1622. The first Huguenot rebellion. Following the annexation of Bearn to France and the loss of liberty of its many Huguenot inhabitants, the Protestants of France rebel under the leadership of Henri, duc de Rohan, who sets up his headquarters at the Huguenot centre of La Rochelle. He issues a list of demands and requests to King Louis XIII. Chief among them is the full enforcement of the Edict of Nantes, which promises equality under the law to Catholics and Protestants. He also demands that Protestants be allowed to sit on Parlements, which they had been banned from doing.
The Secretary of State, Cardinal Richelieu, meets with Henri and several Huguenot leaders. The result is the Treaty of La Rochelle. The Huguenots are given special status around La Rochelle and the west coast. They are given autonomy and many special rights and privileges. Henri de Rohan is made Constable. All castles, walls and defensive features within the area are pulled down and destroyed by Royalist forces before they withdraw. The Huguenots are even allowed to bear arms and to form their own militias, however they are subject to the control of the Secretary of State’s oversight.
1624. Because of his success, Cardinal Richelieu is promoted and is made Chief Minister of France. He wields enormous power in the name of the King and through his close relations with Louis’s mother. He sets about centralising the State around the King and begins by ordering the razing of all castles within France not essential to the defence of the Kingdom.
He also passes an Edict which allows the free emigration of Protestants to New France, however they are largely limited to Montreal and Upper Canada. Quebec is to remain predominantly Catholic.
1628. Many Huguenots are still not satisfied. They seek independence or at least greater autonomy, especially after Richelieu’s promotion. Several leading Huguenots seize La Rochelle and announce a Republic. In response, Constable Henri de Rohan hurries to Paris to swear loyalty to Louis. He then meets with Richelieu as to the best way to put down the rebellion. Some 40,000 soldiers are amassed and besiege La Rochelle. Henri also amasses his own forces; some 20,000 Protestant. They are set to guarding supply lines and ensuring the peace and security of the rest of the Huguenot regions. They play little role in the siege itself for fear of mutiny.
After nine months La Rochelle is taken. Some 20,000 defenders are killed. Cardinal Richelieu had been blamed for the uprising following his soft line against the Huguenots in 1622. He is determined to rid France of their menace. He exiles some 40,000 Huguenots who were suspected of compliance with the rebellion. Richelieu realised that they were useful peoples, as they had great skills in industry and were a relatively wealthy demographic. He could not allow them to settle in hostile lands, especially a kingdom like England that was Protestant and hostile. He therefore sent them to Upper Canada and Montreal where they were given land in the hope that they would settle there and extend France’s colonial holdings.
The plan worked. In 1630 Richelieu extended the programme to any Huguenot and offered them parcels of land. He formed the Departemente des Emigres which would handle these applications. From 1630-1635 some 30,000 people applied. They were settled largely on the island of Montreal itself and on the southern bank of the St. Lawrence River. Three colonies were set up around Montreal: St. Grigory, on the south bank of the river, Terrebonne on the north bank and on the mainland, and Pincourt on the L’ille de Perrot in the south. In the centre, on the Ille Bizard, a fortress was built that was garrisoned by 200 Catholic soldiers under the command of a Catholic commander. This fort not only protected the colonies and the city but also prevented any uprisings from independent minded Huguenots.
The colonies, however, were generally quiet and indeed they flourished. Relations with the natives were friendly, and the fur trade thrived and the Ottawa River became a bloodline of commerce from the northern Huron peoples down the St. Lawrence. In 1632 an outpost was founded on the Ottawa River. It was called St. Just and it was roughly 100 km west of Montreal. It was a fort primarily, and had a garrison of 50 soldiers including 2 cannon. It swiftly became a vital link in the fur trade, however, as natives brought their goods there, preferring the smaller outpost to the larger city due to the decreased likelihood of catching one of the European diseases. This outpost grew swiftly, so that in 135 it had 500 inhabitants.
In 1636 Cardinal Richelieu asks Henri du Rohan to be the Viceroy of New France. Henri accepts, and by his so doing the idea of moving to the colonies grows to Huguenots. It had previously seen as a sentence of exile, however with one of their foremost leaders accepting a role there, it was seen less negatively. Henri took the title Count of Ontario and moved there with a colony flotilla that had 1,000 colonists on board. Many more Huguenots now took the perilous voyage to the colonies and Montreal grew rapidly.
Henri was an able administrator and a competent general. However, his diplomatic skills were more in need as relations with the natives became strained. The Iroquis peoples of the south Lawrencian shore were hostile to the Huron of the northern shore, and their dealings with the Dutch of New Netherland was also seen as competition to the nascent fur trade. Henri met with several Iroquis and Huron leaders throughout 1637 and 1638 and finally an agreement was reached. The Treaty of Duck Island, as it was called due to the place of its signing, was to define Franco-Iroquis-Huron relations for decades to come.
The provisions were that the Iroquis would no longer carry out Mourning Raids upon any peoples north of the Ottawa River nor on any Frenchman. Mourning Raids were meant to replace deceased Iroquis by capturing young children or adolescents to be raised as Iroquis. These had become a problem as it had become frightfully common for French children to be snatched and later be found wearing Iroquis clothing and speaking their language.
