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67-591: It also founded a boarding school for girls' education, and watched over the filles du roi , women immigrants whose passage to the colony was paid by the Crown, which wished to encourage marriages and the development of families in the colony. Some filles de roi and sisters served as missionaries to the First Nations peoples. The community's motherhouse has been based in Montreal for more than 350 years. Marguerite Bourgeoys

134-520: A fille du roi . Research by the historical demographer Yves Landry determines that there were in total about 770 to 850 filles du roi who settled in New France between 1663 and 1673. The title "King's Daughters" was meant to imply state patronage, not royal or noble parentage; most of the women recruited were commoners of humble birth. As a fille du roi , a woman received the king's support in several ways. The king paid one hundred livres to

201-887: A community was established in Troyes, Marguerite Bourgeoys' native city. A second community in France was formed in 1989 in Estissac, where the sisters established the Marguerite Bourgeoys Cultural Centre. As of 2019, there are about 830 members of the congregation. The motherhouse is in Montreal. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Congregation of Notre Dame de Montreal". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. Filles du roi The King's Daughters ( French : filles du roi , or filles du roy in

268-479: A dowry by new recruits. In practice, it prevented attracting women of the lower classes , whose families generally did not have money to contribute. While the new constitution enforced more traditional conditions, the sisters of the CND maintained some seventeenth-century practices. Many of them continued to teach, travel and lend their expertise to other parishes across New France. Schools were essentially administered by

335-616: A farm that would feed the congregation and support its work. In 1668, Bourgeoys purchased the adjoining Maison Saint-Gabriel farm, which the sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame operated for nearly 300 years. It was a temporary home for some of the King's Wards , also called the King's Daughters, or filles du roi. On the property, the sisters produced food and products to support the Congrégation de Notre-Dame, new settlers, and others in need. Today

402-570: A girls' high school in Waterbury, Connecticut was founded. In 1975, it was merged with Holy Cross High School (Connecticut) , administered by the Congregation of Holy Cross . The building was renamed and served as the diocesan Sacred Heart High School . As of 2018, ten sisters of the congregation Notre Dame still ministered in the Waterbury area, in parishes, schools, a prison, and a hospital. In 1981,

469-620: A large family with children "to spare." Officials usually matched women of higher birth with officers or gentlemen living in the colony, sometimes in the hopes that the nobles would marry the young women and be encouraged to stay in Canada rather than return to France. A few women came from other European countries, including Germany, England, and Portugal. The women disembarked in Quebec City , Trois-Rivières , and Montreal . After their arrival, their time to find husbands varied greatly. For some, it

536-496: A mission was established at Sainte Famille on the Island of Orléans. The difficulties of establishing a non-cloistered religious order for women in 17th century New France were considerable. At the time, the church preferred the regimen of the cloistered nun behind the walls of a convent. Before 1698, the first two bishops of Quebec , François de Laval and Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier , were ambivalent about

603-474: A public catholic school in Louisbourg. Concerned about the ethic and moral teaching of girls, Mézy and other local officials turned to Montreal 's Congrégation Notre Dame. The commissaire-ordonnateur suggested that a delegation of religious sisters from the Congrégation should be sent to help educate girls. Finally in 1727 Marguerite Roy and two sisters were sent from Montreal to oversee the teaching of girls in

670-457: A variety of works of mercy. She opened her first school in April 1657, but soon returned to France to recruit assistants; four companions joined her. By 1665, the congregation consisted of Bourgeoys and three other sisters living in Montreal; they taught in a stone building known as the "stable school", established in 1658. The Convent was near the corner of Notre-Dame and Saint Paul Street , in what

737-686: Is now known as Old Montreal . As revealed by its architectural plans, the early convent was a private space, secluded from the public life of Montreal. The convent was placed deeply within its own terrain, and its separation from public life was protected by the Hôtel Dieu and the walls that surrounded it. The sisters were provided protection and seclusion whilst surrounded by the colony's merchants and more rowdy inhabitants, such as soldiers and labourers. In October 1662, Maisonneuve conceded land in Pointe-Saint-Charles to Bourgeoys in order to establish

