony projected by Roberval.  The voyages of Jean-François de La Roque and Jacques Cartier worried Emperor Charles-Quint terribly.  One of the documents in the Simancas Archives dealing with this topic is dated 10th September 1541 and it is signed by Charles-Quint, King of Spain because it bears the famous and haughty heading:Yo el rey” meaning (I, the King).  The Spanish were watching very closely the equipping of Roberval’s ships.  A letter from Samano to Christobal de Haro, in October 1541 (conserved at the Archivo de Indias, st Séville), outlines precise details of Roberval’s mission to Canada.  Moreover, a Spanish spy had been sent to the harbours in France from which Roberval and Cartier were set to sail.

This spy, whose name was Pedro de Santiago, passed on to Dom Christobal de Haro the information that he was able to obtain and Haro, passed these on to Charles-Quint.  A dispatch of 28 September 1541, from Haro to Charles-Quint reads as follows:  Pedro de Santiago que fué à Francia à se informar de b que vuestra Magestad mando, es venido y la relaçion qye da de todo que a podido saber corriendo todo la costa al largo desde Burdeos hasta la Rochela y costa hasta Enante y toda la costa  de Bretana y Normandia… y lo que a podido saber en todos  estos puertos… (Pedro de Santiago, who has come to France in order to obtain the information that your Majesty desires, has returned and has prepared a report on what he was able to learn.  He has travelled along the coasts of Bordeaux  à La Rochelle and Nantes and along the entire coast of Brittany and Normandy… and this is the information, which he obtained in each port…).

Among the information received from the spy, the King of Spain read the following which must have displeased him: <the ships, armed by the order of the King of France, will be commanded by Jacques Cartier and another important gentleman, (Jacques Cartier y otro cavellero persona principal), and it is said their destination is Canada (y estas se 

dezian se aparejavan para yr asy misno a Canada)>.  Charles-Quint who considered that both Americas belonged to the Spanish, must have frowned his dark eyebrows deeply when reading this passage of Dom Christobal’s letter from Haro.  And probable much more when reading the following paragraph: “for the other ships which will be sailing in the company of those commanded by Jacques Cartier, they will have a gentleman by the name of Roberval as their Captain.  It appears that it is Cartier who discovered this land and has named it Canada.  It is for this reason that the King of France commissioned him to accompany this fleet because of his experience.  Roberval has received from the King the title of Commander-in-Chief of the fleet and of the land called Canada.  (Roberval procuro con el rey como le diese cargo de capitan general de la armada y tierra de Canada), and it is said that the King has given Roberval the title of King of Canada and that his wife was named Queen of Nowhere, wherever she may be. (y se dezia el Rey le avia dado titulo de Rey de Canada y su mugger Ilamavan en qualquier tierra Reyna de Nadaz)”.

The Archivo de Indias, at Séville and the State archives at Simancas conserve other letters relating to Roberval.  One in particular from Charles-Quint to the spy Pedro de Santiago in which <Yio el Rey> congratulates him for his good work and the information which he has provided.  Some of this information, which was nonetheless bizarre, notably concerning the title “King of Canada” given to Roberval by François the First.  We can assume that the Spanish spy really meant “Viceroy” and that this was only a misunderstanding of the language.  As to Roberval’s wife nicknamed “Queen of Nowhere”, the conjecture on the significance of this practical joke is not understood.  Jean-François de La Roque never married.  However, the presence of his relative Marguerite in this expedition probably gave way to malicious talks in the Court, gossip that would have been collected by Charles-Quint’s spy.  The “Queen of Nowhere”!  This seems to be banter by courtiers probably envious of the possible success of the enterprising man.  There was a lot of greed in the Court of the Valois.  And the Princes in the direct bloodline were not spared any less than the other members of this closed world.  This ironic spirit (attitude) was practiced at the expense of the most senior Lords.  Was the Duke of Anjou not called “Eurylas” and the Princess of Clèves nicknamed “Olympe”?  As for the Prince of Condé, he was called “the little man”.

The venerable Cardinal de Bourbon was branded with the nickname “King of the Confederacy”. More gracious was the surname of Queen Margot: “Fleur-de-Lys”.  This mood persisted for a long time at the Court and still, under Louis XIII, the Prince of Harcourt was called “Youngster with Pearl” (Cadet-la Perle), (because he was the youngest in the House of Lorraine and he had the curious habit of wearing a pearl on his left ear.

