Jeanne Mance (November 12, 1606 – June 18, 1673) was a French nurse and settler 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 ...

. She arrived in New France two years after the

Ursuline nuns The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of consecrated women that branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula, in 1572. Like the Angelines, they t ...

came to

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 ...

. Among the founders of

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 ...

in 1642, she established its first hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal, in 1645. She returned twice to France to seek financial support for the hospital. After providing most of the care directly for years, in 1657 she recruited three sisters of the Religieuses hospitalières de Saint-Joseph, and continued to direct operations of the hospital. During her era, she was also known as Jehanne Mance contemporarily by the French, and as Joan Mance by the English contemporarily.

Origins

Jeanne Mance was born (as Jehanne Mance) into a

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

family in

Langres Langres () is a commune in France, commune in northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Haute-Marne, in the Regions of France, region of Grand Est. History As the capital o ...

, in

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

. After her mother died, Jeanne cared for eleven brothers and sisters. She went on to care for victims of the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

and the plague.

Vocation

At age 34, while on a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

in Champagne, Mance discovered her missionary calling. She decided to go to New France in North America, then in the first stages of colonization by the French. She was supported by

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 unti ...

, the wife of

King Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

, and by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. She was not interested in marriage in Nouvelle-France. Mance was a member of the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal; its goal was to convert the natives and found a hospital in Montreal similar to the one in

Founding of Montreal and Hôtel-Dieu Hospital

Charles Lallemant Charles Lallemant (or Lalemant), (November 17, 1587 – November 18, 1674) was a French Jesuit. He was born in Paris in 1587 and later became the first Superior of the Jesuit Missions amongst the Huron in Canada. His letter to his brother, ...

recruited Jeanne Mance for the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal. Mance embarked from

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 ...

on May 9, 1641, on a crossing of the Atlantic that took three months. After wintering in Quebec, she and

Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (15 February 1612 9 September 1676) was a French military officer and the founder of Fort Ville-Marie (modern day Montreal) in New France (Province of Quebec, Canada). Early life Maisonneuve was born in ...

arrived at the Island of Montreal in the spring of 1642. They founded the new city on May 17, 1642, on land granted by the Governor. That same year Mance began operating a hospital in her home. Three years later (1645), with a donation of 6000 francs by

Angélique Bullion Angélique de Bullion was a French benefactress influential in the foundation of Montreal. Life Angélique Faure was born in Paris, at the beginning of the seventeenth century; her parents were Guichard Faure and Madeleine Brulart de Sillery. Sh ...

, she opened a hospital on Rue Saint-Paul.Buescher, John
"Religious Orders of Women in New France"
Teaching history website, accessed August 21, 2011 She directed its operations for 17 years. A new stone structure was built in 1688, and others have been built since then.

Later years

In 1650, Mance visited France, returning with 22,000 French ''livres'' from '' Duchesse d’Aiguillon'' to fund the hospital (which later, was increased to 40,500 ''livres''). On her return to Montreal, she found that the attacks of the Iroquois threatened the colony and loaned the hospital money to M. de Maisonneuve, who returned to France to organize a force of one hundred men for the colony's defense. Mance made a second trip to France in 1657 to seek financial assistance for the hospital. At the same time, she secured three Hospital Sisters of the

Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph The Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph (RHSJ; french: Religieuses Hospitalières de Saint-Joseph) are a Catholic religious congregation founded in 1636 at La Flèche, France, by the Venerable Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière and the Venera ...

from the convent of La Fleche in

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duke ...

: Judith Moreau de Bresoles, Catherine Mace, and Marie Maillet. They had a difficult passage on the return, made worse by an outbreak of the plague on board, but all four women survived. While Mgr. de Laval tried to retain the sisters at Quebec for that hospital, they eventually reached Montreal in October 1659. With the help of the new sisters, Mance was able to ensure the continued operations of the hospital. For the rest of her years, she lived more quietly. She died in 1673 after a long illness and was buried in the church of the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital. While the church and her house were demolished in 1696 for redevelopment, her work was carried on by the

. The three nuns whom she had recruited in 1659 served as hospital administrators. Two centuries later, in 1861, the hospital was moved to the foot of Mount Royal.

Legacy

*A small statuette (2008) representing Jeanne Mance by André Gauthier was commissioned for the

Canadian Nurses Association The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), official bilingualism in Canada, known in French as the Association des infirmières et infirmiers du Canada (AIIC), is the national professional association representing registered nurses, nurse practition ...

for a biannual award of nursing excellence. * Rue Jeanne-Mance, a north–south street in Montreal, is named after Mance. * Jeanne-Mance Park, situated on Park Avenue, opposite Mount Royal, and just south of Mount Royal Avenue, is named after Mance. *

Jeanne-Mance Le Plateau-Mont-Royal () is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Plateau-Mont-Royal takes its name from its location on a plateau, on the eastern side of Mont-Royal and overlooking downtown Montreal, across ...

, a district of Plateau Mont-Royal * Jeanne-Mance Building, situated on Eglantine Driveway, Tunneys Pasture, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. A Federal Government of Canada Office Tower currently occupied by Health Canada. *Jeanne Mance Hall is a dormitory on the campus of

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

. It is situated across the street from the student health center.

Gallery

Image:Testament Jeanne Mance 1.jpg, Testament, recto Image:Testament Jeanne Mance 2.jpg, Testament, verso Image:Statue of Jeanne Mance, at Hotel Dieu hospital (Montreal) 24-MAY-2006.JPG,

Jeanne Mance Monument The Jeanne Mance Monument is a memorial in Montreal, erected in 1909. It portrays French nurse Jeanne Mance, an early settler of Quebec and one of the founders of Montreal's first hospital, Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal, in 1645. Overview The ...

Image:JeanneManceHotelDieu.jpg, Her

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

at Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal

References

External links

*
''Jeanne Mance(1606-1673): Nurse : First Lay Nurse in North America''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mance, Jeanne 1606 births 1673 deaths People from Langres Settlers of Canada Colonists of Fort Ville-Marie People of New France Canadian nurses Women nurses Société Notre-Dame de Montréal Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Canadian Servants of God Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis