François Crépieul (March 16, 1638 —1702) was a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary in Canada and vicar apostolic for the Montagnais Indians.

Biography

Crépieul was born in

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. As a youth he studied in the Jesuit college of his native town and in that of

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

, becoming a member of the order at

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

in 1659. He continued his studies at

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

and Douai and taught at Lille and

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

. In 1670 he sailed for Canada. Upon the completion of his theological studies in the College of Quebec, he was assigned in October 1671 to the

Tadoussac Tadoussac () is a village municipality in La Haute-Côte-Nord RCM (Regional County Municipality), on the north shore of the maritime section of the estuary of St. Lawrence river, in Côte-Nord region, Quebec, Canada. Geography Tadoussac is ...

region, where he worked among the Montagnais and

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

tribes for twenty-eight years. In 1696 or 1697 he was appointed vicar apostolic for the Montagnais and, on the discontinuance of the mission a few years later, moved to Quebec, where he spent the rest of his life. Claude Dablon, superior of all the missions in Canada, described him as "a veritable apostle".

Works

For the benefit of his fellow missionaries, Crépieul wrote an account of his time as a missionary, included in the sixty-third volume of Reuben Gold Thwaites' ''The

Jesuit Relations ''The Jesuit Relations'', also known as ''Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France (Relation de ce qui s'est passé ..'', are chronicles of the Jesuit missions in New France. The works were written annually and printed beginning in 1632 an ...

''. He describes the life as a tedious and prolonged martyrdom, and a school of patience, penance, and resignation.

References

* J.S. Camille de Rochemonteix, ''Les Jésuites et la Nouvelle-France au XVIIe siècle'' (Paris, 1895–96) * Reuben Gold Thwaites, ''The Jesuit Relations'', LVI, 301. 302. Available on lin
here
*

Carlos Sommervogel Carlos Sommervogel (8 January 1834 – 4 March 1902) was a French Jesuit scholar. He was author of the monumental ''Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus'', which served as one of the major references for the editors of the Catholic Encyclo ...

, ''Bibliothèque de la Campagnie de Jesus'', II, 1652, I * James Constantine Pilling, ''Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages'' (Washington, 1891), 98, 99 {{DEFAULTSORT:Crepieul, Francois 1638 births 1702 deaths 17th-century French Jesuits French Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada Jesuit missionaries in New France