According to the Spanish spy’s report, “with respect to matters dealing with navigation and discovery of the land, Roberval and everyone else must obey Cartier.  And when the land has been conquered, Roberval will remain as General for the King and will manage the buildings, fortifications and all other matters”.

Jacques Cartier left first, made a trip to Canada where he had already been twice and, when returning, met Roberval’s ships in Newfoundland.  While the King’s Lieutenant General continued his voyage towards the Saint-Lawrence, Captain Cartier returned to France.  The reason for this lack of synchronism is these two expeditions is not clearly understood.  In summary, Cartier was really of no use to Roberval.

He established his colony on the shores of the Saint-Lawrence.  André Thevet wrote that: “Roberval constructed a very sturdy house around which there were two small and sturdy towers, sitting on a small hill” and that he started another one on the shores of a river which was called “Sinagua” in the language of the barbarians (Indians) of the country.  The country Sinagua is really the Saguenay.  The small colony suffered a terrible winter in these forts, decimated by famine and death.  The Chief had constructed caves, attics and two mills, but all of these were nearly without any supplies.  The country, which Roberval had named France-King and his colony, which he had named France-Prime, provided nothing else other than the food that the hunters and fishermen could get.  It would appear that Jean-François de La Roque had to suppress revolts amongst his people and come face to face with a tragic situation.  A passage by Thevet shows him as firm and cruel and possessing the severity of a Calvinist.  “Captain Roberval was strongly cruesl towards his own, compelling them to work or be deprived of food and drink.  He wanted everyone to live in peace in accordance with ordinances (laws) made up by him,  If anyone declined, he was punished.  On one day, he had six of them hung, one in particular by the name of Michel Collon, Jehan de Nantes and others; he also ordered 

others exiled to an island with their legs in irons for having committed petty theft worth less than five cents.  Others were given a dressing down for the same theft, men as well as women”.  The brave Thevet added, “It may be that the Savages (Indians) were barbarians, but many were crying and lamenting the misfortunes of their own.

We possess an extremely curious document of this trip of the French to Canada and Roberval’s short-lived colony, because it is the most ancient official piece written and signed in the country.  On the 9th of September 1542, Roberval was granting favour to Paul d’Auxillon de Sauveterre, by Letters of Remission.  This parchment, which has remained in the Cabinet of Titles in the National Library in Paris, among the papers of the Auxillon family, bears the authentic signature of Roberval who signed: J.F. de La Roque”.  The Lieutenant General exercises his right to grant favour in the name of the King of France.  Next to his signature, we read: “By my named Lord, in his Council, in the eyes of the Lords of Guignecourt, Noirefontaine, Royzé, Captain Macé Jalobert, Jehan Alphonse and Michel Rousseil and others present”.

Roberval completely failed to establish the tentative colony.  In September 1543, everyone boarded ship to sail back to France.  Certain historians claim that Cartier led the relief expedition that brought back the French and their Chief, but this fourth voyage to Canada by Cartier seems questionable.  Charlevoix has stated that Roberval made a second trip to America with his brother Pierre de La Roque and that they perished in 1549 in a shipwreck.  But Roberval certainly did not perish in 1549 because in 1554, he supported a trial against Jean de Boutillac.  Also, his brother who was not named Pierre but Jean de La Roué, did not sail the oceans because he was a monk in Normandy and was Prior of his Order.

Ruined by his Canadian colony, La Roque de Roberval tried vainly to re-build his fortune.  In 1555, his belongings were mortgaged, his castle (chateâu) threatened by seizure.  He had arranged for King Henri II to issue him with Letters Patent in 1552 for the exploration of mines in France.  He was even a bit of a privateer for a period of a few years, in command of a ship and attacking English ships.

Amid all of his adventures, the one whom François the First had dubbed the Small King of Vimeu and who had been Viceroy of Canada never forgot his Protestant faith.  He even risked his life for his faith by daring to attend forbidden preachings

Jean-François de La Roque was to become one of the first victims in the religion wars.  As he was leaving a Protestant reunion one evening in Paris in the year 1560, he and his co-religionists were attacked and killed by Catholics at the corner of the Cemetery of the Innocents.  So perished the man who, in the XVIth century, had dreamed of creating a French colony in America, started it, and had to abandon it.  But other French people would one day succeed at the civilization efforts, which he had so vainly attempted.