Furthermore, the Iroquis promised only to sell their goods to the French and regular trade was established. The outpost of St. Henri was founded south of Beurharnois. It too was a fortress, however it had a large community of ironworkers and textile artisans who traded these finished goods with the Iroquis for furs, maize and shells. These were then sold at Montreal and passed down to Quebec where they were sold once again to Quebecois merchants who exported them to France. Between St Henri and Montreal the price rose by an estimated 50%. Between Montreal and Quebec this jumped to 200% and from Quebec to France a further 500%. Thus prices inflated and profits were made all along the line.
The Huron too demanded trade concessions and the St Just outpost was enlarged to include a small manufacturing community that too traded for furs and also for some gold panning, although it was soon found that there was little to no gold to be found. However, adventurers still kept arriving searching for that precious metal. They inevitably failed, however, and either resorted to agriculture like the vast majority of people or fur trading.
The business of fur trading was a dangerous one. The Treaty of Duck Island provided that no Frenchman would hunt for furs and that this would be reserved for the Huron and Iroquis peoples. However, many still tried it and many were caught and killed. This provoked outrage among the colonists at first, however they soon resigned themselves to it and merely shook their heads at the foolishness of some.
The Duchy of Ontario was outlined as everything south of the Ottawa River and north of Lake Ontario. However, only a tiny fraction was settled by Frenchmen and only a tinier fraction actually administered by the Duke’s estate. The boundaries of the Duchy would, however, in future be crucial to the development of New France.
Back in France, Cardinal Richelieu was lauded for his peaceful settlement to the Huguenot question. By 1640 some 70,000 Huguenots had left France and more left every year. However, the Huguenots had been leaders in industry, especially in manufacturing. This caused a sharp decline in the textile industry, especially in Flanders and Brittany. War, meanwhile, was raging between Catholic and Protestant powers. Richelieu brought France into the war hoping to curtail Hapsburg power on the continent. French strategy hinged on securing Flanders and the Low Countries. A force of 60,000 led by Bernard of Saxe-Weimar pushed towards Brussels and Ghent. A Spanish force was defeated and the Spanish Netherlands occupied by French forces. The Seven Dutch Provinces occupied Limburg and Zeeland and thus partitioned the Netherlands. Richelieu met with Dutch leaders and they agreed to a line running from Antwerp to Aachen to be the border between them.
In 1640 the United Provinces became the Dutch Republic and Cardinal Richelieu extended diplomatic recognition to it and recognised its holdings across the globe. French forces invaded Savoy and penetrated Germany yet were uniformly defeated. Finally in 1642 a truce was signed. A peace treaty was finally made in 1644 that put an end to the so-called Twenty Six Years War. The Treaty of Munster was signed by all leading European powers.
The French delegation was led by Cardinal Mazarin, who succeeded Richelieu as Chief Minister after the formers death after the signing of the truce. France was in an advantageous position. Not only had the Low Countries been occupied, but parts of Alsace had also been taken. These were recognised by the Treaty of Munster that reforged Europe. The United Provinces were recognised as a Constitutional Monarchy under the House of Orange by all powers, however reluctantly, and treaties were signed between the Dutch and the French for trade concessions. The Dutch were allowed access to ports along the St. Lawrence River, and in return French merchants were given access to the Hudson River.
Elsewhere, Emperor Ferdinand III lost much of his power in the Holy Roman Empire and states began to align themselves to other Protestant powers. Brandenburg made a treaty with Sweden (which received Pomerania) and Hanover with England. Sweden received a large indemnity and secured its Baltic holdings.
Peace, therefore, came to a war torn continent. The real winners were the Dutch, who won their freedom, but most of all France. In 1643 King Louis XIII died and his son, Louis XIV was only five years old. Cardinal Mazarin therefore effectively ran the state along with the King’s mother Anne. He pursued his predecessor’s policies towards the Hapsburgs and also the Huguenots.
The United Provinces in the 1640s found itself in a conundrum. Their annexations had brought large numbers of Catholics into their power. These may well cause trouble, and it was feared they harboured Hapsburg sympathies and connections. They therefore pursued a policy similar to the French policy. They allowed the Catholics to emigrate to the New World. The colony of New Zeeland was founded opposite the colony of New Amsterdam and by 1680 had 1,000 inhabitants.
Viceroy Henri died in 1646 and his lands passed to his one offspring, his daughter Marguerite who became the Duchess of Ontario. The title of Viceroy was filled by the young and energetic general Louis, Prince of Conde, the fourth in line to the grand title. He had distinguished himself in the long War in the Low Countries, taking Dunkirk and Antwerp, as well as in Lorraine having defeated a large Austro-Bavarian army. He was feared by Mazarin, who made him Viceroy in order to remove him from French politics. It was hoped that the wilds of New France would either consume his youthful energy or otherwise remove him from French politics for such a length of time that he would not be a threat to Mazarin’s ascendancy.
