The Compagnie de la France équinoxiale (Equinoctial France Company), or Compagnie de l'establissement des colonies françoises dans les terres fermes de l'Amerique, was a French enterprise formed in 1651 to colonize equatorial South America.
The enterprise soon failed.
In 1663 it was relaunched, but the next year was merged into a general company for all French possessions in the Americas.
The colony of
Cayenne
Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...
, the nucleus of
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...
, was eventually secured in 1674.
Background
"
Equinoctial France" (France équinoxiale) was the name given to the part of South America between the
Orinoco
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...
and
Amazon River
The Amazon River (, ; es, RÃo Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile.
The headwaters of t ...
– the Guianas.
The French government gave several companies the right of commerce and navigation in these countries.
The first was given to the merchants of Rouen in 1633 and confirmed by letters patent in 1638.
Settlements were founded at the mouth of the
Cayenne River
Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's mo ...
in 1634 and 1636.
In 1643, a new company was formed in Rouen called the Compagnie du cap du Nord, which obtained letters patent that ceded it all the land between the Orinoco and the Amazon.
It was headed by
Charles Poncet de Brétigny
Charles Poncet de Brétigny ( – 1644) was founder and governor of the French colony of Cayenne, in what is now French Guiana, from 1644 to 1645. A brutal and despotic man, after just over a year he was murdered by a Carib, as were most of the ot ...
.
Poncet de Brétigny led a group of colonists to Cayenne Island, where he disembarked on 4 March 1644 and collected those who remained of the first settlers.
The first wooden
Fort Cépérou
Fort Cépérou was a fort that protected the city of Cayenne, French Guiana. It is named after Cépérou, a celebrated indigenous chief who ceded the land.
The original wooden fort was built on a hill looking over the mouth of the Cayenne River ...
was built on a hill beside the river's estuary and a village was built below it.
Brétigny was ruthless and despotic, and terrorized both the colonists and the indigenous people.
The next year Brétigny and most of the Europeans were killed by the Caribs, and the village of Cayenne was destroyed.
First company
![French Guiana in South America (relief)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/French_Guiana_in_South_America_%28relief%29.svg)
The first Compagnie de la France équinoxiale was given the same privileges as the Compagnie du cap du Nord towards the end of 1651.
It was led by twelve ''seigneurs''.
Also known as the Compagnie de l’Amerique Equinoxial, it was a Paris-based joint stock company sponsored by notables such as the Abbé Marivault of the Sorbonne, the Sieur le Roux de Royville from Normandy, La Boulaye, Secretary of the Marine, and Jean-Jacques Dolu, grand audiencier at the court and intendant of New France in 1620.
The company recruited 800 colonists, male and female, to settle in Guiana.
The priest Antoine Biet took part in the expedition as a chaplain, and describes it in his ''Voyage de la France équinoxiale en l'isle de Cayenne entrepris par les françois en l'année M. DC. LII.'' (Paris, 1664).
Abbé Marivault drowned during the embarkation at
Honfleur
Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Honf ...
.
Balthazar Le Roux de Royville, who led the expedition, was assassinated by the sailors and thrown overboard during the voyage.
In September 1652 the expedition reached the tip of the Pointe du Mahury on the Island of
Cayenne
Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...
, where they found the 25 survivors of the earlier settlement.
A
Monsieur de Navarre was in command of
Fort Cépérou
Fort Cépérou was a fort that protected the city of Cayenne, French Guiana. It is named after Cépérou, a celebrated indigenous chief who ceded the land.
The original wooden fort was built on a hill looking over the mouth of the Cayenne River ...
.
He had arrived there from France about six months earlier, and was a first sergeant.
He was promoted to lieutenant for surrendering the fort to the new arrivals.
Jean de Laon, a king' engineer, replaced the wooden walls of the fort with a stone bastion called Fort Saint Michel to guard against attacks from the Caribs across the river, and attacks by the English and Dutch.