Sources Manuscrites.  Second voyage de Jacques Cartier, 1535,
Handwritten Sources. Jacques Cartier’s Second Voyage, 1535,

 Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, F.F., MS.5589.-Foi et
 Homage de Marguerite de La Roque, 1536, Archives nationales.
 National Library, Paris, F.F. MS.5589.-Faith and
 Homage of Marguerite de La Roque, 1536, National Archives.

 Paris, Languedoc, Anciens hommages et aveux, P.556-
 Lettres
 De rémission signées J.F. de La Roque, 1542
 B.n.N.A.F.23633.-
 Paris, Languedoc, Ancient tributes and admissions, P.556-
 Letters
 Of remission signed J.F. de La Roque, 1542
 B.n.N.A.F.23633.-
 
Quittance de Bernard de La Roque, 1489, Ibid, Pièces
 Originales,
 Discharge of Bernard de La Roque, 1489, Ibid, Original
 Documents,
 
2523.- État de la Maison du Roy, 1515-1540, Ibid F.F.7586.-
 2523.- State of the King’s House, 1515-1540. Ibid F.F.7586.-

 Déposition de Bernard de La Roque dit Couillaud, connétable
 De carcassonne, Arch.n.E.191.
 Deposition of Bernard de La Roque dit Couillaud, High Constable
 Of Carcassonne, Arch.n.E.191.

 Printed Sources.  Edmond Buron, Ymago Mundi of Pierre d’ailly, latin
 Text and French translation of the Quatres Traites (four treaties) and of
 the marginal notes of Christophe Colomb.  H.P. Biggar, “Voyages de
 J. Cartier” (Jacques Cartier’s Voyages).- Baron de La Chapelle, “Jean Le
 Veneur et le Canada” (Jean the Hunter and Canada).- G. Lanctot “Jacques
 Cartier, l’homme et le navigateur” (Jacques Cartier, the Man and the
 Navigator).- H.P.Biggar, “A collection of documents relating to Cartier and
 Roberval”.-  Eusebii Caesariennes episcopi Chronicon”, pub. Henri
 Estienne, 1512.-  Ramusio, :Navigationi et Viaggi”, 1556.-  R. de Maulde-
 La Clavière, “Documents de l’histoire de France” (Documents of the
 History of France).- André Thevet, Cosmographie Universelle” (Universal
 Cosmography), 1575.-  Abbé Morel, J.F. de La Roque, Seigneur de
 Roberval” (J.F. de La Roque, Lord of Roberval).- “L’Heptameron des
 nouvelles de la Reine de Navarre” (The Heptameron of News of the Queen
 of Navarre).-  La Roque de Roquebrune, “Roberval, sa généalogie, son
 père, le portrait de Chantilly” (Roberval, his Genealogy, his Father, the
 Portrait of Chantilly).- L. Lacoursière, “Rabelais au Canada” (Rabelais
 in Canada).

Portrait.  The portrait of Jean-François de La Roque, Lord of Roberval is conserved in the Condé Museum in the Château de Chantilly, in the collection of the 310 crayons (lithos.) of the Court of France done by the Clouet(s), Perréals and Corneilles(s) from Lyon.  La Roque’s portrait would appear to have been drawn by the hand of one of the Clouet(s).  It is a black and fiery lithograph.-  The 310 crayons (lithos.) of Chantilly have been reproduces by E. Moreau-Nélaton.  “The portrait of the Court of the Valois”, Paris, 1905.  La Roque’s portrait can be found in vol.4 Plate CXCV, and again by Moreau-Nélaton, “Les Clouets et leurs émules (The Clouets and their imitators), Paris 2 fig. 170.