Louis regarded New France as a backwater and treated his assignment with contempt. He appealed to the King, yet Louis XIV was only five and his mother Anne was on close terms with Mazarin. Thus Prince Louis and some of his supporters were sent to Quebec in Spring of 1647. With him went his one comfort and solace, his mistress and lover Mlle du Vigean who shared his official apartments in Quebec. For two years he languished in Quebec, paying little heed to his charge. Because of this the Huguenots were given ever greater autonomy and settlement increased along the St. Lawrence. The settlement of Louisville on Lake Ontario was founded in 1651 and settlement on the lake increased from then on. By 1650 the Huguenot population of New France was over 120,000 and growing as the settlers had large families, especially the farmers that spread further and further south and west.
Louis was recalled to France in 1653 following Louis XIV’s majority. The young king hoped that he would counter balance the Cardinal who was seen as too ambitious and domineering, especially by the nobility. He formed a political alliance with Turenne, who was promoted to Marshall in 1654 following his successful campaign in Alsace that extended France’s border to the Rhine. Louis supported these two generals and encouraged competition between them. In 1656 the Rhine League was formed from various German states. This extended France’s influence up to and beyond the Rhine.
In New France, meanwhile, the colony of St Just was attacked by a confederacy of native tribes. The fort was put under siege for three weeks and all communication was cut off. The garrison commander finally got word to Montreal by floating barrels down the Ottawa River with messages painted on them. A relief force led by the Montreal garrison commander, Maurice Baum, reached the fort. It consisted of 500 soldiers and another 500 Huguenot volunteers. They formed up and attacked the natives who were attacking the fort. This and a sally pushed the attackers back and freed the fort, which had sustained heavy damage. Of its original garrison of 200, only 102 survived and of its civilian population of 1,000 only 648 survived. Those killed were buried at the tiny chapel which was later enlarged to be St. Lazarus’s church.
The native leaders of the Mississuagas met with Maurice, who exacted harsh terms from them. They agreed to disarm fully and to adopt agriculture and to settle along the shore of Lake Ontario, where the colonists could be sure of their whereabouts and their numbers. They were furthermore forced into a trade agreement that allowed French fur trappers free access to their lands, which were in theory the Duchy of Ontario’s. This issue was not raised, however, and some 2,000 people were relocated to the south. They adopted agricultural methods which they learned from the Iroquis. In 1657 they allied with the Iroquis and eventually became members of the League.
For his capacity, Louis promoted Maurice to Viceroy of New France. Maurice was an excellent candidate, as he had lived in New France for thirty years. He had spent most of this time in Montreal, although he was a Catholic and his family lived in Quebec. He also spoke a small amount of Algonquin and had served as a diplomat in the Duck Island talks. In 1658 he ordered a stop to all missionary activity within the Iroquis lands as petitioned by their chieftains.
In France, the alliance of Conde, Turenne and the King pressed against Cardinal Mazarin, who was finally pressurised into resigning in 1659. He died four years later on a generous state pension on his estate in Champagne. Louis set about reforming the French government and also in creating his on unique cult of personality. He appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert as Director General of the Treasury. Colbert found himself in a bad situation. France was impoverished following the wars of Louis XIII and the emigration of the Huguenots. He sought to improve French manufacturing, yet there was very little to begin with. The Huguenot weavers and factors had all left to New France, which was thriving, yet it was hardly pulling its economic weight.
Facing a shortfall in manufacturing, Colbert changed tack. Instead of promoting traditional manufacturing, he would expand new industries. The 17th century saw the opening of the world, and he pressed Louis to expand France’s holdings in India, Africa and the Caribbean. This would, inevitably, cause conflict with Britain which was expanding across the waves as well. Colbert therefore advised Louis to cut the army’s budget and invest in the navy. He also suggested that France make an alliance with the Dutch, with whom they had good relations following the Twenty- Six Year War. The Treaty of Antwerp was signed in 1661 that led to a defensive alliance and closer economic co-operation between the two nations. Certain factions in the Netherlands, however, feared that their leader, William III, would emulate his ally Louis and make himself an absolute monarch. They therefore curtailed his powers yet further.
The Dutch alliance proved crucial, as it opened up France to Dutch capital. Agriculture was reformed enormously. Louis began his ambitious building plan that culminated in the Palace of Versailles that not only showed his own power but drew the nobility to himself where he could keep an eye on them. The landed gentry, meanwhile, the lesser nobility who could not afford to live in Versailles, profited from Dutch investment and switched from feudal farming methods to new, modern methods.
The Dutch farmer, unlike his fellow agriculturists in Europe, could produce enough food to feed another two of his compatriots. The Netherlands, therefore, supported a large urban population with only limited reliance on foreign imports, which were largely grain imports from Sweden and Poland. They did this by methods such as crop rotation, the application of science and botany as well as free capital investment that improved mechanisation.
In France, this caused an enormous increase in agricultural production. The 1664 harvest was almost three times the 1650 harvest and this would only increase throughout the decade. Peasants went from farming their tenanted land to working on the lord’s estate for a wage, which, naturally, was pitifully low. Some nobles paid their farmers a smaller wage and gave them some of the crop, however this was an extraordinary practice. The extension of the cash economy was probably Colbert’s greatest achievement. He applied economics to agriculture and thereby killed feudalism more thoroughly than the enlightenment or absolutism.
