The Hardships and Headlines in New France

 

 

Posted 11 April 1701:  Introducing The Hardships and Headlines in New France

Welcome to the new investigative journal for the colony of New France! In this journal we will provide you, the population of France, with the happenings in New France. We will focus on the key events occurring, and the valued opinions of the Jesuit missionaries that bravely crossed to the Americas to tame the savages.

Update Posted: 18 April 1702: In the first special edition of the journal, today’s post is witchcraft! As we have been witnesses to across our country, the colony of New France has begun to experience witchcraft accusations and trials, and we at Hardships and Headlines in New France, have the latest.

With the population of the colony of New France slowly growing, readers in France should become aware of the happenings across the Atlantic Ocean. The witchcraft problem has notably followed travellers to the Americas, and we are beginning to hear whispers of demonic actions and the Devil’s influence there. This blog will inform readers of everything that has been going on in New France and surrounding areas over the last century. A known Ursuline nun, Marie de L’Incarnation has claimed that she began observing strange events following the arrival of a ship carrying new colonists in the year 1660 (Pelchat). At this time, New France consisted of a tiny population of 3 200 French settlers and fear ruled the colony (Pelchat). Marie L’Incarnation wrote a letter to her son that he provided to us. The letter claims that “it was discovered that there are sorcerers and magicians in this country” (Pelchat). In 1660 Marie also witnessed the demonic attack on young Barbe Hallay, claiming the “man was a wizard” who, when faced by Hallay’s refusal, he “achieved his ends through the ruses of his diabolical art” (Pelchat). Read on in the Presence of Demons in New France section to find out more!

The Jesuits arrival in New France ­­­in 1611 accompanied a plan to introduce Christianity to the Native Huron and Montagnais people which included the enforcement of European gender norms (Lindman 201). This emphasized male dominance and female submission (Lindman 201). The male dominance created a new dynamic that highlights the increase in male witchcraft accusations because of the larger population of male settlers. The witchcraft trials in New France most closely resemble those in the Normandy region of France. Trials for male witchcraft, most notably in Normandy throughout the sixteenth century, have tended to be more severe, with trials lasting longer (Monter 563). Norman witchcraft became masculinized after 1615 as well as an escalated concern about witches’ apostasy (Monter 588). In the Normandy region of New France, the Rouen Parlement shows that between 1564 and 1660, of the 380 known witchcraft defendants, three quarters were men (Monter 564). This is seen in the French Colony of New France as well, listed throughout this blog are the cases of male witchcraft overseas. Contrary to most of France, the beliefs of old, widowed women being the practitioners of witchcraft still exist, but the usual targets do not live in New France (Pearl 53).

The Ile d’Orleans near Quebec City serves as a knowledgeable location to learn about the future of the colony; however, the population is afraid of the Devil’s power and are spreading information about the demonic possession of dying individuals, despite what the prophets of Ile d’Orleans claim (Pearl 45). The people of this isle believe that the Devil can disguise himself in vulnerable situations when someone attempts to fetch a priest, so that he may possess the dying soul without the priest’s absolution (Pearl 45). Demonic presence was most noticeable through the manifestation of dreams in which the devil created feasts and banquets in order to recruit new witches (Cowan 219). The demons in New France have notably progressed from the devil’s role that we are aware of, as they are known to be able to speak Indigenous languages, accept gifts of tobacco, and demand offerings of Native armor in New France (Cowan 221). These descriptions of the Devil vary greatly from what we have seen in Europe.

 

Posted 18 April 1701: The Influence of the French

“The colonists brought their demons with them” (Pearl 44)

In both New France and France some accusations of witchcraft fall onto the men. Normandy has become the most notable region of masculine witchcraft. Recently we have received word of Frenchmen who have crossed over to New France and brought with them their cultural and religious values, including the belief of the supernatural and evilly inclined people who are able to manipulate supernatural and natural forces to harm enemies and society (Pearl 44). When looking to France for guidance on how to handle the witch trials, New France leans towards moderation and scepticism involving witchcraft. Reports from the region have stated that the villagers are closed off and suspicious due to their fear of strangers. Their version of the Devil is reflected in song, story, and art as a handsome, well-dressed stranger that can seduce the unsuspecting (Pearl 49).

The following excerpts provide the cultural context of New France throughout the last several decades.

Posted 18 April 1701 Catholicism

The Society of Jesus was founded in 1540 to reconquer souls lost to Protestantism (Moogk 253). The men needed for the Canadian mission were recruited to be “persons who are dead to themselves and to the world; men truly Apostolic, who seek God alone, and the salvation of souls, who love with real love the Cross [of suffering] and self-mortification; who do not spare themselves;… let them be men whose sole satisfaction is in God and to whom suffering is the greatest delight” (Moogk 253).