We must really call it by this name since it is the title assigned by the old historians for the descendents, the eloquent patriotism, a century-old tradition, a complete and enthusiastic literature.  Romanticism has embellished the schooled Canadian history in the XIX th century.  The notable people of the past have been treated like celebrities, even as saints.  We have not questioned any absurdities, feared any exaggerations.  Marmette, a historian, endowed the Le Moyne brothers with a biblical calling aura, calling them: the Macchabees of New France, simply because of the fact that there were seven Le Moyne brothers.  We have endowed many others.  Father Félix Martin, Montcalm’s apologist and who disapproved of Garneau’s critics, pushed this zeal to a point where he invented a sublime letter written by the dying hero, “in his trembling hand and worthy of his brave heart”.

Champlain was no more successful in escaping from this poetic enthusiasm than were the Le Moyne brothers.  Except, for the Father of New France, we did better than credit him with imaginary words or quotations or make him compose heroic letters.  We have “found” his portrait.

The iconography of the main characters in Canadian history is quite poor for the XVI th and XVII th centuries.  There exist no………………….

(Chapter II is carried on)

……hardly able to write, said Intendent Raudot who added: he only knows war, that is what he knows best.

When disembarking in the colony, the gentlemen lost all pretension of nobility because nobility no longer provided any privileges.  The King, who had made some Canadians nobles, did not, however, create Canadian nobility.  The Le Gardeur(s), the Hertel(s), the Ailleboust(s), registered their documents with the Sovereign Council in Québec, but nothing compelled them, as well as many others, to the high authentic nobility:  the Rigaud(s), Saint-Ours, Estimauville(s), etc., never “substantiated” it.

Many families, like the La Porte(s) of Saint-Georges (very ancient nobility from Berry), the Bony(s) de La Vergne (ancient nobility from Limousin), established themselves on lands and became settlers.  Benjamin Suite, a historian, was able to write, “the best Canadian nobility can be found amongst this class”.  And so, even without the existence of a privileged class, the colony included a large number of noble families.  The Jesuit Le Jeune was saying in 1636: “We have some truly honest gentlemen”.  The Marquis de Denonville was complaining of the nobles who were not working and were hindering the country’s development.  Finally, Father de Charlevoix wrote at the end of the XVIII th century: “Canada has more ancient nobility than any other colony”.

Lords and settlers would bring men and women from France and would hire them for a period of three years.  They were referred to as: “the thirty-six months people”.  This immigration came mainly from Poitou, Aunis and Saintonge.  Ploughmen, craftsmen but mostly children (small boys and girls), would board the ships ready to sail.  Many Canadians originate from these recruits, for example the Archbishop Cardinal Villeneuve whose ancestor Mathurin Villeneuve from Sainte-Marie de Ré, entered the colony under contract in 1665.  The records of the notaries de La Rochelle preserve all these acts of engagements (hiring) for Canada.

All of this has resulted in a curiously varied population, representing a class of the French society, as well as a dozen provinces of the kingdom.

The officers and soldiers of Carignan who settled down in the colony constituted a firm human presence of great value in a small nation that was required to battle endlessly and without respite.  The Marshal de Noailles wrote in his memoirs: “The Canadian colony was shaped by soldiers and this military extraction gave birth to the courage of its inhabitants”.

We have forgotten in present day France how the army was made up in the years of the monarchy.  The immortal tricoloured flag has obscured the glory of the Fleur-de-lis flag.  It was nevertheless the flag for Jeanne d’Arc, Henri IV and for Condé.  The French army was then made up of volunteers.  The nobility was obligated to serve; they were honour bound to do so.  It was the tax of blood.  But the common people were exempt.  Propagandists conducted recruitment.  The only requirement for soldiers was the regulatory height of at least five feet, three inches (certain regiments, such as the Royal-Vaisseau insisted on the tall height).  No registry of record of service was kept.  In the army, the men became La Franchise, La Bonté, La Victoire, La France, Breton, Parisien, Champagne, La Violette, Jasmin, La Fleur, Potdevin, Bellehumeur and, these surnames were inscribed on the rosters of the captains with particulars in the event of desertions.  “You will be called Belle Rose”, an officer told a fuming individual in “Le soldat perdu” (The Lost Soldier) of Mauvillon.  All the soldiers, the Rocroi(s), de Denain(s), de Fontenoy(s), were called Bellehumeur, La Rose, or Champagne.

