Author, David Hackett Fischer, who teaches history at Brandeis University, is the author of "Washington's Crossing" and the forthcoming "Champlain's Dream."
The first permanent settlement in New FranceBefore this PREMANENT settlement, beautifully written by David Hackett Fischer, there was the Lost Colony of the Templars;
and later we can read about Verrazano's Secret Mission to America:
According to a Swedish blogger, known as "Hypocolius 'One of a kind' from Stockholm": there are some downplayed facts of American and European history that have great bearing [and/or connection] on some of the most important events in time.
The Knights Hospitaller didn't defend the Holy Land at the time of the Templars' founding. They were a purely charitable fraternity. Indeed, the Hospitaller knights didn't become militarized until over a decade after the formation of the Templars. Thus, there was nothing strange about the Templars: they were indeed formed to militarily defend the crusader states. And the Pope DID NOT CONDEMN THEM. That murderous act was accomplished by King Philip of Spain.
A century before Columbus [who WAS born in Calvi, Corsica, which was ruled by Genoa, at the time of his birth] landed in the New World, Scottish earl and explorer Henry Sinclair had, according to Sora, already visited what is now Rhode Island. Sora claims that Sinclair, who is said to have landed in present-day Nova Scotia, Montreal and Rhode Island, established a refuge for the Knights Templar in America and erected the Newport Tower (whose actual origins are shrouded in mystery), which resembles a Templars' baptistry, the centerpiece of their worship. There is a map of the route to the New World (purported to have belonged to Henry Sinclair), the age of which continues to be disputed by historians. There's commentary on early maps and sea routes, ignored alliances, unlikely religious connections, ancient legends, historic and legendary voyages of discovery and escape, incredible coincidences, and...well I could go on and on. Sora documents materials on the Columbus-[Henry] Sinclair connection and how these two discoverers [Sinclair found Nova Scotia] and their families became tied together in marriage. An incredible fact that historians somehow overlook! This leads us to a huge can of worms [for the traditionalist] that points to an even more complex understanding of the real discovery of 'America' and how/why the great political and religious intrigue that underpinned the times....
During the Fifteenth century, fishermen who lived along the Northwestern coast of France (Brittany), came frequently to the land of (which is today) New Foundland and New England. They called it Cape Breton, after their homeland. [The name for ancient France, in Celtic is Amorica...which is Bretonic for "Land by the Sea", in the masculine form.]
It was the British expedition of John Cabot which lead to the reopening of the "new world". That expedition had aboard, as one of its cooks, the one-time high shiriff of Bristol, Richard Amerycke. It was Amerycke who gave Cabot a royal reward of Lb20 Sterling for "discovering an island off of China"; and the whole "island" was named in his honor, year of Our Lord 1496.
In 1506, John Denys (also a noted muician/composer) known also as Denis Honfleur, reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In 1524, the French King paid Verazzano to charter from Northern New England, south to North Carolina.
Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano [influenced by the region of "Catalunya" which spoke the language "Catalunian"] set off for America in search of the Templar community. The Italian explorer [sent by French King Francis I] was not looking for a 'shorter route to China' but travelled in 1524 to investigate a lost Templar Colony-and on a later voyage founded a utopian religious community, Arcadia, comprising mainly of members of the Sulpician* sect in an attempt to preserve the values of the Knights Templar.
In 1534 Jacques Cartier, son of a sailor (who sailed there many times as a boy-protegé of Philippe deBrion Cabot) navigated the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In 1535, far-off the Bare des Charleurs [Quebec] , Jacques Cartier saw Hochlega : a village rising upon a tall hill; and renamed it Mont Real There he began a mission-headquarters. Young Algonquins were educated....