The Church in New France is constantly attempting to recruit more priests from the French government. Due to the spread-out nature of the settlers and the few available priests, the priests travel long distances throughout the year to bring the Church sacraments to the inhabitants (Pearl 46). These difficulties created religious ignorance and indifference that can lead to the belief of magic and superstition that the over-extended priests must work to reduce (Pearl 47). The desperation for more priests in the colony has created a paranoia that runs rampant as rumors continue to spread containing the whisperings of demons and sorcery.

Posted 18 April 1701: Incoming Jesuit Missionaries

In their attempts to convert the Indians across the ocean, the Jesuit missionaries have encountered a new range of demonology. The lack of existing religious markers in the colonies has created skepticism over the years that has escalated into the acknowledgement that the devil is being worshipped through the Indigenous spiritual world in New France. Jesuit missionary, Paul Le Jeune, has described New France as the ‘Empire of Satan’, while his colleagues have called different French regions the ‘Devil’s kingdom,’ or the Huron people as ‘slaves of the Devil’ (Goddard 40). Jesuits have been convinced that natives in New France created a fertile ground for the demon, which now plagues the inhabitants from France (Goddard 41). The Devil occupies an area in the various encounters between natives and Europeans that is unknown to those witnessing this. As a result of this new phenomena, Jesuit missionaries are forced to re-examine and approach the paranoia surrounding these strange people differently than they might have in France. In this approach, the missionaries use the Devil’s appearance to explain mysterious phenomena; however, the Devil does not get held responsible for the spiritual condition of his victims (Goddard 42). The Jesuits tend to hold one of two opinions on the existence of the Devil within the French Colonies. Paul Le Jeune, Jean de Brebeuf, and Paul Ragueneau have compiled an analysis of native life examining how they do things differently from colonizers, emphasizing the fraudulent claims of the supernatural. While others, like Jerome Lalemant in Huron country states that the Devil is completely responsible for native recalcitrance (Goddard 43). These opposing views have created turmoil among settlers as they fret about the threat presented by the rumors of native witchcraft.

Missionaries have found that the Devil acts as a reminder of their superior vocation, reserving the right that they could imaginatively evoke him in any situation (Goddard 45). Some Jesuit missionaries have described the native ceremonies in Canada as Sabbats or witches’ Sabbaths which confirms our suspicions about witchcraft existing across the Ocean (Goddard 53). Missionaries in New France are more empirical and therefore prefer the reports of eyewitnesses to hearsay, focusing on questioning their informants intently, gaining the firsthand accounts we have received from the Relations (Goddard 49). The Jesuit Relations inform France on the missionaries’ encounters while they are within the colonies across the Atlantic. The Jesuits believe that demons were adapting to the different cultures they encounter to draw more souls into an allegiance (Cowan 212). Jesuit informers are participating in a worldwide, cosmic battle against the devil and his forces (Cowan 217). Due to the isolation of our colony in terms of the physical, social, and spiritual aspects, and the lack of priests available, the missionaries are unable to assume a dominion over their subjects and instead find themselves to be hostages of the fur trade and military alliance (Goddard 49). As a result of this, the missionaries have been facing extra challenges as they develop both the religious foundation while also progressing the economy and government. In this way, the missionaries have been unable to reassure their followers and therefore the overall mindset of New France is focused on industry, allowing for fears and anxieties to surface within communities.

The following excerpts describe statements and experiences from various Jesuit missionaries in New France:

Paul Ragueneau, superior of the Huron mission is careful to distinguish between natural happenings and supernatural. Of the native people he has examined, he did not believe fully that any of them meddle in the ‘trade of hell’ (Cowan 226). Although he has also stated that he believes that the devil seen Old France getting torn apart by its children and then wished to destroy the New (Cowan 216).

Father Le Jeune, the Superior of the Canadian Jesuit mission has described his region of New France as ‘Satan’s Empire’ (Labelle 139). Le Jeune initially believed that Indians in North America fabricate their tales in order to scare new inhabitants away from desirable hunting grounds. Father Le Jeune describes a story about people who were devoured by devils shaped like animals and explains how this would scare newcomers away. However, over time, Le Jeune, changed his stance. Initially he believed that the devil fooled the Montagnais Indian people, but changed his mind and eventually believed that the Montagnais were in direct communication with the devil (Cowan 222).