The soldiers in the Carignan army all bore these surnames.  Created by the Prince de Savoie-Carignan, this regiment, commanded by the Marquis de Sallières, was quartered in the duchy de Nevers when it received companies from the regiments of Gassion and La Roque and was deployed to Hungary to combat the Turks.  Under the command of Marshal de La Feuillade and the brave Count de Coligny, the French troops saved Europe.  At the battle of Raab and of Saint-Gothard, the Grand Izir Ahtnet Koproli was defeated.  La Tulippe, Brind’amour, La Ramée, Jolicoeur, Vadeboncoeur and Sans-Quartier battled like heroes.  We can find their descendants in Canada where families still bear these glorious battle names.

 In 1965, as a result of prompting by Colbert, Louis XIV decided to send troops in the French colonies of America and it was Carignan that was sent to Canada.  The men, who had just defeated the Turks, would now defeat the Iroquois.  The Marquis de Tracy, arriving from the Antilles and Cayenne where he had defeated the Frères de la Côte and chased the Dutch, led the war against the Iroquois with vigour, forcing them to submit and to keep the peace for a few years, which permitted the colony to develop and to prosper.  This Tracy was a hardened old soldier, formerly involved with la Fronde in the midst of Princes, for the love of the Duchess de Longueville, and then he rejoined at Mazarin.  He contacted the exchange of “franc Picard”, which is obscure.  But the franc Picard possessed plenty of military experience.  His passing in Canada saved the colony.

Tracy’s presence in Québec and the Regiment of Carignan modified the life style of the settlers.  The Lieutenant General displayed and ostentatious image unknown until then in the town.  He owned a military and civil house; he never left the house unless accompanied by Pages and Guards wearing the King’s colours.  The Knight of Chaumont-Quittry was in charge of the guards.  Anagers de Plainval presided at all functions.  The Canadian high society hastened to attend the Viceroy’s festivities.  At the marriage ceremony (contract) of Angers, who married a Canadian from an illustrious family, the entire nobility attended the notarial event which was held at the home of the Marquis de Tracy: the Le Gardeur(s) de Repentigny, Couillard(s) de l’Espinay, Bissot(s) de Vincennes, Guyon(s) du Buisson, Morin(s) de Saint-Luc, etc.  The first ball of the colony was held at Chartier(s) de Lotbinière during this period.  The Journal of the Jecuits make note of this with severe disapproval.

The Canadians had a taste for the finery, of the worldly life-style, Tracy wrote to the King pointing out that the toiletry for women was a major purchase item in Canada and the Swedish traveler, Peter Kalm, would say later that the ships coming into the colony once every twelve months would create the style for the entire year, based on what the passengers brought with them.  The clergy thundered against these frivolities and the Bishop Saint-Vallier was issuing pastoral orders against such purchases and the low-necked evening dresses.  But the sermons never prevented the Canadian women to stay in style and attend the ball.

 The men of the Carignan regiment were all young bachelors.  The King offered them to settle in Canada.  Half the regiment’s strength accepted.  Officers and soldiers settled on the shores of the Saint-Lawrence where villages still bear the names of their Companies.  Tracy would say, “Contrecoeur is simple and a bit of a drunk, but he is married to a Canadian and he can build a home”.  The person called Contrecoeur was from Dauphine and had married a Canadian woman from the Denis de la Trinité family who had recently been granted the rank of nobility.  Officers and soldiers in Contrecoeur’s company had been given homesteads in the vicinity of their Captain.  Jarret de Verchères, Emery de Coderre, Jarret de Beauregard, La Roque de Roquebrune, Favreau Deslauriers, Bony de La Vergne, all settled closed to each other.  This resulted in a small society on both sides of the river made up of former combatants.  A few had found a woman in Montréal.  The households received five acres, five horned animals and five rifles.

These Carignan soldiers seemed quite happy at remaining in the colony.  Perhaps Verchères dreamt sometimes of this Dauphine Mountains and La Vergne of the small hills of the Limousin.  Didn’t Roquebrune conjure up the Armagnac and the four towers of the château for which he was named and Gaultier de Varènnes the softness of Anjou?  But Dauphines, Gascons and Angevins were definitely Canadians.  It is therefore that some things in the Canadian way of life satisfied them.  The limitless freedom that they had discovered in the colony was undoubtedly one of the major charms of this new country.  Being free!  What an intoxicating reality for a subject of Louis XIV.