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804-454: Is the oldest episcopal see in the New World north of Mexico and the primatial see of Canada. The Archdiocese of Quebec is also the metropolitan see of an ecclesiastical province with the suffragan dioceses of Chicoutimi , Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and Trois-Rivières . The archdiocese's cathedral is Notre-Dame de Québec in Quebec City . From the beginning of colonisation of

871-468: The filles du roi were prostitutes has been a rumor ever since the inception of the program in the 17th century. It seems to have arisen from a couple of misconceptions, both contemporary and modern, about immigration to French colonies in the New World. The first of these, which took root long before the first fille du roi emigrated, was that Canada was a penal colony. While there were two campaigns in

938-614: The Baron de Lahontan of his time in New France; several earlier sources made the same assertion, including Saint-Amant, Tallement des Réaux , and Paul LeJeune. In his account, Lahontan refers to the filles du roi as being "of middling virtue", and wrote that they had emigrated in the hopes of religious absolution. As early as 1738, Claude Le Beau countered his portrayal in an account of his own journey to New France, as did Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix in his 1744 work. Out of nearly 800 filles du roi , only one, Catherine Guichelin,

1005-511: The Code of Canon Law , the coadjutor bishop has the right of succession ( cum jure successionis ) upon the death, retirement or resignation of the diocesan bishop he is assisting. All coadjutor ordinaries except for Charles-François Bailly de Messein eventually succeeded to become head of the Archdiocese of Quebec or its antecedent jurisdictions. Unlike coadjutors, auxiliary bishops do not have

1072-613: The French East India Company for each woman's crossing, as well as furnishing her trousseau . The Crown also paid a dowry for each woman; this was originally set at four hundred livres, but as the Treasury could not spare such an expense, many were simply paid in kind. Those chosen to be among the filles du roi and allowed to emigrate to New France were held to scrupulous standards, which were based on their "moral calibre" and whether they were physically fit enough to survive

1139-675: The Indigenous populations . In 1615, the Recollet missionaries arrived in Québec, followed by the Jesuit missionaries 10 years later. Their presence would help drive the colonies, giving the colonizers a moral reason for their presence, as well as giving the Church an influential position in domestic and local policy. In 1658, the Church would establish an apostolic vicariate by Pope Alexander VII , 124 years since

1206-522: The Maison Saint-Gabriel , a large farmhouse in which to house them. The program was a resounding success. It was reported that in 1670, most of the girls who had arrived the previous year, 1669, were already pregnant and by 1671, a total of nearly 700 children were born to the filles du roi . The colony was expected to gain population self-sufficiency soon afterward. By the end of 1671, Talon suggested that it would not be necessary to sponsor

1273-454: The New World , the Church influenced the politics and policies of New France . Even during the first voyages of Jacques Cartier in the 16th century, missionary priests would accompany the explorers on their voyages to the New World. After two failed attempts to settle in Acadia , in 1608, Québec City was founded by Samuel de Champlain , giving the Church a solid base to spread the faith to

1340-620: The Seminary of Québec . In 1674, with the population of New France growing rapidly and the Seminary of Québec enrolling more students, Pope Clement X elevated the apostolic vicariate to a diocese , which would depend directly on the Holy See ; this provision would later secure its permanence after New France passed into the hands of Great Britain in 1760. At its peak, in 1712, the Diocese of Québec covered

1407-686: The Test Oath which denounced their faith. Because almost all the colonists were French-speaking Catholics, the Test Oath prevented the local population from participating in local politics. However, in 1774, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act that allowed Québec to restore the use of French customary law (" Coutume de Paris ") in private matters alongside the British common law system, and allowed

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1474-693: The externe Congregation at Troyes. As Bourgeoys helped in the Congregation of Notre Dame, she had a vision of a new kind of religious community for women, who would be active and among those who needed their help, and not cloistered in a convent. She modeled it after that of the Canonesses of Mattaincourt. In 1653, Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve , founder of Ville Marie ( Montreal ), visited Troyes, and invited Bourgeoys to Ville Marie to teach. She sailed from France in June of that year, and upon arrival devoted her time to