Jean de Brebeuf believes there is a definitive possibility of diabolic contact in the colonies and that the Wendat healers are sorcerers with access to the devil (Cowan 223). Jean de Brebeuf witnessed some Wendat ceremonies including a Feast of the Dead which showed many similarities to Christian practices. In these ceremonies, de Brebeuf tended to consistently see a capacity for conversion, focusing his views on Indigenous people on the likelihood of their conversion (Cowan 223).

Jerome Lalemant of the Huron mission details the encounter he was told of from a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old who is seeking baptism from the Jesuits in his 1642 entry for The Jesuit Relations. While fasting in the woods, the youth heard a voice from heaven and saw an old man descend from the sky, and the man foretold things of the youth and his family’s future. Then, the man presented him with human flesh, from which the youth turned away in horror, so the man replaced it with a bear flesh offering instead. Once the youth accepted, the man, who Lalemant claims was a demon, went back to the sky. In his claims, the youth mentions that all the predictions have since come true (Cowan 224).

The Jesuit missionaries’ various accounts inform our readers in France of the existence of demons in North America. This confirms our beliefs that the demons are the same as those across Europe; however, we are now aware that the demons and the Devil are willing and able to change to accommodate the Indigenous North America conditions (Cowan 238). This revelation creates a new dynamic in the developing communities and the Jesuit’s approach to their followers.

Posted 11 April 1702: Types of Magic

To preface next week’s special edition of witchcraft trials, here is a description of New World sorcerie.

The difference between witchcraft and sorcery is significant when looking at the cases in New France. With witchcraft relying on an innate power that one possesses within their body, while sorcery relies on the manipulation of medicines and spells (Labelle 138). The Acadians within the colonies appear to have their own definitions of sorcery in which the sorcier obtains power through selling their soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge that will allow them to bewitch people and animals. It is believed they got this power from Natives that they encountered and shared their supernatural knowledge (Labelle 138). Jesuit missionaries have deemed Native populations in the colonies as suspected Devil worshippers based on their shamanistic practices (Labelle 138).

Shamans have been labelled by missionaries as sorciers, Magiciens, and other magic-implying names (Goddard 54). Le Jeune suspects that ‘the sorcerer invents every day some new contrivance to keep his people in a state of agitation, and to make himself popular’ (Goddard 54). This implies that the popularity of the Devil in New France allows him to shift and stay relevant in the vulnerable colony. As well, charms, spells, rituals, and songs that are being practised by these sorcerers have been denounced as misplaced faith because when these sorcerers tell the Savages something, they always obey (Goddard 55).

 

Posted 18 April 1702: Trial Procedure in New France:

The Société de Notre Dame founded seigneurial courts within different regions that tried the varying witchcraft trials in New France (Girard 95). The Conseil souverain is the supreme court for all New France and is responsible for hearing the appeals from seigneurial courts (Girard 96). The division of New France falls into three administrative areas that are Quebec, Trois-Rivieres, and Montreal (Girard 96). These three cities are a fair distance apart and therefore require their own administration. Since these city’s legal administration are larger, they also have cases referred to them from the small communities. The areas with low numbers of settlers seen it as uneconomical to hold their own seigneurial court in these cases, so the accused can instead be referred to the Prevote de Quebec (Girard 100). In each of these jurisdictions, the appointed judge was called the lieutenant civil et criminal and in Montreal and Quebec, he is assisted by a deputy judge and a variety of judicial auxiliaries (Girard 97). The delegation of resources shows how the lack of resources in the colonies results in the transference of court cases so that they can be handled appropriately. The colonies of New France are under control of the French Crown, specifically Louis XIV. The King remains the supreme law and his laws are applicable in both new and old France (Girard 102). Royal courts had communications with other jurisdictions. The royal courts also heard appeals from the smaller districts and the seigneurial courts, like in the following case of Vuil.

The more severe criminal matters in New France were treated following the French inquisitorial process and were subject to automatic review by the Conseil souverain in Quebec (Girard 121). This court is responsible for ensuring that proper punishment is carried out. Serious offences in New France face extreme punishments like execution or a ritual form of penance called amende honorable, where they must beg for the king and God’s forgiveness (Girard 125). Banishment was a more common punishment for those found guilty of witchcraft than execution was; this was the case in both France and New France. French courts also outlawed spectral evidence which includes ‘swimming’ a witch or finding a witch’s mark which tends to not be practiced in New France either (Pettigrew). Conviction instead needed to include tangible evidence, like the physical poison to be presented in court or witness testimonies.