Not all of the men from Carignan were able to marry because there were insufficient women in the colony for so many young men.  The Canadians were not marrying the female “Savages” (Indians).  It has been proven by the civil registry office that marriages with female Indians were extremely rare.  “The beautiful savage” (Indian) is but a romantic invention.  They were ugly and dirty.  That is why, pre-warned by the Governors and Intendants, the King and Colbert sent young French maidens to marry the settlers.  They were called the King’s Maidens because they received a settlement form the sovereign when the married.

 Selected with great care, they came from good families, often from noble families.  In 1671, there were fifteen noble maidens amongst those who disembarked.  Some of them have personal assets and Talon was required to appoint a lawyer and an attorney in France to manage the assets, which they owned.  The Intendant recommended that only healthy maidens be sent to Canada.  “That none of them be deformed”, he said.  And he insisted that they be robust and able to bear many children.  These ships with a cargo of young maidens arriving in Québec, were carrying the future of the nation.  When the King’s frigates were sighted, the Governor would inform the entire colony that the maidens would be disembarking.  The parish priests announced it in the pulpits; the Lords had the town criers yell it in the markets.  The men without women would all rush to Québec where they would impatiently wait for the arrival of the ships.  Officers, merchants, settlers, all would greet the company sent by the King.  Over there, on the river near l’île-aux-Coudres, their future wives were coming towards them, propelled by the winds.  Never has such poetic uncertainty been intermixed with the creation of a nation.  When the large ships were laying out and dropping anchor, a “cloud” of boats and canoes rushed to their sides.  The young men would climb aboard and would help the young ladies to disembark, carrying their luggage.  And this is how the first contacts were made.  The Governor would have balls at the château where they would dance and dine.  There wee kisses and avowals exchanged.  Everything was rushed.  At the end of fifteen days, the Intendant Talon wrote to Colbert, “Monsignor, all the maidens were married at the end of the first fifteen days upon their arrival”.

They arrived in the colony without knowing whom they would marry.  What a unique adventure!  Was it not thrilling to marry a young unknown?  The majority of these unions appear to have been happy ones.  They all resulted in pregnancies.  Children born in Canada had an admirable constitution.  The good Father de Charlevoix claimed this was due to the quality of  “the air of the country”.  The Ursuline nun Marie de l”incarnation wrote: “The large number of beautiful children born every year is astonishing”.  Some of these young maidens became the ancestors of illustrious families in the Canadian history.  Miss Mullois de La Borde married Eschaillon de Saint-Ours.  From her, were born the Saint-Ours(es), all soldiers who had fought so vainly for the colony; one of whom was slain with Montcalm in 1759.  These women had as much courage and energy as the men

they were marrying.  Miss Roybone d’Ollonne, fiancée to Cavalier de La Salle, was involved in fur trading on a concession which she owned with him in the high Saint- Lawrence; attacked in her fort by the Indians, she was taken prisoner along with three soldiers and thought to be dead on the “post of tortures”, but she was saved by the English and sent to New York.  Colonel Dongan returned her to Montréal.  She never married, mourning the death of Cavalier de La Salle for her entire life.  His companions assassinated him during an expedition of the Mississippi.

Quite often, young men and horses would also disembark from the same ships as the maidens.  The Intendant’s letters show that in 1669, ten young gentlemen, stallions, “cavales”, and one hundred and fifty maidens, including some nobles, all disembarked.  The King was militarily populating the colony.

From the French men and women was born the nation that the Intendant Hocquart said: “The Canadians are tall and well built, vigorous”, and Charlevoix said, “All of them are a nice height and of great beauty in both sexes”.  Stendhal claimed, “The plants and men born in certain countries are stronger than in others.  The French plants and men variety have certainly taken in Canada a magnificent vigour and energy.  It would seem that it only sufficed for these men and women from France to cross the ocean to acquire the required qualities in a country where courage and strength were necessary to survive.

They had discovered adventures, challenges and even happiness.  A hundred years before the French revolution, the Canadians were free and equal men and it is the most absolute of the Kings of France who granted them this marvellous gift.  So that it is Louis XIV th who founded the Canadian democracy.
 

(the chapter MILITAIRIES AND TRADERS continues)