1541-408: The Archdiocese of Quebec to serve under Lacroix. They were ordained to the episcopacy as Auxiliary Bishops of Quebec on February 25, 2012. On May 4, 2015, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Grondin as Archbishop of Rimouski . On July 2, 2016, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Proulx as Bishop of Gaspé . On October 25, 2016, the same pope appointed Louis Corriveau and Marc Pelchat as Auxiliary Bishops of

1608-518: The Archdiocese of Quebec’s 350th anniversary celebrations on September 20–22. Since 24 January 1956, the Archbishop of Quebec has the ceremonial title of Primate of Canada; the title was given to the reigning Archbishop of Quebec by Pope Pius XII . Built in 1693 to 1694 on order by Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier , the Chapel of Bishop's Palace was a private place of worship for

1675-595: The Bishop of Quebec and located within the residence (or Bishop's Palace). Following the British conquest the chapel was leased to Legislative Council of the Province of Quebec from 1777 to 1791 and successors Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada and Legislative Council of Lower Canada from 1791 to 1833. The chapel was demolished in 1831 to build a new addition where the two legislative houses met from 1834 to 1839. The new addition and bishop's residence would survive until it

1742-472: The Church to collect tithes on Roman Catholics businesses and property. In 1819, the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese . By 1840, political leaders formally recognized the Church. The Archdiocese of Québec was split into new dioceses as the population increased. It lost large pieces of its territory with the formation of the Dioceses of Halifax and Kingston in 1817, the Diocese of Charlottetown in 1829,

1809-509: The Diocese of St. Boniface in 1844 and the Diocese of Montréal in 1852. It is common, but not inherent to the title, for the Archbishops of Québec to either be named to the cardinalate while serving or when transferred to a larger archdiocese or to a post in the Roman Curia . On 17 September 2024, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Jean-Marc Aveline as the Holy See ’s special envoy for

1876-580: The New World. To increase the French population and the number of families, the Intendant of New France , Jean Talon , proposed that the king sponsor passage of at least 500 women. The king agreed, and eventually, nearly twice the number were recruited. They were predominantly between the ages of 12 and 25, and many had to supply a letter of reference from their parish priest before they would be chosen for immigration to New France. They were intended to marry men in

1943-619: The Paris area, 16 per cent from Normandy and 13 per cent from western France. Most came from urban areas, with the Hôpital-Général de Paris and the Saint-Sulpice parish being big contributors. Many were orphans with meagre personal possessions, and with a relatively low level of literacy. Socially, the young women came from different backgrounds but were all very poor. They might have been from an elite family that had lost its fortune, or from

2010-794: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec and Primate of Canada. As archbishop, he succeeds Marc Ouellet , his former superior, who became the prefect of one of the Roman Curia's most important administrative departments, the Sacred Congregation for Bishops , in July 2010. Lacroix is a member of the Quebec-based Saint Pope Pius X Secular Institute . Lacroix was born in Saint-Hilaire-de-Dorset, Quebec , on July 27, 1957,

2077-504: The church. Cultivation of the human heart was considered the first step in the education process. Christian moral principles were taught to the children who attended religious schools in New France . Eighteenth-century formal education was intended to produce a civilized Christian population. Nearly all the teachers in New France belonged to the clergy, as evidenced by the 1727 ordinance issued in Canada. This document stated that all teachers in

Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal - Misplaced Pages Continue

2144-432: The colony in order to establish families and more farms. Marguerite Bourgeoys was the first person to use the expression filles du roi in her writings. A distinction was made between King's Daughters, who were transported to New France and received a dowry at the king's expense, and women who emigrated voluntarily using their own money. Other historians used chronological frameworks to determine who could be called

2211-421: The colony needed approval from the Bishop of Quebec. Teachers' methods and material were closely monitored by their parish's priest. At this time there was no formal education system in the colony of Île Royale. Founded in 1713, Île Royale comprised French-occupied areas of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island . While preparing the colony's establishment in 1713, the minister of the marine never once discussed