One main problem, however, was New France. The Huguenots were skilled manufacturers which had contributed enormously to the French economy. However, their finished goods were no longer making their way back to France, even at the inflated prices expected from a trans-Atlantic voyage. They were instead being traded with natives for pelts which were then sold. This was profitable for them, yet was not good for France. Colbert realised that the future of the economy was manufacturing, yet he could not get the Huguenots to stop bartering.
Therefore, in May 1662 he had Louis XIV form the St Lawrence company. This was given a monopoly over pelts acquired from New France and the native peoples of North America. Instead of selling their pelts to Quebec factors, the Huguenots now sold them to the Company for a far lower price. Suddenly the profit fell out of the fur trading business and the number of Huguenots engaged in it fell rapidly. Incidentally, it also decreased tension with the natives as fewer adventurers went out poaching.
The collapse in the private fur trading market caused many Huguenots to change industry. In 1660 there had been three main professions: farmer, manufacturer and merchant. The first mostly farmed grain on the south bank of the St Lawrence yet they had also learned from the Iroquis and also planted squash, beans and maize. These new crops spread to France where they enjoyed some success, however the climate was wrong for the beans. Without these the entire system fell apart, as the soil became de-nitrified and useless.
Manufacturers mostly made iron goods or cloth. The northern bank of the Ottawa was largely given over to grazing sheep which provided bountiful wool for the looms of Ottawa and Montreal. Weaving was largely a domestic industry, however Colbert’s reforms would change that. Ironworking was based largely around the trading colonies and outposts. They then sold their goods to merchants who sold them for pelts which they then sold for an enormous profit. It was this system that Colbert all but destroyed by making it unprofitable.
Colbert’s reforms caused the Huguenot manufacturers to look for new markets. They inevitably turned to Quebec and also to the natives again. The Iroquis had adopted currency in the 1650s and used French silver livres widely. They therefore bought manufactured goods and sold pelts to the Company. The natives were not deterred by Colbert’s reforms as they had not received cash beforehand, and so therefore could not measure any profit they were making (which was small anyway).
Quebec in the 1660s was growing rapidly. It was a centre of trade as well as fishing. The rich shoals of the Maritimes stocked the city’s fish markets abundantly and salted fish was sent to France and also to Montreal which also exported fresh water fish from Lake Ontario. It had a population of some 10,000 of whom 40% were Protestant. It also had a thriving Jewish community, the first outside Europe and the Mediterranean ever. It was the seat of the St Lawrence Company and also the Viceroy, who occupied a large building abutting the St Lawrence River.
In 1665 Maurice was made Duke of Lower Canada and was awarded extensive lands north of the St Lawrence. Maurice parcelled this land out to over 500 impoverished families who were his tenants. They paid him rent and in return they sold their produce in Quebec. For this he became common among the poor whom he cared for dearly.
To the south, the Dutch had the colony of New Amsterdam. This lay on the Manhattan Island on the Hudson River and had a population of a few hundred. It was no where comparable in size to New France, yet it was growing even more rapidly. The emigration of the Catholics had brought considerable wealth and population to the colony, and there were two settlements. The first was New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. This had a population of some 500 and was surrounded by walls and possessed a good harbour. It was, however, precariously placed and its one resource was the fur trade. The second settlement was New Zeeland, on the southern shore opposite New Amsterdam. This was predominantly Catholic and was growing rapidly due to their movement from Europe. Due to its liberal immigration policy, it also accepted many German and Polish refugees fleeing the religious wars that engulfed Europe. These lived in New Zeeland, being predominantly Catholic.
In 1666 a treaty was signed between France and the United Provinces that fixed the price of pelts. This was to stop the Dutch from undercutting the French by bidding more for pelts. The treaty also provided for Dutch expansion along the Hudson, as well as French expansion south to meet them. They drew a line of demarcation Lake Champlain. The colony of St Jean had been built on the Richelieu River that ran south from Montreal to the Lake in 1664. A treaty was signed with the Mohawk Nation that allowed free navigation of the Richelieu and the Hudson as well as the settlement of the Valley, which formed their eastern border.
Colbert’s suggestion that France expand her colonial possessions was taken on board by Louis. He had followed advice and invested in the navy, yet had cut back the military budget only a little. In 1660 the navy had 30 ships of the line and numerous smaller craft. These helped project French power into the Caribbean, where the sugar islands under French control had their productivity expanded by the introduction of lager numbers of African slaves. In 1669 Louis issued a license that monopolised the slave trade between French colonies to a joint stock company which was founded as the West India Company. Several forts were built along the west cost of Africa especially the Ivory Coast, whose main export (the eponymous ivory) rewarded investors with high profits, even if demand was limited.
Further colonies were founded in the east. Madagascar and Mauritius both had French presenses and military garrisons that secured the trade lanes. Imperial tensions began to flare up, however, with the Portuguese who controlled Mozambique and Goa.
Louis began a new era in French foreign policy. He strengthened the Dutch alliance while repairing relations with the Austrian Hapsburgs and the Swedish. Louis hoped to extend his power in the Caribbean, and to do that he would have to fight Spain. He therefore drew up a secret agreement with Austria and the United Provinces. It called for the partition of the Spanish empire. Spain’s Italian possessions would fall to Austria as would her other European possessions. Her possessions in the East Indies would become Dutch as would Florida. France would take San Dominica and the sugar islands. This, the Treaty of Venice as it was to be called, signalled a massive shift in European power politics.
