René-Louis Chartier de Lotbinière (1641–1709) was a French-Canadian

Poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, 1st Seigneur de Lotbinière in

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 ...

(1672), Judge of the Provost and Admiralty Courts and Chief Councillor of the

Sovereign Council of New France The Sovereign Council (french: Conseil souverain) was a governing body in New France. It served as both Supreme Court for the colony of New France, as well as a policy-making body, though this latter role diminished over time. The council, though ...

Birth

Baptised 14 November 1641, in the Church of Saint-Nicholas-des-Champs in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, he was the son of

Louis-Théandre Chartier de Lotbinière Louis-Théandre Chartier de Lotbinière ( – c. 1688), considered by some sources to have been the 'Father of the Canadian Magistrature', was in fact the disreputable Lieutenant-General of the Provost's Court of New France. In 1667, he gave the ...

and Élisabeth d'Amours de Clignancourt (1613–1690), daughter of Louis d'Amours de Louvieres (died 1640),

Sieur Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

Serain Serain () is a Communes of France, commune in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also * Communes of the Aisne department References

Communes of Aisne Aisne communes ...

, Chief Councillor to

King Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

at the

Grand Châtelet The Grand Châtelet was a stronghold in Ancien Régime Paris, on the right bank of the Seine, on the site of what is now the Place du Châtelet; it contained a court and police headquarters and a number of prisons. The original building on the s ...

. He was the brother-in-law of

Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil (; c. 1643 – 10 October 1725) was a French military officer who served as Governor General of New France (now Canada and U.S. states of the Mississippi Valley) from 1703 to 1725, throughout Queen A ...

Governor General of New France Governor General of New France was the vice-regal post in New France from 1663 until 1760, and it was the last French vice-regal post. It was replaced by the British post of Governor of the Province of Quebec following the fall of New France. ...

, and the uncle of the last

Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil de Cavagnial, marquis de Vaudreuil (22 November 1698 – 4 August 1778) was a Canadian-born colonial governor of French Canada in North America. He was governor of French Louisiana (1743–1753) and in 1755 beca ...

. In 1651, at the age of ten, he arrived with his parents in

, and was educated at the Jesuit's College in

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 ...

Career

As an officer in the 1660s he took part in some early campaigns 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 ...

and

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 ...

, soon after composing his first known poem. Following in his father's shoes he was appointed Deputy

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

in 1670. In 1672, he was granted a

Seigneury ''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 ...

which he named after one of his family's old seigneuries in France, Lotbinière, which had since been passed to the Chateaubriand family of

Combourg Combourg (; br, Komborn; ; Gallo: ''Conbórn'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. History The town is part of the Patrimoine Urbain de Bretagne and labelled as one of Les Petites Cités de Caract ...

as a wedding dowry. Two years later his name was put forward by the

Compagnie des Indes Occidentales The French West India Company (french: Compagnie française des Indes occidentales) was a French trading company founded on 28 May 1664, some three months before the foundation of the corresponding eastern company, by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and di ...

and appointed a Councillor of the

. The following year he was made a Councillor for life by

Louis XIV of France , 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 Versa ...

, the only such Councillor to hold the appointment by the King. In 1677, he replaced his father as Lieutenant-General for Civil and Criminal Affairs (Judge) of the Provost Court. In stark contrast to his father, he held this position to the great satisfaction of his peers, yet again drawing the praise of

for his honesty and competence. In 1698, he was appointed Judge of the

Admiralty Court Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences. Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest ...

. Bishop

Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de St. Vallier (November 14, 1653 – December 26, 1727) is most known as Quebec's second bishop. Born in the southeastern French city of Grenoble in 1653, to a wealthy land owning family, Saint-Vallier swi ...

appointed him a director of the Hôpital général de Québec, and he also intermittently served as subdelegate to the

Intendant of New France The Intendant of New France was an administrative position in the French colony of New France. He controlled the colony's entire civil administration. He gave particular attention to settlement and economic development, and to the administration of ...

from 1677 to 1706. In 1703,

appointed de Lotbiniere Chief Counsellor of the

, ranking fourth in the hierarchy of the colony, being preceded only by the governor, the intendant, and the bishop.