2278-620: The colony. Very shortly after arriving, they established a school and took 22 girls under their wing. The bishops of Quebec saw this as an urgent cause, particularly Bishop Saint-Vallier showed great concern about the moral instruction and upbringing of girls raised in the colony. However, financial difficulties complicated the task, as the sisters needed to purchase a house in which they would teach. The sisters sold straw pallets to soldiers in order to supplement their income. The religious brothers were much wealthier, and their teaching benefited from more resources and superior infrastructure. Ile Royale

2345-579: The community had received the approbation of François de Laval , Bishop of Quebec, Bourgeoys wanted to have the character of non-enclosure and simple vows embodied in a rule. To confer with the bishop, who was in France, she undertook a third journey to Europe. After returning the next year, she resisted numerous attempts made in the next few years to merge her new order with the cloistered Ursulines , or otherwise to change its original character. Notre Dame houses were opened at Pointe-aux-Trembles, near Montreal, at Lachine, at Champlain and Château Richer. In 1685

2412-447: The congregation. They did not understand the need to remain uncloistered. But they recognized that the colony needed teachers who could travel. They counted on Bourgeoys and her sisters to reach the small and dispersed population of New France (Quebec) in these early years. The sisters reached children in parishes between Quebec and Montreal and beyond. If women were to be the educators, Laval and Saint-Vallier reluctantly recognized that

2479-550: The eldest son in a family of seven children. At the age of 8, his family settled in Manchester , largest city of New Hampshire (in the U.S.), where he attended the parochial elementary school of Saint Anthony of Padua and Trinity High School . He studied one year at Saint Anselm College in neighboring Goffstown . He joined the Pius X Secular Institute as a consecrated lay member in 1975, and made perpetual vows in 1982. The same year, he

2546-601: The entire American continent to the Gulf of Mexico. Only the British colonies that would later become the United States and the Spanish colony of Florida were not under the authority of the Bishop of Quebec. Under British rule, the peoples of Québec were discriminated against in respect of their Catholic faith and their language. Any person in the Empire wanting to take a position had to take

2613-469: The establishment of schools. He believed that the Récollets missionaries would open colonial parish schools. By the mid 1720s, there were still no established schools in the community, but more than 300 children. Conflicting opinions between local and royal officials led locals to take the matter of education into their own hands. Imperial officials refused the commisonnaire-ordonnateur Mézy's demand to establish

2680-462: The family and returned to France. She later gave birth to many children out of wedlock. Guichelin had at least two marriage contracts cancelled. She also wed twice more after returning to Sorel, Quebec , then Montreal . The ships carrying the filles du roi would travel up the Saint Lawrence River , stopping first at Quebec City, then at Trois-Rivières , and lastly at Montreal. Because

2747-499: The first voyage of Jacques Cartier in 1534. The vicar apostolic was François de Laval . As the vicar apostolic of Québec, Laval was a central member of the Sovereign Council of New France . Arguably, while he was charged with only the spiritual matters of New France, he had the most influence as he was the highest representative of the Church, as well as having excellent relations with King Louis XIV . In 1663, Laval would establish

Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal - Misplaced Pages Continue

2814-402: The government and whose travel to the colony was paid for by the king. They were also occasionally known as the King's Wards . Age distribution of the filles du roi 1663–1673; most were young women aged between 16 and 25 New France, at its start, was populated mostly by men: soldiers, fur traders, and missionary priests. Settlers began to develop farms and by the mid-17th century, there

2881-408: The hard work demanded by life as a colonist. The colonial officials sent several of the filles du roi back to France because they were deemed below the standards set out by the king and the intendant of New France. As was the case for most emigrants who went from France to New France, 80 per cent of the filles du roi were from Paris, Normandy and the western regions. Almost half were from

2948-576: The journey. Others returned to France to marry, and a few remained single. Prior to the King's Daughters, the women who immigrated to Ville-Marie, otherwise known as Montreal , had been recruited by the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal founded in 1641 in Paris. Amongst these women were Jeanne Mance and Marguerite Bourgeoys. When the first filles du roi arrived in Montreal, they were taken in by Bourgeoys. Initially, there were no comfortable lodgings to receive them, but in 1668 Bourgeoys procured