There were violent disputes among the colonists and between them and the local
Kalina people
The Kalina, also known as the Caribs or mainland Caribs and by several other names, are an indigenous people native to the northern coastal areas of South America. Today, the Kalina live largely in villages on the rivers and coasts of Venezuela, ...
.
The attempt to found a colony ended in failure.
Of the 700 colonists just over 100 survived and escaped to
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
in January 1654, then to
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
.
The company went bankrupt when it emerged that it was not backed by the king.
Interlude
A Dutch soldier,
Guerin Spranger
Daniel Guerin Spranger, or Quijrijn Spranger, Gerrit Spranger (born ) was a Dutch Jewish entrepreneur who was the commander of the colony of Cayenne, now in French Guiana, between 1656 and 1664. The island of Cayenne had earlier been abandoned by ...
, obtained a grant from the
States General of the Netherlands
The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague.
The States ...
and established a Dutch colony on Cayenne Island around 1656.
He arrived after the French had abandoned the island.
The Dutch established plantations and Spranger had begun a profitable trade with the Netherlands when the French decided to regain control, despite being at peace with the Netherlands at the time.
Second company
![Colbert domaine de chantilly PE343](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Colbert_domaine_de_chantilly_PE343.jpg)
The second Compagnie de la France équinoxiale was formed in 1663.
The minister
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...
conceived the idea of a new Compagnie de la France équinoxiale, and King
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Versa ...
approved the project.
The new company had a capital of 200,000 francs, and all the privileges that had been granted to the first.
Antoine Lefèbvre de La Barre
Joseph-Antoine le Fèbvre, sieur de La Barre (or Antoine Lefebvre, Antoine Lefèvre; 1622–1688) was a French lawyer and administrator best known for his disastrous three years term as governor of the colony of New France (Quebec).
As a young ...
, former intendant of the
Bourbonnais
Bourbonnais () was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern ''département'' of Allier, along with part of the ''département'' of Cher. Its capital was Moulins.
History
The title of the ruler of Bourbonnais ...
and a very able man, was appointed governor of Cayenne.
He left the port of
La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
, France, on 26 February 1664 with two warships and 400 soldiers.
He was carried on a fleet commanded by
Alexandre de Prouville de Tracy
Marquis Alexandre de Prouville de Tracy (c. 1596 or 1603 – 1670) was a French aristocrat, statesman, and military leader. He was the seigneur of Tracy-le-Val and Tracy-le-Mont (Picardy).
Life
The Marquis de Tracy first made his name as a reg ...
.
The expedition included 1,200 settlers.
Lefèbvre arrived in Cayenne on 11 May 1664.
On 15 May 1664 the Dutch general Spranger agreed to capitulate.
Lefèbvre de La Barre established a garrison at
Fort Cépérou
Fort Cépérou was a fort that protected the city of Cayenne, French Guiana. It is named after Cépérou, a celebrated indigenous chief who ceded the land.
The original wooden fort was built on a hill looking over the mouth of the Cayenne River ...
and started construction of a settlement of 200 huts.
He made a treaty with the indigenous people and began colonization in very favourable circumstances.
However, the enterprise soon ran into serious difficulty.
Successors
In 1664, Louis XIV revoked all the concessions made to specific companies and created a general company for all the American colonies named the Compagnie des Indes Occidentales.
The Compagnie de la France équinoxiale was merged into the Compagnie des Indes occidentales, and Lefèbvre de La Barre was recalled to take charge of the new enterprise.
De la Barre was made governor of Cayenne and of the Antilles.
However, the English and the Dutch captured the French establishments, and it was not until 1674 that Marshall
Jean II d'Estrées
Jean, Comte d'Estrées, (3 November 1624 in Solothurn, Switzerland – 19 May 1707 in Paris), was a Marshal of France, and an important naval commander of Louis XIV. He was born into a noble family from Picardy. His aunt was Gabrielle d'Estrà ...
restored French power in Guiana.
Louis XIV took all the colonies into his domain in 1674, and the governors were now royal officers.
Notes
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:France equinoxiale, Compagnie de la
French colonization of the Americas