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The Secretary of State, Cardinal Richelieu, meets with Henri and several Huguenot leaders. The result is the Treaty of La Rochelle. The Huguenots are given special status around La Rochelle and the west coast. They are given autonomy and many special rights and privileges. Henri de Rohan is made Constable. All castles, walls and defensive features within the area are pulled down and destroyed by Royalist forces before they withdraw. The Huguenots are even allowed to bear arms and to form their own militias, however they are subject to the control of the Secretary of State’s oversight.
1624. Because of his success, Cardinal Richelieu is promoted and is made Chief Minister of France. He wields enormous power in the name of the King and through his close relations with Louis’s mother. He sets about centralising the State around the King and begins by ordering the razing of all castles within France not essential to the defence of the Kingdom.
He also passes an Edict which allows the free emigration of Protestants to New France, however they are largely limited to Montreal and Upper Canada. Quebec is to remain predominantly Catholic.
1628. Many Huguenots are still not satisfied. They seek independence or at least greater autonomy, especially after Richelieu’s promotion. Several leading Huguenots seize La Rochelle and announce a Republic. In response, Constable Henri de Rohan hurries to Paris to swear loyalty to Louis. He then meets with Richelieu as to the best way to put down the rebellion. Some 40,000 soldiers are amassed and besiege La Rochelle. Henri also amasses his own forces; some 20,000 Protestant. They are set to guarding supply lines and ensuring the peace and security of the rest of the Huguenot regions. They play little role in the siege itself for fear of mutiny.
After nine months La Rochelle is taken. Some 20,000 defenders are killed. Cardinal Richelieu had been blamed for the uprising following his soft line against the Huguenots in 1622. He is determined to rid France of their menace. He exiles some 40,000 Huguenots who were suspected of compliance with the rebellion. Richelieu realised that they were useful peoples, as they had great skills in industry and were a relatively wealthy demographic. He could not allow them to settle in hostile lands, especially a kingdom like England that was Protestant and hostile. He therefore sent them to Upper Canada and Montreal where they were given land in the hope that they would settle there and extend France’s colonial holdings.
The plan worked. In 1630 Richelieu extended the programme to any Huguenot and offered them parcels of land. He formed the Departemente des Emigres which would handle these applications. From 1630-1635 some 30,000 people applied. They were settled largely on the island of Montreal itself and on the southern bank of the St. Lawrence River. Three colonies were set up around Montreal: St. Grigory, on the south bank of the river, Terrebonne on the north bank and on the mainland, and Pincourt on the L’ille de Perrot in the south. In the centre, on the Ille Bizard, a fortress was built that was garrisoned by 200 Catholic soldiers under the command of a Catholic commander. This fort not only protected the colonies and the city but also prevented any uprisings from independent minded Huguenots.
The colonies, however, were generally quiet and indeed they flourished. Relations with the natives were friendly, and the fur trade thrived and the Ottawa River became a bloodline of commerce from the northern Huron peoples down the St. Lawrence. In 1632 an outpost was founded on the Ottawa River. It was called St. Just and it was roughly 100 km west of Montreal. It was a fort primarily, and had a garrison of 50 soldiers including 2 cannon. It swiftly became a vital link in the fur trade, however, as natives brought their goods there, preferring the smaller outpost to the larger city due to the decreased likelihood of catching one of the European diseases. This outpost grew swiftly, so that in 135 it had 500 inhabitants.
In 1636 Cardinal Richelieu asks Henri du Rohan to be the Viceroy of New France. Henri accepts, and by his so doing the idea of moving to the colonies grows to Huguenots. It had previously seen as a sentence of exile, however with one of their foremost leaders accepting a role there, it was seen less negatively. Henri took the title Count of Ontario and moved there with a colony flotilla that had 1,000 colonists on board. Many more Huguenots now took the perilous voyage to the colonies and Montreal grew rapidly.
Henri was an able administrator and a competent general. However, his diplomatic skills were more in need as relations with the natives became strained. The Iroquis peoples of the south Lawrencian shore were hostile to the Huron of the northern shore, and their dealings with the Dutch of New Netherland was also seen as competition to the nascent fur trade. Henri met with several Iroquis and Huron leaders throughout 1637 and 1638 and finally an agreement was reached. The Treaty of Duck Island, as it was called due to the place of its signing, was to define Franco-Iroquis-Huron relations for decades to come.
The provisions were that the Iroquis would no longer carry out Mourning Raids upon any peoples north of the Ottawa River nor on any Frenchman. Mourning Raids were meant to replace deceased Iroquis by capturing young children or adolescents to be raised as Iroquis. These had become a problem as it had become frightfully common for French children to be snatched and later be found wearing Iroquis clothing and speaking their language.
