![Fort Longueuil 1825](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Fort_Longueuil_1825.jpg)
Fort Longueuil was a stone
fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
that stood in
Longueuil
Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...
, in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
from 1690 to 1810.
Fort Longueuil was recognized as a
National Historic Site of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment
An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...
on May 25, 1923.
The historic site includes the
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
of the fort, which was demolished in 1810. The site extends beneath the present-day
Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Cathedral. It is one of the only buildings in Canada that could ever be considered a
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
(fortified residence for a noble), and out of those buildings it most resembles the castles of Europe. This makes it unique in the country.
History
The territory of
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
was divided into
seigneuries
''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (o ...
in order to ensure the colony's defence. Of these seigneuries,
Charles Le Moyne was granted the ''Seigneury of Longueuil''. His son,
Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil, built a fort with four towers between 1685 and 1690 as his fortified residence.
The fort was built entirely in stone masonry, and included a guard house, a chapel and
corps de logis
In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal block of a large, (usually Classical architecture, classical), mansion or palace. It contains the principal rooms, state apartments and an entry.Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dict ...
.
Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau (; 22 May 162228 November 1698) was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France in North America from 1672 to 1682, and again from 1689 to his death in 1698. He established a nu ...
and
Jean Bochart de Champigny
Jean Bochart de Champigny, Sieur de Noroy et de Verneuil, chevalier (after 1645 – December 1720), was Intendant of New France The Intendant of New France was an administrative position in the French colony of New France. He controlled the colony ...
then asked
King Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
to erect the seigneury of Longueuil as a
barony Barony may refer to:
* Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron
* Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron
* Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
, which he did in 1700, establishing the
Barony of Longueuil. Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil was the only Canadian-born person to be raised to the rank of
Baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
by a
French King
France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.
Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the firs ...
.
Fort Longueuil was believed to be occupied by
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
troops during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. It was subsequently occupied by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
. It was demolished in 1810 because of its poor condition.
Location
The fort was located in the
Old Longueuil Old Longueuil (french: Vieux-Longueuil) is a historic neighbourhood located in the borough of the same name, in the city of Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. There is not a universal definition of what exactly constitute the Old Longueuil neighbourhood, b ...
neighbourhood. It was partly situated on the site of the
Co-Cathedral of Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue
The Co-Cathedral of Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue (french: Co-cathédrale Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue) is a co-cathedral in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada, on Montreal's south shore. It is located on the corner of Rue Saint-Charles and Chemin Chambly in the Bo ...
, Saint-Charles Street, Chambly Road, the site of a
Laurentian Bank
The Laurentian Bank of Canada (LBC; french: Banque Laurentienne du Canada, link=no) is a Schedule I banks, Schedule 1 bank that operates primarily in the province of Quebec, with commercial and business banking offices located in Ontario, Alberta ...
branch and a restaurant. Parts of the fort are visible in the Royal Bank of Canada branch through a special made hole in the floor.
Description
It measured 68 meters long by 46 meters wide. The interior of the fort included:
[Aveu du 17 avril 1723, in Louis Lemoine op. cit. p. 60-61]
*a house 72 X 24 feet
*a chapel of 45 X 22 feet
*a guard house of 25 X 25 feet
*a barn of 70 X 30 feet
*a barn to house 12 horses
*stables to house 40 cattle
*a barn 30 feet squared and other necessary farm buildings
References
Further reading
* Alex Jodoin et J. L. Vincent, ''Histoire de Longueuil et de la famille de Longueuil'', avec gravures et plans, Montréal, Imprimerie Gebhart-Berthiaume, 1889, 681 p.
* Louis Lemoine, ''Le château fort de Longueuil (1698-1810)'', Société d'histoire de Longueuil, 1987, 152 p.
{{Coord, 45.540518, -73.508223, format=dms, display=title
National Historic Sites in Quebec
Buildings and structures completed in 1690
Buildings and structures demolished in 1810
Buildings and structures in Longueuil
French colonial architecture in Canada
Ruins in Canada
Longueuil
Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...
Longueuil
Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...
1690 establishments in the French colonial empire