Military

De Lotbinière had maintained his connections to the military after his early campaigns against the

. In 1673, he had been promoted to

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

of the Quebec Militia, and in 1684 again accompanied Joseph-Antoine de La Barre in campaigns against the

as Commander of the Regiment of Quebec. At the Siege of Quebec 1690 he was the colonel of the Quebec militia in the defence of the colony.

Family

Angelique-Genevieve Renaud d'Avène des Méloizes

in 1678, de Lotbinière married Marie Madeleine Lambert du Mont (1662–1695), daughter of Eustache Lambert du Mont (1618–1673), Seigneur and Commandant of the Quebec Militia. After his father returned to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1679, they lived at his old house, ''Maison Lotbinière'' in Quebec, where all his children were born and where he died. René-Louis and his wife were the parents of seven children, *Rene-Louis Chartier de Lotbinière (1681-1718), became an officer in the

French Royal Army The French Royal Army (french: Armée Royale Française) was the principal land force of the Kingdom of France. It served the Bourbon Dynasty from the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-17th century to that of Charles X in the 19th, with an interlude ...

and was killed at

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. *Antoine Chartier de Lotbinière (1684-1743). His godparents were Joseph-Antoine de La Barre,

; and Madame

Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye (12 February 1632 - 20 September 1702) was a French businessman active in Canada. The richest financier and businessman in New France, he played an important part in the colony's economic life (such as its trade, fin ...

.Biographie de Pere Valentin, p.108
/ref> He became a

Récollet The Recollects (french: Récollets) were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects took vows of poverty and devoted their lives to prayer, penance, and spirit ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and went by the name ''Valentin''. *Pierre-Alain Chartier de Lotbinière (1686-1713), lived and died at

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 ...

. * Eustache Chartier de Lotbinière, married Marie-Francoise Renaud d'Avène des Méloizes, daughter of Captain

François-Marie Renaud d'Avène des Meloizes Captain François-Marie Renaud d'Avène des Méloizes (1655 – April 22, 1699) was a French Cavalry officer who came to New France in 1685 in command of the Troupes de marine, Troupes de Marine and led the successful expedition against the Senecas ...

. They were the parents of

Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, Marquis de Lotbinière Michel-Alain Chartier de Lotbinière, 1st Marquis de Lotbinière (1723–1798), Seigneur of Vaudreuil, Lotbinière and Rigaud, Quebec etc. In 1757, on his advice at the Siege of Fort William Henry, the Marquis de Montcalm successfully attacked Fo ...

. *Louise-Philippe Chartier de Lotbinière (1690-1725). In 1708, she married Captain Francois Mariauchau d'Esgly (1670-1730), of the Dauphin's Regiment and the Governor-General's Guards; King's Lieutenant 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 ...

. They were the parents of Louis-Philippe Mariauchau d'Esgly, 8th Bishop of Quebec. *Marie-Louise Chartier de Lotbinière (1691-1761). In 1709, she married Captain Louis Denys de La Ronde (1675-1741), Cross of Saint-Louis. He was the brother of Admiral

Simon-Pierre Denys de Bonaventure Simon-Pierre Denys de Bonaventure (22 June 1659 – 7 February 1711) was born in Trois-Rivières, Québec to Pierre Denys de La Ronde and Catherine Le Neuf. He became an officer in the colonial troupes de la marine of New France and was hea ...

and brother-in-law of

Claude de Ramezay Claude de Ramezay, (15 June 1659 – 31 July 1724), was an important figure in the early history of New France. He was a military man by training and rose to being commander of the colonial regular troops. Life Claude de Ramezay was a son of T ...