3015-540: The latter half of the nineteenth century, missions were established in various parishes of the Provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and in the United States. Many academies and schools were also opened in the city of Montreal. In 1908 the Notre-Dame Congregation founded Notre Dame Ladies College, now known as Marianopolis College . In 1926 Waterbury Catholic High School,

3082-406: The liberty to annul the promise of marriage if the man they had chosen proved incompatible. A substantial number of the filles du roi who arrived in New France between 1669 and 1671 cancelled marriage contracts; perhaps the dowry they had received made them disinclined to retain a fiancé with whom they found themselves dissatisfied. An early problem in recruitment was the women's adjustment to

3149-464: The marriage banns customarily were to be published three times before a wedding could take place, the colony's need for women to marry quickly led to few filles du roi having marriage banns announced. It is known that 737 of these filles du roi were married in New France. The marriage contracts represented a protection for the women, both in terms of financial security if anything were to happen to them or their husband, and in terms of having

3216-452: The mid-17th century that involved the immigration of French criminals to Canada in exchange for their records being expunged, they were both short-lived. These programs resulted in little more than setting a precedent for viewing Canada as a place where those "of questionable morality" could be sent for one reason or another. The popularization of the idea that the filles du roi in particular were prostitutes can be traced to an account by

3283-418: The new agricultural life. As Saint Marie de L'Incarnation wrote, the filles du roi were mostly town girls, and only a few knew how to do manual farm work. This problem remained but, in later years, more rural girls were recruited. There were approximately 300 recruits who did not marry in New France. Some had a change of heart before embarking from the ports of Normandy and never left, while some died on

3350-475: The passage of girls for the next year, and the king accepted his advice. The migration briefly resumed in 1673, when the king sent 60 more girls at the request of Buade de Frontenac , the new governor, but that was the last under the Crown's sponsorship. Of the approximately 835 marriages of immigrants in the colony during this period, 774 included a fille du roi . By 1672, the population of New France had increased to 6,700, from 3,200 in 1663. The idea that

3417-575: The prettiest of the girls would have the easiest time finding a husband, many of these immigrants settled in Quebec City, the first port of call. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec The Archdiocese of Québec ( Latin : Archidiœcesis Quebecensis ; French : Archidiocèse de Québec ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Quebec , Canada. It

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3484-461: The property has been developed as a living museum of farming and historic times. The property, outbuildings and grounds have been restored and expanded. The museum houses some 15,000 artifacts recreating the feel of the house from the 17th and 18th century. The congregation received civil recognition in 1671 from King Louis XIV and was granted official status by the Catholic Church in 1698. This

3551-427: The right of succession, per canon 975, §1 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law . Four auxiliaries went on to become Archbishop of Quebec. On February 22, 2011, Vatican Information Service (VIS) and Catholic News Service (CNS), announced that Pope Benedict XVI had named the 53-year-old Bishop Gérald Lacroix , until then an Auxiliary Bishop (assistant bishop) of Quebec (since 2009), as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of

3618-430: The right to officially declare vows , necessary to gain legitimacy in the frontier society and grow as an organization. It required the sisters to be obedient to and report directly to the bishop of Quebec. The document also required them to take solemn vows, attacked their more secular activities in the convent, and instituted the requirement of a dowry to be donated by new sisters. After a few years' resistance, in 1698

3685-476: The school. Along with the religious obligations mandatory in all parish-run schools in New France, religious texts enabled girls to learn how to read and write. Some math was also taught, although limited. The education given to girls under the sisters of Congrégation Notre-Dame in Ile Royale was considered adequate by the standards of the era. Students of the school had to follow a consistent weekly schedule. During

3752-468: The sisters had to accept Saint-Vallier's constitution; it had traditional requirements that had long been enforced in Europe. The nuns were to take vows, including a traditional one of stability. This meant that women could not leave the convent at will. The constitution created a hierarchical divide, also traditional, between the women who had taken their vows and those who had not. The bishop imposed payment of