Posted 18 April 1702: Neighboring Relations

A brief example of the practices of the seigneurial courts of New France is demonstrated by the neighboring province of Acadia. The following details the witchcraft case of Jean Campagnard and the witness accounts and punishment.

The accused and their trials in the Maritimes were brought to Quebec City for discipline, emphasizing how the French authorities took the accusations seriously. The French Crown has established complex legal procedures in place in order to put an end to the witch hunts on our soil and those beliefs spread to the new country with the Acadian and French settlers (Labelle 142). In 1685, Jean Campagnard, a forty-five-year-old plowman from Acadia, was tried after being accused of using sorcery to kill a father and daughter. In court, Campagnard was asked about the specific events that had occurred in 1678. Specifically, about blowing a material into the eyes of Francois Pellerin before his death. Many witnesses came forward with various accounts about their cattle dying, and various threats from Campagnard. Quebec’s Sovereign Council heard the case on appeal and quashed the seigneurial court’s sentence for witchcraft (Moogk 243).

Special Edition Posted: 18 April 1702: Presence of Demons in New France

Over the last two editions Hardships and Headlines in New France has provided background details contextualizing the environment and experiences of life in the Americas. Now that the previous journals have set the framework for the religious implications, what New France witchcraft looks like, and the trial procedure, it is time to look at the accusations and trials themselves.

Rene Besnard dit Bourjoly, Montreal, 1657: a disappointed suitor has been brought before the seigneurial court of Montreal. He has been accused of casting the spell nouer l’aiguilette which has become feared throughout France (Pearl 43). The spell was cast on newlyweds Pierre Gadois and Marie Pontonnier. The spell consists of an incantation over a string knotted three times, intended to represent Gadois’ penis (Moogk 237). Besnard was accused by the couple, one being his former sweetheart, of causing “perpetual impotence caused by malefice” (Pearl 43). His defense is that he was joking and was just attempting to frighten his rival, and this may have protected him from the usual capital punishments for witchcraft (Pearl 43). He has been found guilty by Montreal’s seigneurial court, fined, and banished from the city to Trois-Rivieres (Moogk 237). Besnard was interrogated about his conversations with Pontonnier and admits that he had told her that he would remove the spell effects if she would have him to her house while her husband was gone, admitting that “yes I did say that, but not because I did the magic—it was only because I wanted to enjoy her.” (Pettigrew).

Evidence: Pierre Gadois and Marie Pontonnier: newlywed couple that accused Besnard of spelling them. Had been married for three years and had been unable to produce a child. This was following repeated marriage blessings from a Bishop. Their marriage was annulled after the three years (Moogk 237). They have since remarried other and gave birth to children, proving the success of Besnard’s spell on their relationship.

 

Daniel Vuil, or Will, Beauport (Quebec City), 1661: a miller accused of influencing the demonic possession of sixteen-year-old Barbe Hallay has been tried and found guilty of blasphemy, profaning the sacraments and false conversion from Protestantism (Pearl 43). He has been shot in Quebec City, rather than the usual punishment of banishment (Pearl 44). The colony’s authorities determined that Vuil was the one who caused Hallay’s issues, based on the fact that the girl says his spectre has been appearing to her (Pelchat). Magistrates appear to have an increasing reluctance to punish people for witchcraft; however, Jesuit writers like Bishop Laval, have now recounted his actions. Vuil was deemed a “relapsed heretic, blasphemer, and profaner of the sacraments” and is excommunicated for selling liquor to Amerindians. In 1661, civil authorities executed Will for “having traded brandy with the Indians” and his blasphemies against the church (Moogk 245).

Evidence: Barbe Hallay, 1658: Claims Vuil tried to seduce her, but she refused, while on the ship from Europe. Sister Fr. Gariepy states that the colony was aware of everything going on with Barbe Hallay and was also aware that the miller, Daniel Vuil, was wanting to marry Barbe Hallay (Carrier). Later in the year, the manor house Hallay was working in was infested and stones flew from all sides as if they were thrown by invisible hands (Pelchat). Paul Ragueneau has recorded that Hallay also experienced demonic visions that included demons that appeared in various shapes such as men, women, children, beasts, hellish spectres, while some also spoke through her mouth without using her voice (Pelchat). Barbe’s residence was changed a few times to test if the location was what was spelled but the same occurrences happened in each location (Carrier). Barbe ended up in the Convent of the Religious Hospitallers of Quebec and in the care of Mother Catherine of Saint Augustine who was ready to relieve Barbe of her possession through her Christian heart, finally protecting Barbe after sewing her into a bag (Pelchat). Hallay then regained her health and is living out her life.

 

Anne Lamarque, Montreal, 1682: a tavern-keeper accused of witchcraft in 1682 in Montreal, as well as debauchery, adultery, and suspected infanticide. Lamarque also supposedly possesses a book of magic and spells (Pettigrew). Her defense was that it was the book is a treatise on herbs and medicine. Lamarque was acquitted and escaped banishment due to high-placed friends (Pelchat).

Evidence: Anne Lamarque’s neighbors have testified about how often her husband is at the house, how often she takes walks with potential lovers, how often certain men walk in and out of her tavern and about her possession of a magic book (Pettigrew). The doctor has seen and read some of Lamarque’s grimoire, the passage he read has to do with “making people love you” and that the book had Latin, French, and Greek mixed together (Pettigrew).

 

Jean Boudor, Montreal, 1680s: a well-connected merchant, charged with blasphemy following a dinner party in Montreal in the 1680s. The entertainment for his party came when his inebriated servant passed out and Boudor set up a crucifix, positioning his servant as Christ and made a play to resurrect him using cold water (Pettigrew).

Evidence: Numerous attendees from Jean Boudor’s dinner party witnessed the act and complained to the Montreal judiciary (Pettigrew).

 

Unnamed Soldiers, Trois Rivieres, 1699: Three soldiers were caught with love spells in their pockets in 1699 in Trois Rivieres and have been charged with witchcraft. The spells were small scrolls with words written on them, presumably, Latin written backwards. One paper was a stated to be a “note for magic” and others “to maintain an erection” (Moogk 236). The magistrate caught these soldiers through their blasphemy of the holy name of God and the uttering of other curses. Two of the soldiers were sent to Quebec where they faced the Sovereign Council that fined them for their public scandal and set them free. The third soldier, who was the originator of the magic notes, tried to hang himself upon being separated from a girl he claims he had “an excessive passion of love.” As a result of his attempted suicide, he was publicly flogged and exiled, escaping a witchcraft trial (Moogk 236).

 

 

Posted 18 April 1701:

In conclusion to the two week segment on witchcraft in New France, read the wrap up below:

Witchcraft in New France differs drastically from anything we have experienced in France. Thankfully, with the help of the good Catholic Faith, the Jesuit missionaries, and the settlers have been able to send the accusations to the courts where justice was served through banishment or execution. Proudly, we French are able to see our influence in our people that bravely crossed the ocean and we can only hope the colony continues to prosper under our guidance.

Merci d’avoir lu, bonne nuit France.

That’s all for updates in the first special edition of Hardships and Headlines in New France. We will be updating again next week with updates from the church and our next special edition: Native American Magic!

“Dieu benisse nos armes et nous donne la paix” (May God bless our arms and give us peace) (Moogk 240)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Primary:

Reverend Pere Paul Ragueneau, La Vie de Mere Catherine de St-Augustin, Reologieuse Hispotaliere de la Misericorde de Quebec en la Nouvelle-France. Translated by Raoul Carrier, August 4, 1993. Florentin Lambert, M. DC. LXXI, Paris.

Secondary:

Girard, Philip, Phillips, Jim, Brown, R. Blake, A History of Law in Canada, vol. 1. (University of Toronto Press, 2018).

Goddard, Peter A. “The Devil in New France: Jesuit Demonology, 1611-50.” The Canadian Historical Review 78, no. 1 (March 1997): 40-62.

Labelle, Ronald. “Native Witchcraft Beliefs in Acadian, Maritime and Newfoundland Folklore.” Ethnologies 30, no. 2 (2008): 137-152.

Mairi Cowan, “Jesuit Missionaries and the Accommodationist Demons in New France” in Knowing Demons, Knowing Spirits in the early modern period ed. By Michelle Brock, David Winter, and Richard Raiswell (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

Monter, William. “Toads and Eucharists: The Male Witches of Normandy, 1564-1660”, French Historical Studies 20.4 (Autumn 1997): 563-595.

Moogk, Peter La Nouvelle France: The Making of French Canada—A Cultural History (Michigan State University Press, 2000).

Pearl, Jonathan L. “Witchcraft in New France in the Seventeenth Century: The Social Aspect.” Historical Reflections 4, no. 2 (Winter 1977): pp. 41-55.

Websites

Pelchat, Andre. “Sorcery in New France.” Canada’s History. December 5, 2016. https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/french-canada/sorcery-in-new-france

Pettigrew, Stephanie “The Halloween Special- Witchcraft in Canada.” Unwritten Histories. October 31, 2017. https://www.unwrittenhistories.com/the-halloween-special-witchcraft-in-canada/#

 

 

 

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