Château Ramezay The Château Ramezay is a museum and historic building on Notre-Dame Street in Old Montreal, opposite Montreal City Hall in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Built in 1705 as the residence of then-governor of Montreal, Claude de Ramezay, the Châtea ...

Governor of Montreal The governor of Montreal was the highest position in Montreal in the 17th century and the 18th century. Prior to the establishment of the 1663 Sovereign Council, the governor of Montreal was appointed by the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal. The ...

. They were the grandparents of Major-General Pierre Denys de LaRonde (1762-1824) who commanded the

militia at the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the French ...

and founded

Versailles, Louisiana Versailles is an unincorporated community in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located along the East Bank of the Mississippi River, approximately 3.5 miles below the lower limit of New Orleans. The community, for governmental and ...

. They were the great grandparents of

Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba Micaela Leonarda Antonia de Almonester Rojas y de la Ronde, Baroness de Pontalba (November 6, 1795"Jackson Square". ''Louisiana Historical Quarterly''. Henry Renshaw.- April 20, 1874) was a wealthy New Orleans-born Creole aristocrat, businesswoma ...

, who built the

Pontalba Buildings The Pontalba Buildings form two sides of Jackson Square in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. They are matching red-brick, one-block-long, four‑story buildings built between 1849–1851 by the Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba. ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and the

Hôtel de Pontalba The Hôtel de Pontalba is a hôtel particulier, a type of large townhouse of France, at 41 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It has been the official residence of the United States Ambassador to France since 197 ...

, where she lived for the last twenty years of her life. *Angelique de Lotbinière (1692-1772), was married twice. In 1712, she married Jean-Francois Martin de Lino de Chalmette,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. Their son, Louis Xavier Martin de Lino de Chalmette founded

Chalmette, Louisiana Chalmette ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in, and the parish seat of, St. Bernard Parish in southeastern Louisiana, United States. The 2010 census reported that Chalmette had 16,751 people; 2011 population was listed as 17,119; however, t ...

, and married the sister of

Antoine Philippe de Marigny Antoine Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville (17 July 1721 – 6 November 1779), Chevalier de St. Louis, was a French geographer and explorer. Born in Mobile in 1722, he was part of the Creole elite of French Louisiana. Biography Antoine Phi ...

, grandfather of

Bernard de Marigny Jean-Bernard Xavier Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville (1785–1868), known as Bernard de Marigny, was a French- Creole American nobleman, playboy, planter, politician, duelist, writer, horse breeder, land developer, and President of the Louisia ...

. The

was fought at

, on the plantation of Louis's son, Ignace Martin de Lino de Chalmette. In 1722, Angelique married Captain Nicolas-Marie Renaud d'Avène des Méloizes (1696-1743),

Comte ''Comte'' is the French, Catalan and Occitan form of the word 'count' (Latin: ''comes''); ''comté'' is the Gallo-Romance form of the word 'county' (Latin: ''comitatus''). Comte or Comté may refer to: * A count in French, from Latin ''comes'' * A ...

des Meloizes and Chevalier de St Louis, whose sister was married to her brother, Eustache. They were the parents of Angelique-Genevieve d'Avene des Meloizes, the subject of Nadine Grelet's book, ''La Belle Angelique'' (2003) and one of the two central figures in William Kirby's classic book, '' The Golden Dog'' (1873). She was married to Michel-Jean-Hugues de Pean (directly descended from

Hugues de Payens Hugues de Payens or Payns (9 February 1070 – 24 May 1136) was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar. In association with Bernard of Clairvaux, he created the ''Latin Rule'', the code of behavior for the Order. Name T ...

), but better known for her affair with François Bigot. Her brother, Nicolas Renaud d'Avene des Meloizes-Fresnoy (1729-1803), became the Marquis de Fresnoy through his marriage to the heiress Agathe-Louise de Fresnoy.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotbiniere, Rene-Louis Chartier De 1641 births 1709 deaths People of New France