Who was this Frontenac whose name bears the most famous Hôtel Château in Quebec? What traces did he leave behind so that this figure still lives on in our architectural heritage today?
Kingdom of France
In 1661, the French King Louis XIV came to the throne. He decides to exercise his full power without the help of a prime minister. In addition, he established a new power structure in New France. From now on the colony was under his and his naval minister’s control. They then gave leadership in America to a governor and an intendant.
This dual leadership between the governor and the intendant requires close cooperation. If cooperation is generally cordial, certain governors maintain, to say the least, turbulent relations with their intendant due to their hot temper. This is the case of Governor Frontenac.
King Louis XIV. Public domain
Louis de Buade Count of Frontenac and Palluau
In 1672, with the beginning of the war with Holland, King Louis XIV somewhat gave up the development of New France. At the same time, two competent colonial administrators, Jean Talon and Daniel de Rémy de Courcelles, returned to France.
During this time of change, Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac and Palluau, became the new Governor General of New France.
Frontenac, godson of Louis XIII, entered the king’s service in the French army at a young age. He married Anne de la Grange, daughter of a wealthy family that was very close to the royal nobility. However, this marriage did not save him from being heavily in debt, as he liked to live beyond his means. He was also persecuted by numerous creditors.
He found the solution to his money problems when King Louis confiscated his property in France. In June 1672, Frontenac left his wife looking after his interests in Europe and sailed for New France.
Louise de Buade Count of Frontenac and Palluau Public domain
First presence in America
Once he landed in Quebec, it didn’t take long for the new governor’s authoritarian nature to take hold. Frontenac destabilized several merchants and many colonial administrators. He often acted brusquely towards his intendant Duchesneau and quickly alienated the powerful Mgr. de Laval.
It must be said that during the first three years of his term, Frontenac poked his nose into areas of responsibility that were normally the purview of the intendant. A little cockfight quickly begins.
One of the sources of conflict is associated with the fur trade. For example, in 1673, Frontenac commissioned Cavelier de La Salle with the delicate mission of building a fortress on Lake Ontario. This fortress must be strategically positioned to promote the growth of the fur trade. Cavelier de La Salle will succeed in his mission by building Fort Cataracoui (which is quickly renamed Fort Frontenac).
Cavelier de LaSalle Public domain
For successfully meeting the challenge, La Salle received letters of nobility from the king and the title of Lord of the region of the fortress in question (today this would be the Kingston region of Ontario). It appears that granting land further west to Cavelier de La Salle would have caused resentment among Montreal’s fur traders.
Frontenac also disagreed with the clergy. He is criticized for his laxity in selling brandy to Aboriginal people. Mgr. de Laval had stated that substitution with alcohol was a mortal sin. He threatened to deny the church’s sacraments to people they sold to First Nations. Frontenac, for his part, accused the bishop and the Jesuits of not interfering in their affairs.
In 1682 the king was angered by the complaints against Frontenac. He calls him back to France.
Violent confrontations
During Frontenac’s absence, the situation in the colony worsened with members of the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee Confederacy).
It must be said that the advance of the French in the West over several years and the alliances with nations in these regions provoked the anger of the Iroquois, who felt increasingly surrounded by the French.
To offset the progress of these colonists, the Iroquois approached the English. The latter did not hesitate to offer them better trading conditions.
In this context, a trade battle began between New France, its allies and the Iroquois-supported colony of New York. The problem is the exploitation of fur in Western America. For example, in the summer of 1684, a French expedition of 1,600 men was sent to regain control of the region, but the French troops were decimated by disease and lack of supplies. Governor Joseph-Antoine Le Febvre de La Barre even had to retreat to Montreal. When the governor learned of this lamentable omission, he was recalled to France. He is replaced by another governor, the Marquis de Denonville.