3819-404: The sisters needed to be able to travel and live outside a convent. The sisters were allowed to live a relatively uncloistered life. By 1694 Bishop Saint-Vallier sent the congregation a new constitution that imposed more restrictions. Having enjoyed certain freedoms for approximately forty years, the sisters resisted more restrictive and conventional rules. The constitution afforded the congregation

3886-447: The spelling of the era) were the approximately 800 young French women who immigrated to New France between 1663 and 1673 as part of a program sponsored by King Louis XIV . The program was designed to boost New France's population both by encouraging Frenchmen to move to the New World, and by promoting marriage, family formation, and the birth of French children in the colony. The term refers to those women and girls who were recruited by

3953-450: Was canonized in 1982 by the Catholic Church and is Canada's first woman saint. The Congrégation Notre-Dame was a women's religious order created in France by Pierre Fourier and Alix Le Clerc , committed to education. Following a spiritual experience in 1640 and a long search for a place within the more conventional contemplative, cloistered women's religious communities, Bourgeoys joined

4020-439: Was 40 years after its founding and two years before the death of Marguerite Bourgeoys. In 1675 Bourgeoys built a chapel dedicated to Notre Dame de Bon Secours. To ensure greater freedom of action for her congregation, Bourgeoys founded an uncloistered community, its members bound by simple vows. They generally instructed children and aided the pastors in the various parishes where convents of the order had been established. Although

4087-592: Was a poor religious community, low income, debt and budget issues were a consistent problem for the sisters of the Congrégation Notre-Dame well into 1753. Despite the restricted the number of girls admitted by the sisters, many girls from the colony of Ile Royale were instructed successfully by sisters from the Congrégation Notre-Dame. Consistent with the era, instruction in morality and Christian ethics remained more important than education in reading and writing. Both female day students and boarders benefited from

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4154-440: Was a severe imbalance between single men and women in New France. The small number of female immigrants had to pay their own passage, and few single women wanted to leave home to move and settle in the harsh climate and conditions of New France. At the same time, officials noted the population growth of the competing English colonies, which had more families, and they worried about France's ability to maintain its territorial claims in

4221-428: Was as short as a few months, while others took two or three years before finding an appropriate husband. For the process of choosing a husband, and the marriage, most couples would officially get engaged in church, with their priest and witnesses present. Then, some couples went in front of the notary, to sign a marriage contract. Marriages were celebrated by the priest, usually in the woman's parish of residence. While

4288-420: Was charged with prostitution while living in Canada, after she was abandoned by her husband. She appeared before the Sovereign Council of New France under the charge of carrying out "a scandalous life and prostitution" on 19 August 1675. Her two children were "adopted" by friends, and she was banished from Quebec City. She was reported to have turned to prostitution after her husband, Nicholas Buteau, abandoned

4355-476: Was demolished in 1852–1853. A new bishop's residence by Thomas Baillarge was built in 1844 to 1847 slight north. Preparing for the return of Parliament to Quebec City, a new parliamentary building was completed from 1853 to 1854 on Côte de la Montagne, but it burned down shortly after. Parliament relocated within the city to Quebec Music Hall and Quebec City Courthouse until capital rotated out again. Rebuilt by 1860 and served Parliament until 1866. The building

4422-605: Was named secretary general of the institute. He earned a master's degree in pastoral theology at Laval University , and from 1985 to 1987, directed the La Maison du Renouveau, a formation and Christian renewal centre. He was ordained a priest on October 8, 1988, in the parish of Notre-Dame-de-la-Recouvrance . He was ordained to the episcopacy as Auxiliary Bishop of Quebec on May 24, 2009. On December 12, 2011, Pope Benedict appointed Gaetan Proulx and Denis Grondin Jr. as Auxiliary Bishops of

4489-465: Was repurposed as Parliament of the new province of Quebec in 1867. A fire destroyed this building in 1883 and decision was made to relocate to the nearly complete new home which had begun construction since 1877. The burned-out building was demolished by 1894. Today the old Parliament site is now home to Parc Montmorency . Below is a list of individuals who have led the Archdiocese of Quebec and its antecedent jurisdictions since its founding. Under

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