François Vaillant de Gueslis (20 July 1646 – 24 September 1718) was a

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missionary, born in

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and 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 ...

, on 1 December 1675.Melançon, Arthur. "François Vaillant de Gueslis." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 14 January 2018 He attempted to convert the

Mohawks The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people of North America ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

between 1679 and 1684. In the beginning of 1688 he was chosen by the Canadian authorities as ambassador to

Thomas Dongan Thomas Dongan, (pronounced "Dungan") 2nd Earl of Limerick (1634 – 14 December 1715), was a member of the Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and Governor of the Province of New York. He is noted for hav ...

, the

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

, that Dongan might facilitate peace between the French and the Iroquois, but negotiations were not fruitful due to Dongan's conditions and the opposition of the Huron chief Kondiaronk.Campeau,Lucien. “Vaillant de Gueslis, François”, ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 2, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–
/ref> He was also the first missionary to work among the Native Americans in

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; but he remained only a few months, not entering into the plans of

Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac Antoine is a French language, French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton (name), Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West ...

. After the conclusion of peace between the French and the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

he attempted to convert the Senecas from 1702-1707. There he contributed not a little to defeat the efforts of Colonel Schuyler at

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who was trying to induce the Five Nations to drive out the French missionaries. The two principal scenes of his missionary zeal in Canada were Quebec and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. At Quebec (1685–91; 1697–1702), he filled the important posts of minister; procurator of the mission, and preacher, and at Montreal (1692–96; 1709–15), he was the first superior of the residence established by the Jesuits in 1693. He returned to France in 1715. He died in Moulins in 1718.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaillant De Gueslis, Francois 1646 births 1718 deaths 17th-century French Jesuits 18th-century French Jesuits French Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada Jesuit missionaries in New France