François Joseph le Mercier (4 October 1604 – 12 June 1690) was a prominent French Jesuit in the early missions to
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 ...
and the
Huron
Huron may refer to:
People
* Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America
* Wyandot language, spoken by them
* Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec
* Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...
people. He was the rector of the Jesuit college in Quebec and superior of the whole Canada mission from 1653–56 and again 1665-70, during which period he authored ''
The Jesuit Relations
''The Jesuit Relations'', also known as ''Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France'', are chronicles of the Jesuit missions in New France. The works were written annually and printed beginning in 1632 and ending in 1673.
Originally written ...
'', as well as two published works concerning the Huron missions in the years 1637 and 1638.
Early life
Le Mercier was born in Paris in 1604. He joined the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
at Paris on 22 October 1622
[Campeau, Lucien. "Le Mercier, François Joseph", ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003]
/ref> and completed fifteen years of study and teaching before being sent on mission to Canada.
Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 1 February 2018
Mission To Canada
Le Mercier arrived in Quebec on 20 July 1635. Three days later he left for the mission at Ihonatiria, a small Huron town, where he arrived on 13 August.[ There he studied the Huron language under the supervision of ]Jean de Brébeuf
Jean de Brébeuf () (25 March 1593 16 March 1649) was a French Jesuit missionary who travelled to New France (Canada) in 1625. There he worked primarily with the Huron (Wyandot people) for the rest of his life, except for a few years in France ...
. He spent a good part of 1636 nursing the sick through various epidemics. The settlement at Ihonatiria was ravaged by smallpox which greatly reduced the population, so the mission was abandoned in 1637 and relocated to the Huron capital Ossossané (now in Simcoe County, Ontario
Simcoe County is located in the Central Ontario, central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County f ...
).
In 1639 a new mission called Sainte-Marie among the Hurons
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (french: Sainte-Marie-au-pays-des-Hurons) was a French Jesuit settlement in Wendake, the land of the Wendat, near modern Midland, Ontario, from 1639 to 1649. It was the first European settlement in what is now the p ...
was built on the north-east corner of Wye Lake along a stretch of river known to the Jesuits as Iroquois River (now Wye River). For a time, this served as a base for the missionaries. Le Mercier served as procurator, managing Sainte-Marie, except for a brief period of 1640 to 1642 where he returned to Ossossané, until the Jesuits were forced to abandon Sainte-Marie in 1649 due to increasing Iroquois attacks. They burned the mission before they left, so that it could not be used as a base for further raids. Le Mercier and the Jesuits then set up a mission on St. Joseph's Island, now Christian Island
Christian Island is a large island in Georgian Bay close to the communities of Penetanguishene and Midland, Ontario. The island, with its neighbours Hope Island and Beckwith Island, is a Ojibwa reserve, known as Christian Island Indian Rese ...
, which only lasted a year before they were forced to return to Quebec.[Sainte Marie Among the Huron]
"Online Publication, The Sainte-Marie Story"
''Sainte-Marie among the Hurons
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (french: Sainte-Marie-au-pays-des-Hurons) was a French Jesuit settlement in Wendake, the land of the Wendat, near modern Midland, Ontario, from 1639 to 1649. It was the first European settlement in what is now the p ...
''
On his return to Quebec, Le Mercier was engaged in ministry there and at 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 ...
where he saw to the settlement's fortification. In 1653 he was named rector of the college and superior of the whole Canada mission a post he occupied until 1656. During his years as superior, he was responsible for compiling and writing the annual report to the French Provincial. These annual reports of the superiors came to be known as the ''Jesuit Relations''. Not willing to expose others to dangers perils he was not ready to face, he appointed Jérôme Lalemant
Jérôme Lalemant, S.J. (Paris, April 27, 1593 – Quebec City, January 26, 1673) was a French Jesuit priest who was a leader of the Jesuit mission in New France.
Life
Lalemant entered the Jesuit novitiate in Paris on 20 October 1610, after whi ...
vice-superior, while Le Mercier led a missionary expedition to the Onondagas. He returned to Quebec by June 1657. From 1659 to 1660, Le Mercier was in charge of Quebec parish alongside Claude Dablon
Claude Dablon (February 1618 – May 3, 1697) was a Jesuit missionary, born in Dieppe, France.
At the age of twenty-one he entered the Society of Jesus, and after his course of studies and teaching in France, arrived in Canada in 1655. He was at ...
, while also attending the mission at Beaupré.[ In 21 October 1660 formally named assistant parish priest by de Petrée, the first Bishop of Quebec.
In August 1665 he was again named rector and superior-general of the missions, a post he held for six years. On 12 July 1671 became bursar and vice-president () of the Jesuit college at Quebec.][
]
Later life
Le Mercier was recalled to France in 1673 and made "Visitor of the French missions in South America and in the Antilles". In 1674 he was appointed superior-general of the missions in the West Indies and continued as such until 1681. The remainder of his life was spent as confessor and spiritual director of the Jesuits on Martinique. He died on the island of Martinique on 12 June 1690 at the age of eighty-six.[
]
Works
* ''Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, en l’année 1637.'' Ihonatiria, 1637.
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* ''Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, en l’année 1638.'' Ossossané, 1638.
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* ''Journal des PP. Jésuites.'' Quebec, 1653.
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* ''Relation de ce qvi s'est passé en la mission des pères de la Compagnie de Iésvs, av pays de la Novvelle France, depuis l'été de l'année 1652 iusques à l'été 1653.'' Québec, 1653.
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* ''Journal des PP. Jésuites.'' Quebec, 1654.
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* ''Copie de devx Lettres envoiées de la Novvelle France, au Père Procureur des Missions de la Compagnie de Iésvs en ces contrées.'' Québec, 1655.
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* ''Journal des PP. Jésuites.'' Quebec, 1665.
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* ''Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, des années 1664 & 1665.'' Québec, 1665.
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* ''Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, aux années 1665 & 1666.'' Québec, 1666.
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* ''Journal des, PP. Jésuites.'' Québec, 1667.
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* ''Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, les années 1666 & 1667.'' Québec, 1667.
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* ''Journal des PP. Jésuites.'' Québec, 1668.
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* ''Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, aux années 1667 & 1668.'' Québec 1668.
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* ''Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, les années 1668 & 1669.'' Québec, 1669.
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* ''Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, les années 1669 & 1670.'' Québec, 1670.
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Legacy
The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century, by Francis Parkman is sourced largely from the Relations written by Le Mercier.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francois Le Mercier
17th-century French Jesuits
French Roman Catholic missionaries
Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada
Jesuit missionaries in New France