Montrel [whose history easily goes back to 1534] was designated in the 17th century as the New Jerusalem of the Christian world. The island of Montreal became the new headquarters of a group of mystics that wanted to live as the flawless Primitive Church of Jesus. They called themselves the "Societede Notre-Dame", half of whose members were the elusive "Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement"*. 'Though they took no formal vows and formed an interior elistist and "invisible heart of the Church" following a Johannite doctrine of the Essene tradition; their men and women were considered equal apostles! In Novelle France, their Montreal was their promised "New Jerusalem" of the Bible. 1) John the Baptist was their patron Saint. 2) Melchezidek was more than the Christ precurser of the Holy Mass; HE WAS THEIR KING-PRIEST above Christ!!! 3)They honored two black Virgins [one from Montaigu]. 4)They used the symbol of an odd cabbalistic-tetragrammaton which DOES NOT spell YHVH. 5)They created a Suplecian "chapel" based on the "Temple of Solomon"...something like Roslyn Chapel in Stuart-Scotland. 6)Their coat-of-arms bore 12 BLUE apples! 7) They aligned themselves with the Jansenist cause; and many members were refugees of the Port Royal Convent community.  Cardinal Mazarin traced them and their directives; linking them with
innumerable heresies irreconciable with Catholicism. They had to be abolished. They were a super threat to the Jesuits evangelizing in the New
World. Their corrupt beliefs would have spread like wildfire among the settlers and native populace as well!
A good book to start is by Francine Bernier/ Eric Daire and John Koopmans. * In 1660, the Sulpician Quezlus had the Holy See establish Ville-Marie as a cannonical parish by a Pontifical Bull, officially creating Ville-Marie independent of the Church in France and out of the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Novelle France. Later that year, the "Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement" name was publicly put upon record, when the Caen division was formerly accused of persecuting Jews. Therein the Compagnie's records were massively destroyed, and brought about the trial of Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's Finance minister. In 1661 the "Compagnie du St.Sacrement" totally left France. In 1663 the Societede Notre-Dame transferred the ownership of Montreal to the Compagnie du Saint-Suplice in Paris. Then the commercial Compagnie de Cent Associes was replaced by the Compagnie desIndes Occidentales.....It is all documented. Another book on "the Suplecians" is by Charles Hurbermann published in 1916, from which I would like to quote directly: Quote: "...as early as 1636, six years before taking up residence at St. Suplice, M. Olier had become interested with de la Dauversiere in the project of establishing on the island of Montreal a city to be called Ville-Marie. This town was to be the focus of missionary activity, embracing in its purview all the Indian tribes within reach of Montreal, for the island of Montreal had for many years served as a trysting-place for the Indian and French traders. After various delays and negotiations, in 1641 the new enterprise was launched, under the direction of the knightly and pius de Maisonneuve and the devoted Mlle. Mance. The Jesuit Father Vimont celebrating the first Mass in the new colony. In 1657, until which time the settlement remained in the charge of the Jesuits, the managers offered the spiritual direction of the island to the Suplecians. The first superior was M.deQueylus de Montmorency. He and his companions, of course, first acted as missionaries,..." "As early as 1668. M deQueylus sent two of his priests, M.M Trouve and deSalignac-Fenelon, to found a mission at Kent Bay on Lake Ontario. M. deSalignac-Fenelon, by the way, was a younger brother of the great Archbishop of Cambrai, who had himself been a pupil of the Suplicians...." "In the Jansenist controversay, their position was never doubtful, but they were proclaimers of the truth, rather than the assailants of the champions of error. They sought to put down heresy, rather than the heretic...." The book then goes on to tell of some of the great adventures of the Black Robes in North America, and the Lake Ontario/ St.Lawrence feeders and fissuaries named after them, |
In 1603, Samuel de Champlain, a French naval officer and geographer was hired to establish friendly relations with the native Americans. More-so, he made it his business to help and protect the tribes; and bring Jesuit missionaries to work and trade with them.
In 1604, a nobleman from the court of Henry IV of France, Timothe Pierre duGast Sieur deMonts founded Port Royale (Annapolis, Arcadie) in Canada. He went with Pontgave, Porutrincourt and Samuel deChamplain (by way of Lake Champlain) into Quebec, founding Baie Francais (Bay of Fundy), and the Port of the San Crois River.
In 1606/7, there began the "Ordre de la Bontemps Roule" in Pouticourt's dining room, by Sagamore Memberton, in sincere friendship for the Frenchmen. In 1608, he laid-out the Town of QUEBEC. Samuel de Champlain suggested the precise place where a canal should be dredged and dug (by information from this friendship)...precisely, where 300 years later was the actuality of the Ishmus of Panama.
Between 1606-1610 the total tribe of the Huron converted to Christianity, through Fathers LaFleche, Baud, and Masse.
