Médard des Groseilliers
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Médard Chouart des Groseilliers (1618–1696) was a French explorer and
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
r in Canada. He is often paired with his brother-in-law
Pierre-Esprit Radisson Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636/1640–1710) was a French fur trader and explorer in New France. He is often linked to his brother-in-law Médard des Groseilliers. The decision of Radisson and Groseilliers to enter the English service led to the fo ...
, who was about 20 years younger. The pair worked together in fur trading and exploration. Their decision to enter British service led to the foundation of the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
in 1670. This company established trading posts and extensive relations with the
First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...
in western Canada. It was highly influential in making the region amenable to British colonization. Radisson, with Groseiliers, also mapped many of the
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
and trading routes used by settlers.


Early life

Médard Chouart was born in
Charly-sur-Marne Charly-sur-Marne (, literally ''Charly on Marne'') is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Charly was an old fortified city dating from 9th century Burgundy, it was renamed ''Charly-sur-Marne'' in 2006. ...
, Champagne province, France, to Médard Chouart, his father and Marie Poirier. He also had a cousin named Médard Chouart. He later called himself Sieur des Groseilliers after a farm his parents managed in Bassevelle. He was reported to have immigrated 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 ...
in 1641 at age 23, but according to Historian Grace Lee Nute, this has never been proven. He became a ''donné'' or lay helper at the
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
missions in 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 ...
region near present-day
Simcoe County Simcoe County is located in the 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 forms part of the ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. Here he learned the skills of a
coureur des bois A coureur des bois (; ) or coureur de bois (; plural: coureurs de(s) bois) was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian trader who travelled in New France and the interior of North America, usually to trade with First Nations peoples by e ...
. In 1646, Groseilliers fought with the Huron against 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 ...
. On 3 September 1647 Groseilliers married the widowed Helène Martin, the daughter of Abraham Martin, whose land surrounding
Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
later became famous as the
Plains of Abraham The Plains of Abraham (french: Plaines d'Abraham) is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, anada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place ...
. Their first child died in 1648. Their second child, also named Médard, was born in 1651, the same year Helène died. After the Iroquois destroyed the Huron missions and forced the people to move further west in the late 1640s, Groseilliers worked to re-establish trade, especially in the
Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
region. In 1653, Groseilliers travelled to
Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early ...
to meet with
Claude de la Tour Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etch ...
and returned to New France in July and established himself 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 ...
. There he married his second wife, Marguérite Hayet, (sometimes spelled Hayot) the widowed step-sister of
Pierre-Esprit Radisson Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636/1640–1710) was a French fur trader and explorer in New France. He is often linked to his brother-in-law Médard des Groseilliers. The decision of Radisson and Groseilliers to enter the English service led to the fo ...
and from whom he inherited his lands in Trois-Rivières. Two sons from her first marriage became troublesome. In 1654, Groseilliers petitioned the governor of New France to find the boys another guardian, which was accepted. His first child by Marguérite, Jean Baptiste, was baptized on 5 July 1654. His second child by Marguérite, also named Marguérite, was baptized on 15 April 1659 and his third child, Marie-Antoinette, was baptized on 8 June 1661.


As a fur trader


French service

In August 1654, Groseilliers was sent west along with an unknown partner, to journey west to the new Huron lands. The voyage took two years to complete and upon returning in August 1656, they carried in their canoes reports of contact with several First Nations, among them the
Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...
, Pottawattomi, Winnebago and
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
peoples and furs worth "14 to 15 thousand
livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...
". Leaving in August 1659, Groseilliers and Radisson traveled west to the far end of Lake Superior and wintered at
Lac Courte Oreilles Lac Courte Oreilles ( ) is a large freshwater lake located in northwest Wisconsin in Sawyer County in townships 39 and 40 north, ranges 8 and 9 west. It is irregular in shape, having numerous peninsulas and bays, and is approximately six miles l ...
in what is now known as
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
. According to Radisson's account of the voyage, they helped repel an Iroquois attack along the
Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
and that the idea for trading furs from
Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...
came to them at this time. They returned in the summer of 1660 and upon return to New France, they were fined most of their profits by the colonial government because they had left New France without a license. This journey demonstrated that the French could find riches in the interior of the continent and this led more Frenchmen to go west, with seven heading to Lake Superior within the year. From
Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
traders, the French men came to understand that the main source of furs lay northwest of the lake. In 1661, Groseilliers traveled to France to appeal the fine without success and returned to New France the same year. Groseilliers and Radisson proposed creating a trading company for the furs to
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 ...
, the French minister of finance under King
Louis XIV , 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 Vers ...
. Colbert thought it a waste of resources and refused to support the project. In Spring 1662, Groseilliers and Radisson intended to journey to the west via the Hudson Bay region. In order to get to Hudson Bay from Isle Percée, Groseilliers intended to charter a vessel. However, the plans fell through and Groseilliers and Radisson instead searched further south in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
in hope of finding a suitable vessel.


