Charles Albanel (1616 – 11 January 1696), born in Ardes or Auvergne, was a French missionary explorer in Canada, and a
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
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, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest.
Life
Charles Albanel entered the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
in 1633 at Toulouse. In 1635 he began teaching at various Jesuit colleges, studied philosophy at Billom and theology at Tournon.
He sailed for Canada in 1649 and arrived at Quebec in late August. A month later he was sent to
Ville-Marie. He wintered among the
Montagnais, and in the spring traveled to
Tadoussac
Tadoussac () is a village in Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saguenay and Saint Lawrence rivers. The indigenous Innu call the place ''Totouskak'' (plural for ''totouswk'' or ''totochak'') meaning "bosom", probably in reference to the t ...
to tend those suffering from fever.
In July 1660, on a return from
Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...
with
Governor Voyer d'Argenson, their boat was attached by Iroquois. In August,
René Ménard
René Ménard (2 March 1605 – 4 July 1661?) was a French Jesuit missionary explorer who traveled to New France in 1641, learned the language of the Wyandot, and was soon in charge of many of the satellite missions around Sainte-Marie among the ...
was sent west from Montreal with a trading party of Ottawa and the fur traders Radisson and Groseilliers, heading for what is now northern Wisconsin, aiming to establish a mission among the Ottawa. Albanel met Ménard at Montreal and was to accompany him, but the Ottawa objected to his Indian companion and they were not allowed to join the group. Ménard never returned. That spring Ménard had heard that a band of Hurons in the interior was starving, and he set off to minister to them. He and a
fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
r nicknamed L'Esperance became separate at a portage near some rapids. Menard, weak with hunger himself, disappeared in the wilderness. His cassock and breviary were later found among the Dakotas.
[Corrigan, Michael. "Register of the Clergy Laboring in the Archdiocese of New York", ''Historical Records and Studies'', Vol. 1, United States Catholic Historical Society, 1899 p. 24]
/ref>
Albanel became parish priest at Cap-de-la-Madeleine
Cap-de-la-Madeleine is a former Types of municipalities in Quebec, city in Quebec, Canada at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River and the St. Lawrence River. It was Amalgamation (names), amalgamated into the City of Trois-Rivières in 2002. ...
until August 1665, although he retained responsibility for the missions. In October 1666 Albanel served as chaplain for the Carignan-Salières Regiment
The Carignan-Salières Regiment was a Piedmont French military unit formed by merging two other regiments in 1659. They were led by the new Governor, Daniel de Rémy de Courcelles, and Lieutenant-General Alexandre de Prouville, Sieur de Tracy. ...
in a campaign against the Mohawk. He was Superior at Sillery in 1668, but back at the Sainte-Croix mission near Tadoussac for the winter during a smallpox epidemic. Tadoussac served as his base while traveling to other infected settlements. He, too, became ill, but recovered. The following spring he headed north and received reports of English fur traders in Hudson's Bay. In June 1670 he left Tadoussac to work among the Innu of Pessamit.[
In 1672, at the time when the ]Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
was beginning operations, he was a leader of a French party that went by the Saguenay River
__NOTOC__
The Saguenay River () is a major river of Quebec, Canada.
It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east; the city of Saguenay is located on the river. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River. T ...
, Lake Mistassini
Lake Mistassini () is the largest natural lake by surface area in the province of Quebec, Canada, with a total surface area of approximately and a net area (water surface area only) of . It is located in the Jamésie region of the province, appro ...
, and the Rupert River
The Rupert River is one of the largest rivers in Quebec, Canada. From its headwaters in Lake Mistassini, the largest natural lake in Quebec, it flows west into Rupert Bay on James Bay. The Rupert drains an area of .
There is some extremely larg ...
to Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...
. Albanel was chosen because he knew the tribes most familiar with the route. He may have been the first European to reach Hudson Bay from the Saint Lawrence.[
In 1674, on another journey to the Rupert River he was captured by the English and taken to England. On his journey to England he induced ]Medard des Groseilliers
Medard () is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel (district), Kusel Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, German ...
to return to the French service. After returning in 1688 to Canada, he served at missions in western Canada and died at Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie is a cross-border region of Canada and the United States located on St. Marys River, which drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Founded as a single settlement in 1668, Sault Ste. Marie was divided in 1817 by the establishment of ...
at the age of eighty.
Legacy
Lake Albanel
Lake Albanel is located east of Lake Mistassini and covers a total area of approximately . It is located in the region of Jamésie. Quebec Route 167 ends beside this lake. It is entirely located in the protected area of Lacs-Albanel-Mistassini-et ...
, which runs parallel and to the east of Lake Mistassini, is named after him.
The Charles Albanel rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
, developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, was named in his honour."Canadian Explorer Roses", University of Vermont Extension
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References
External links
Charles Albanel
Canadian Museum of History
The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...
, in French or in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albanel, Charles
1616 births
1696 deaths
People from Auvergne
French explorers of North America
Explorers of Canada
17th-century French Jesuits
17th-century Canadian Jesuits
17th-century French Roman Catholic priests