Unlike the English (of whom the natives were leary), men as Fathers James Marquette, Jolliette and Jorges, the natives WELCOMED! :
"how beautiful the sun is, O Frenchmen, when thou comest to visit us!
All our village awaits thee, and thou shalt enter all our cabins in peace."
In 1613, the English ships destroyed the French houses and settlement at Port Royal, including the entire French Jesuit Mission on MOUNT DESERT ISLAND, off the coast of Maine by fire. In reaction, Cardinal Richelieu organized a "Company of 100 Associates" to colonize the St. Lawrence Valley. The company controlled the trade with the natives of the area, as well as supported the Jesuit missionaries to the native tribes (particularly the Alogonquin and Huron nations) which were opposed by the English controled/influenced Iroquois. The Recollet branch of the Francescan Order arrived in Quebec in 1615. They studied the native cultures and the various tongues amongst them...not only mastering their languages, but making comparative dictionaries, Bible translations and numerous Algonquin/Huron converts. They traveled with the natives, slept and housed with them [quite UNLIKE the English settlers], fought battles with them, cared for their wounded and sick...crossing rivers and lakes far into the Northwest interior mainland of North America. They knew more and dispersed more information , geography and detailed maps than any Englishman of their time. They notated the customs and habits of the native settlements; and sent back continuous reports and letters which became "European Best Sellers" . These publications were known as "The Jesuit Relations", and the peoples (particularly of France) gave these missionaries all their attention and support and prayers.
In 1621, the English invaded again In 1629, the English captured Quebec. Champlain was imprisoned in England. , the new English King of 1632, Charles II gave QUEBEC back to the French: the French regained Arcadia...In 1634 we read of Brebeuf and Devorest.
After returning to rûle as magistrate over QUEBEC, Champlain died on Christmas Day, 1635.
From 1639, under LaClement...'til 1640 (when the Anjou
family from their Orleans seat), Louis XVI gave their former Templar holdings to the Jesuits (whom he considered their heirs)....
David Hackett Fischer, writing from Wayland, Mass.:
The idea was Champlain's, the central figure in New France for three decades, from 1603 to 1635. He had a dream that grew from his experiences in France. As a child in the small seaport of Brouage, he had become accustomed to diversity. As a youth in the province of Saintonge, he lived on the border between different cultures and religions, and moved easily between them.
Born in 1567, he came of age in a time of cruel and bitter conflict. From 1562 to 1629, France suffered through nine civil wars of religion; two million to four million people died - out of a population of 19 million. Champlain was a soldier in these wars. He became a devout Catholic who deeply believed in a universal church that was open to all humanity, and supported Henri IV's policy of religious toleration for Protestants.
He served the king as a soldier and secret agent, working for peace and tolerance in France. He also moved in a circle of French humanists who lived for faith and reason, science and truth. In a troubled time, they kept the vital impulse of humanism alive. These forgotten men inherited the Renaissance and inspired the Enlightenment.
With the king's encouragement Champlain and other like-minded men turned their thoughts to the new world. Champlain traveled through the Spanish Empire,...
...With others in his circle, Champlain planned a New France that would be different from New Spain. On his first visit to North America in 1603, he went unarmed with one French friend and two Indian interpreters into the middle of a huge encampment of Indians from many nations - Montagnais, Algonquin, Etchemin - near the mouth of the Saguenay River.He approached the Indians with respect, joined with them in a long tabagie (tobacco feast) and made an informal alliance that endured for many generations. The same thing happened in 1604, when he made peace with the Penobscot Indians of Maine at a tabagie in what is now downtown Bangor. It happened again with the Micmac of Acadia in 1605 and the Huron and many Algonquin nations after 1608.
All this happened while Champlain was instrumental in founding three French-speaking cultures in North America - Québéçois, Acadian and Métis. These Frenchmen did not try to conquer the Indians and compel them to work, as in New Spain. They did not abuse them as in Virginia, or drive them away as in New England. In the region that began to be known as Canada, small colonies of Frenchmen and large Indian nations lived close to one another in a spirit of amity and concord. This successful partnership was made possible in large measure because of Champlain's dream of humanity....
Champlain's vision of humanity embraced the Indians but not his servants....