Formation of the Hudson's Bay Company

Groseilliers and Radisson traveled to
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
. They organized another expedition into Hudson Bay in 1663, but it was turned back by the ice. At Boston in 1665 they met Sir George Cartwright, who told them to travel to England to gain support. Captured by Dutch privateers on the voyage, the French men were put ashore in Spain. Reaching England, they were presented to King Charles II and became associated with
Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...
. Eventually Prince Rupert chartered two vessels for Radisson and Groseilliers. In 1668 two ships left England for Hudson Bay: under the command of Zachariah Gillam with Groseilliers as his second and ''Eaglet'' with William Stannard as captain and Radisson as his second. ''Eaglet'' was caught in a storm, was damaged and forced to return to England. ''Nonsuch'' made it to Hudson Bay and continued south, into
James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost par ...
. ''Nonsuch'' reached the mouth of the
Rupert River The Rupert River is one of the largest rivers in Quebec, Canada. From its headwaters in Lake Mistassini, the largest natural lake in Quebec, it flows west into Rupert Bay on James Bay. The Rupert drains an area of . There is some extremely la ...
which was named after their benefactor. They landed near what is now the town of
Waskaganish Waskaganish ( cr, ᐙᔅᑳᐦᐄᑲᓂᔥ/Wâskâhîkaniš, Little House; ) is a Cree community of over 2,500 people at the mouth of the Rupert River on the south-east shore of James Bay in Northern Quebec, Canada. Waskaganish is part of the ...
,
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 ...
, where they built a fort and wintered there. The expedition returned to England in 1669 with a rich cargo of furs. The haul of furs impressed King Charles and led Prince Rupert and his fellow investors to create the "Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudsons Bay", also known as the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
, on 2 May 1670. The Hudson's Bay Company was given monopoly over the area of land that would become known as
Rupert's Land Rupert's Land (french: Terre de Rupert), or Prince Rupert's Land (french: Terre du Prince Rupert, link=no), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin; this was further extended from Rupert's Land t ...
. From 1670 to 1675, Groseilliers and Radisson were employed by the Hudson's Bay Company, voyaging into Hudson Bay to establish trading posts, forts and exploring the area. Their activities were watched with interest by the French whose economy suffered from the arrival of English fur traders.


Return to French service

In 1674, a French Jesuit priest,
Charles Albanel Charles Albanel (1616 – 11 January 1696), born in Ardes or Auvergne, was a French missionary explorer in Canada, and a Jesuit priest. Life Charles Albanel entered the Society of Jesus in 1633 at Toulouse. In 1635 he began teaching at various Je ...
, was sent north into Hudson Bay. Captured by representatives of the Hudson's Bay Company, Albanel was sent to England as a prisoner. In England he convinced Groseilliers and Radisson to return to French service. Groseilliers traveled to France and spent the year before returning to New France in 1676. On 20 May 1682 the French created their own fur-trading company, called ''La Compagnie de la Baie d’Hudson'' or ''
Compagnie du Nord The (also referred to as the Northern Company) was a French colonial fur-trading company, founded in Québec City 1682 by a group of Canadien financiers with the express intent of competing with the English Hudson's Bay Company. It was founded by C ...
'', given charter by the French government. The company was created to compete with the Hudson's Bay Company. Groseilliers joined the company and with Radisson, sailed north to the Hayes and
Nelson River The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The river drains Lake Winnipeg and runs before it ends in Hudson Bay. Its full length (including the Saskatchewan River and Bow River) is , it ...
s to create a French trading post. Similar expeditions from the Hudson's Bay Company and a group from Boston under the leadership of Benjamin Gillam arrived at the same time. The three groups fought with the experienced leadership of Radisson and Groseilliers coming out victorious. They took the majority of the Bostonians and Hudson's Bay Company personnel captive, including the new governor of Hudson Bay, John Bridgar and seized furs from their former employer. Upon their return to New France, the two Frenchmen found that their actions had angered the British and alarmed French officials. In order to cover the British losses the ''Compagnie du Nord'' was forced to pay taxes on their furs. Radisson and Groseilliers sailed to France in 1683 for adjudication on the tax matter. The French government found in favour of the British, whose leader
the Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was D ...
was France's best chance to re-convert the English back to
Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. While in France, Groseilliers refused an offer to rejoin the Hudson's Bay Company and returned to his farm at Trois-Rivières. His final fate is unknown.


See also

* , a
Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in ...
ship named for the explorer.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * Also {{DEFAULTSORT:Groseilliers, Medard des 1618 births 1696 deaths People from Aisne People of New France Explorers of Canada French explorers of North America Canadian fur traders Hudson's Bay Company people