Furthermore, the Iroquis promised only to sell their goods to the French and regular trade was established. The outpost of St. Henri was founded south of Beurharnois. It too was a fortress, however it had a large community of ironworkers and textile artisans who traded these finished goods with the Iroquis for furs, maize and shells. These were then sold at Montreal and passed down to Quebec where they were sold once again to Quebecois merchants who exported them to France. Between St Henri and Montreal the price rose by an estimated 50%. Between Montreal and Quebec this jumped to 200% and from Quebec to France a further 500%. Thus prices inflated and profits were made all along the line.
The Huron too demanded trade concessions and the St Just outpost was enlarged to include a small manufacturing community that too traded for furs and also for some gold panning, although it was soon found that there was little to no gold to be found. However, adventurers still kept arriving searching for that precious metal. They inevitably failed, however, and either resorted to agriculture like the vast majority of people or fur trading.
The business of fur trading was a dangerous one. The Treaty of Duck Island provided that no Frenchman would hunt for furs and that this would be reserved for the Huron and Iroquis peoples. However, many still tried it and many were caught and killed. This provoked outrage among the colonists at first, however they soon resigned themselves to it and merely shook their heads at the foolishness of some.
The Duchy of Ontario was outlined as everything south of the Ottawa River and north of Lake Ontario. However, only a tiny fraction was settled by Frenchmen and only a tinier fraction actually administered by the Duke’s estate. The boundaries of the Duchy would, however, in future be crucial to the development of New France.
Back in France, Cardinal Richelieu was lauded for his peaceful settlement to the Huguenot question. By 1640 some 70,000 Huguenots had left France and more left every year. However, the Huguenots had been leaders in industry, especially in manufacturing. This caused a sharp decline in the textile industry, especially in Flanders and Brittany. War, meanwhile, was raging between Catholic and Protestant powers. Richelieu brought France into the war hoping to curtail Hapsburg power on the continent. French strategy hinged on securing Flanders and the Low Countries. A force of 60,000 led by Bernard of Saxe-Weimar pushed towards Brussels and Ghent. A Spanish force was defeated and the Spanish Netherlands occupied by French forces. The Seven Dutch Provinces occupied Limburg and Zeeland and thus partitioned the Netherlands. Richelieu met with Dutch leaders and they agreed to a line running from Antwerp to Aachen to be the border between them.
In 1640 the United Provinces became the Dutch Republic and Cardinal Richelieu extended diplomatic recognition to it and recognised its holdings across the globe. French forces invaded Savoy and penetrated Germany yet were uniformly defeated. Finally in 1642 a truce was signed. A peace treaty was finally made in 1644 that put an end to the so-called Twenty Six Years War. The Treaty of Munster was signed by all leading European powers.
The French delegation was led by Cardinal Mazarin, who succeeded Richelieu as Chief Minister after the formers death after the signing of the truce. France was in an advantageous position. Not only had the Low Countries been occupied, but parts of Alsace had also been taken. These were recognised by the Treaty of Munster that reforged Europe. The United Provinces were recognised as a Constitutional Monarchy under the House of Orange by all powers, however reluctantly, and treaties were signed between the Dutch and the French for trade concessions. The Dutch were allowed access to ports along the St. Lawrence River, and in return French merchants were given access to the Hudson River.
Elsewhere, Emperor Ferdinand III lost much of his power in the Holy Roman Empire and states began to align themselves to other Protestant powers. Brandenburg made a treaty with Sweden (which received Pomerania) and Hanover with England. Sweden received a large indemnity and secured its Baltic holdings.
Peace, therefore, came to a war torn continent. The real winners were the Dutch, who won their freedom, but most of all France. In 1643 King Louis XIII died and his son, Louis XIV was only five years old. Cardinal Mazarin therefore effectively ran the state along with the King’s mother Anne. He pursued his predecessor’s policies towards the Hapsburgs and also the Huguenots.
The United Provinces in the 1640s found itself in a conundrum. Their annexations had brought large numbers of Catholics into their power. These may well cause trouble, and it was feared they harboured Hapsburg sympathies and connections. They therefore pursued a policy similar to the French policy. They allowed the Catholics to emigrate to the New World. The colony of New Zeeland was founded opposite the colony of New Amsterdam and by 1680 had 1,000 inhabitants.
Viceroy Henri died in 1646 and his lands passed to his one offspring, his daughter Marguerite who became the Duchess of Ontario. The title of Viceroy was filled by the young and energetic general Louis, Prince of Conde, the fourth in line to the grand title. He had distinguished himself in the long War in the Low Countries, taking Dunkirk and Antwerp, as well as in Lorraine having defeated a large Austro-Bavarian army. He was feared by Mazarin, who made him Viceroy in order to remove him from French politics. It was hoped that the wilds of New France would either consume his youthful energy or otherwise remove him from French politics for such a length of time that he would not be a threat to Mazarin’s ascendancy.
Louis regarded New France as a backwater and treated his assignment with contempt. He appealed to the King, yet Louis XIV was only five and his mother Anne was on close terms with Mazarin. Thus Prince Louis and some of his supporters were sent to Quebec in Spring of 1647. With him went his one comfort and solace, his mistress and lover Mlle du Vigean who shared his official apartments in Quebec. For two years he languished in Quebec, paying little heed to his charge. Because of this the Huguenots were given ever greater autonomy and settlement increased along the St. Lawrence. The settlement of Louisville on Lake Ontario was founded in 1651 and settlement on the lake increased from then on. By 1650 the Huguenot population of New France was over 120,000 and growing as the settlers had large families, especially the farmers that spread further and further south and west.