Haudenosaunee Confederacy Public Domain
Once Denonville arrived in the colony, he was ordered to subdue the Iroquois. Quickly, in July 1687, he assembled an impressive army of nearly 3,000 men, in which we found Canadian militia soldiers, regular troops, First Nations warriors and even a few runners from the woods. This army marches west, towards the land of the Senecas. Members of this nation are considered guardians of the West Gate and now inhabit the Buffalo area. Then violent clashes break out. Denonville will order his men to slaughter livestock, burn crops, and burn native villages.
During these military maneuvers, the French captured around 80 Onondaga prisoners. The prisoners are transported to France and sent to the galleys. This slavery-like punishment of the galleys will increase the anger of the other members of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Revenge
On May 17, 1689, King William III declared. of England King Louis XIV the war. New England leaders learned the news before those of New France. Knowing the Iroquois warriors’ desire for revenge, New England supplied the Iroquois with barrels of gunpowder and military equipment.
On the night of August 4th to 5th, around 4 a.m., when a violent storm broke out, around 1,500 Iroquois warriors attacked the village of Lachine. They set fire to houses and outbuildings, killing almost 24 people and bringing back about forty prisoners. This massacre is one of the most important manifestations of the Franco-English War in America.
Admiral Phips Attack on Quebec Public Domain
Attack on Quebec by Admiral Phips Public domain
Second presence in America
At the end of the 17th century, the War of the League of Augsburg raged in Europe, in which France and Great Britain took part, among others. This context then allowed the enemy colonies to confront each other more openly in the Americas to ensure a fishing monopoly and control of the fur trade.
The demographic situation in colonial North America did not favor New France, which had only 12,000 residents, compared to at least 200,000 in the English colonies. Given the seriousness of the threat, former governor Frontenac returned to service at the king’s request in 1689.
Once he landed, he set about improving the colonial fortifications and renewing alliances with the allied First Nations.
We quickly understand that Frontenac’s ultimate goal is to sow terror in New England territory. He organizes three terrible expeditions in the form of surprise attacks on enemy villages. These military attacks caused panic in the Boston area and then in Albany. In response, the English colonists will unite and attack the colonists of New France.
The English land offensive was carried out in the company of their Iroquois allies, but failed miserably due to a smallpox epidemic in which around 300 Aborigines died.
French raids in New England Public Domain
Famous phrase
In the fall of 1690, a fleet led by Admiral Williams Phips set out from Boston and quickly captured Port-Royal in Acadia. We then see that it is dangerously approaching Quebec. On October 16, the 34 ships of the Anglo-American fleet and their 2,000 men arrived off Quebec. The next day, Admiral Phips sent an emissary with a white flag. Brought blindfolded to the Château Saint-Louis, the messenger demands nothing less than the surrender of the city. Frontenac’s famous answer is very clear:
“I have no answer to give your general, except by the muzzle of my cannons and with rifle shots, to let him know that this is not the way to send a man like me to prison.”
A landing at Beauport was pushed back and the Anglo-American bombardment of Fortress Quebec was unsuccessful. After four days of fighting, the English lifted the siege of Quebec despite the English fleet’s 1,500 cannon shots running out of ammunition, suffering from disease and the bitter cold. Admiral Phips’ troops then returned to New England.
In 1696, a final military expedition of 2,000 men was led under the command of the old governor Frontenac. Imagine he is 74 years old and is being transported in a sedan chair through the middle of the forest.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the war between France and England ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697.
The prestigious Château Frontenac Hotel was built by Canadian Pacific in 1892 and is named after Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac. Public domain
The following year, 1698, Frontenac died at the venerable age of 76 for the time. He will not live to see the conclusion of the negotiations to end the conflict with the Iroquois.
Although he was less contentious during his second term, Frontenac continually overstepped his authority to extract maximum profit from the fur trade. He even went so far as to use military funds to enrich himself. In fact, one might think that Governor Frontenac would have been removed from office if he had not died.
It must be remembered that brandy, as well as cooking pots, wool clothing, weapons and other European products that the French traded for First Nations furs, facilitated the opening of half of the northern continent. -American for the French. In this very special context, Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac, Governor General of New France, one of the most turbulent and influential personalities in New France, left his mark on history.