Médard Chouart des Groseilliers (born 1618) 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 ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
r in Canada. He is often paired with his brother-in-law
Pierre-Esprit Radisson, 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), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
in 1670. This company established trading posts and extensive relations with the
First Nations
First nations are indigenous settlers or bands.
First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to:
Indigenous groups
*List of Indigenous peoples
*First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
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 spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
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.
An old fortified city dating from the 9th-century Burgundy, it was renamed from Charly in 2006.
Geography
The old ...
,
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 (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, 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 Kingdom of Great Br ...
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
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 ...
missions in the
Huron region near present-day
Simcoe County
Simcoe County is a county and census division located in the central region of Ontario, Canada. The county is located north of the Greater Toronto Area, and forms the north western edge of the Golden Horseshoe. The county seat is located in Mi ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. Here he learned the skills of a
coureur des bois
A coureur des bois (; ) or coureur de bois (; ) were independent entrepreneurial French Canadian traders who travelled in New France and the interior of North America, usually to trade with First Nations peoples by exchanging various European i ...
. In 1646, Groseilliers fought with the Huron against the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
.
On 3 September 1647 Groseilliers married the widowed Helène Martin, the daughter of Abraham Martin, whose land surrounding
Quebec City
Quebec City 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 Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
later became famous as the
Plains of Abraham
The Plains of Abraham () is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759, ...
. 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 is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...
region.
In 1653, Groseilliers travelled to
Acadia
Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...
to meet with
Claude de la Tour and returned to New France in July and established himself at
Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located 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 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/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...
,
Pottawattomi,
Winnebago and
Fox peoples and furs worth "14 to 15 thousand
livres". Leaving in August 1659, Groseilliers and Radisson traveled west to the far end of Lake Superior and wintered at
Lac Courte Oreilles in what is now known as
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
. According to Radisson's account of the voyage, they helped repel an Iroquois attack along the
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River (, ) 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 Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...
and that the idea for trading furs from
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...
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, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...
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, the French minister of finance under King
Louis XIV
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
. 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 consisting of 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 (state), New York to the west and by the ...
in hope of finding a suitable vessel.
Formation of the Hudson's Bay Company
Groseilliers and Radisson traveled to
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...
. 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. 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 (, ; ) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is politically part of Nunavut. Its largest island is Akimiski Island.
Numerous waterways of the ...
. ''Nonsuch'' reached the mouth of the
Rupert River
The Rupert River is a river 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 large whitewater on ...
which was named after their benefactor. They landed near what is now the town of
Waskaganish
Waskaganish (/, 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 Nord-du-Québec, Canada. Waskaganish is part of the territory referred to as " Eeyou Istchee" ( ...
,
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, 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), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
, 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 (), or Prince Rupert's Land (), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The right to "sole trade and commerce" over Rupert's Land was granted to Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), based a ...
. 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, 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'', 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. The river drains Lake Winnipeg and runs before it ends in Hudson Bay near Port Nelson, Manitoba, Port Nels ...
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 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. 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 ship named for the explorer.
References
Sources
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* 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