Louis was recalled to France in 1653 following Louis XIV’s majority. The young king hoped that he would counter balance the Cardinal who was seen as too ambitious and domineering, especially by the nobility. He formed a political alliance with Turenne, who was promoted to Marshall in 1654 following his successful campaign in Alsace that extended France’s border to the Rhine. Louis supported these two generals and encouraged competition between them. In 1656 the Rhine League was formed from various German states. This extended France’s influence up to and beyond the Rhine.
In New France, meanwhile, the colony of St Just was attacked by a confederacy of native tribes. The fort was put under siege for three weeks and all communication was cut off. The garrison commander finally got word to Montreal by floating barrels down the Ottawa River with messages painted on them. A relief force led by the Montreal garrison commander, Maurice Baum, reached the fort. It consisted of 500 soldiers and another 500 Huguenot volunteers. They formed up and attacked the natives who were attacking the fort. This and a sally pushed the attackers back and freed the fort, which had sustained heavy damage. Of its original garrison of 200, only 102 survived and of its civilian population of 1,000 only 648 survived. Those killed were buried at the tiny chapel which was later enlarged to be St. Lazarus’s church.
The native leaders of the Mississuagas met with Maurice, who exacted harsh terms from them. They agreed to disarm fully and to adopt agriculture and to settle along the shore of Lake Ontario, where the colonists could be sure of their whereabouts and their numbers. They were furthermore forced into a trade agreement that allowed French fur trappers free access to their lands, which were in theory the Duchy of Ontario’s. This issue was not raised, however, and some 2,000 people were relocated to the south. They adopted agricultural methods which they learned from the Iroquis. In 1657 they allied with the Iroquis and eventually became members of the League.
For his capacity, Louis promoted Maurice to Viceroy of New France. Maurice was an excellent candidate, as he had lived in New France for thirty years. He had spent most of this time in Montreal, although he was a Catholic and his family lived in Quebec. He also spoke a small amount of Algonquin and had served as a diplomat in the Duck Island talks. In 1658 he ordered a stop to all missionary activity within the Iroquis lands as petitioned by their chieftains.
In France, the alliance of Conde, Turenne and the King pressed against Cardinal Mazarin, who was finally pressurised into resigning in 1659. He died four years later on a generous state pension on his estate in Champagne. Louis set about reforming the French government and also in creating his on unique cult of personality. He appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert as Director General of the Treasury. Colbert found himself in a bad situation. France was impoverished following the wars of Louis XIII and the emigration of the Huguenots. He sought to improve French manufacturing, yet there was very little to begin with. The Huguenot weavers and factors had all left to New France, which was thriving, yet it was hardly pulling its economic weight.
Facing a shortfall in manufacturing, Colbert changed tack. Instead of promoting traditional manufacturing, he would expand new industries. The 17th century saw the opening of the world, and he pressed Louis to expand France’s holdings in India, Africa and the Caribbean. This would, inevitably, cause conflict with Britain which was expanding across the waves as well. Colbert therefore advised Louis to cut the army’s budget and invest in the navy. He also suggested that France make an alliance with the Dutch, with whom they had good relations following the Twenty- Six Year War. The Treaty of Antwerp was signed in 1661 that led to a defensive alliance and closer economic co-operation between the two nations. Certain factions in the Netherlands, however, feared that their leader, William III, would emulate his ally Louis and make himself an absolute monarch. They therefore curtailed his powers yet further.
The Dutch alliance proved crucial, as it opened up France to Dutch capital. Agriculture was reformed enormously. Louis began his ambitious building plan that culminated in the Palace of Versailles that not only showed his own power but drew the nobility to himself where he could keep an eye on them. The landed gentry, meanwhile, the lesser nobility who could not afford to live in Versailles, profited from Dutch investment and switched from feudal farming methods to new, modern methods.
The Dutch farmer, unlike his fellow agriculturists in Europe, could produce enough food to feed another two of his compatriots. The Netherlands, therefore, supported a large urban population with only limited reliance on foreign imports, which were largely grain imports from Sweden and Poland. They did this by methods such as crop rotation, the application of science and botany as well as free capital investment that improved mechanisation.
In France, this caused an enormous increase in agricultural production. The 1664 harvest was almost three times the 1650 harvest and this would only increase throughout the decade. Peasants went from farming their tenanted land to working on the lord’s estate for a wage, which, naturally, was pitifully low. Some nobles paid their farmers a smaller wage and gave them some of the crop, however this was an extraordinary practice. The extension of the cash economy was probably Colbert’s greatest achievement. He applied economics to agriculture and thereby killed feudalism more thoroughly than the enlightenment or absolutism.
One main problem, however, was New France. The Huguenots were skilled manufacturers which had contributed enormously to the French economy. However, their finished goods were no longer making their way back to France, even at the inflated prices expected from a trans-Atlantic voyage. They were instead being traded with natives for pelts which were then sold. This was profitable for them, yet was not good for France. Colbert realised that the future of the economy was manufacturing, yet he could not get the Huguenots to stop bartering.
Therefore, in May 1662 he had Louis XIV form the St Lawrence company. This was given a monopoly over pelts acquired from New France and the native peoples of North America. Instead of selling their pelts to Quebec factors, the Huguenots now sold them to the Company for a far lower price. Suddenly the profit fell out of the fur trading business and the number of Huguenots engaged in it fell rapidly. Incidentally, it also decreased tension with the natives as fewer adventurers went out poaching.
The collapse in the private fur trading market caused many Huguenots to change industry. In 1660 there had been three main professions: farmer, manufacturer and merchant. The first mostly farmed grain on the south bank of the St Lawrence yet they had also learned from the Iroquis and also planted squash, beans and maize. These new crops spread to France where they enjoyed some success, however the climate was wrong for the beans. Without these the entire system fell apart, as the soil became de-nitrified and useless.
Manufacturers mostly made iron goods or cloth. The northern bank of the Ottawa was largely given over to grazing sheep which provided bountiful wool for the looms of Ottawa and Montreal. Weaving was largely a domestic industry, however Colbert’s reforms would change that. Ironworking was based largely around the trading colonies and outposts. They then sold their goods to merchants who sold them for pelts which they then sold for an enormous profit. It was this system that Colbert all but destroyed by making it unprofitable.
Colbert’s reforms caused the Huguenot manufacturers to look for new markets. They inevitably turned to Quebec and also to the natives again. The Iroquis had adopted currency in the 1650s and used French silver livres widely. They therefore bought manufactured goods and sold pelts to the Company. The natives were not deterred by Colbert’s reforms as they had not received cash beforehand, and so therefore could not measure any profit they were making (which was small anyway).
Quebec in the 1660s was growing rapidly. It was a centre of trade as well as fishing. The rich shoals of the Maritimes stocked the city’s fish markets abundantly and salted fish was sent to France and also to Montreal which also exported fresh water fish from Lake Ontario. It had a population of some 10,000 of whom 40% were Protestant. It also had a thriving Jewish community, the first outside Europe and the Mediterranean ever. It was the seat of the St Lawrence Company and also the Viceroy, who occupied a large building abutting the St Lawrence River.
In 1665 Maurice was made Duke of Lower Canada and was awarded extensive lands north of the St Lawrence. Maurice parcelled this land out to over 500 impoverished families who were his tenants. They paid him rent and in return they sold their produce in Quebec. For this he became common among the poor whom he cared for dearly.
To the south, the Dutch had the colony of New Amsterdam. This lay on the Manhattan Island on the Hudson River and had a population of a few hundred. It was no where comparable in size to New France, yet it was growing even more rapidly. The emigration of the Catholics had brought considerable wealth and population to the colony, and there were two settlements. The first was New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. This had a population of some 500 and was surrounded by walls and possessed a good harbour. It was, however, precariously placed and its one resource was the fur trade. The second settlement was New Zeeland, on the southern shore opposite New Amsterdam. This was predominantly Catholic and was growing rapidly due to their movement from Europe. Due to its liberal immigration policy, it also accepted many German and Polish refugees fleeing the religious wars that engulfed Europe. These lived in New Zeeland, being predominantly Catholic.
In 1666 a treaty was signed between France and the United Provinces that fixed the price of pelts. This was to stop the Dutch from undercutting the French by bidding more for pelts. The treaty also provided for Dutch expansion along the Hudson, as well as French expansion south to meet them. They drew a line of demarcation Lake Champlain. The colony of St Jean had been built on the Richelieu River that ran south from Montreal to the Lake in 1664. A treaty was signed with the Mohawk Nation that allowed free navigation of the Richelieu and the Hudson as well as the settlement of the Valley, which formed their eastern border.
Colbert’s suggestion that France expand her colonial possessions was taken on board by Louis. He had followed advice and invested in the navy, yet had cut back the military budget only a little. In 1660 the navy had 30 ships of the line and numerous smaller craft. These helped project French power into the Caribbean, where the sugar islands under French control had their productivity expanded by the introduction of lager numbers of African slaves. In 1669 Louis issued a license that monopolised the slave trade between French colonies to a joint stock company which was founded as the West India Company. Several forts were built along the west cost of Africa especially the Ivory Coast, whose main export (the eponymous ivory) rewarded investors with high profits, even if demand was limited.
Further colonies were founded in the east. Madagascar and Mauritius both had French presenses and military garrisons that secured the trade lanes. Imperial tensions began to flare up, however, with the Portuguese who controlled Mozambique and Goa.
Louis began a new era in French foreign policy. He strengthened the Dutch alliance while repairing relations with the Austrian Hapsburgs and the Swedish. Louis hoped to extend his power in the Caribbean, and to do that he would have to fight Spain. He therefore drew up a secret agreement with Austria and the United Provinces. It called for the partition of the Spanish empire. Spain’s Italian possessions would fall to Austria as would her other European possessions. Her possessions in the East Indies would become Dutch as would Florida. France would take San Dominica and the sugar islands. This, the Treaty of Venice as it was to be called, signalled a massive shift in European power politics.
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