François-Joseph Le Mercier

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François-Joseph Le Mercier (born October 4, 1604 in Paris , France , † June 12, 1690 in Martinique , Lesser Antilles ) was a French Jesuit who worked as a missionary in Québec and as a superior general of the missions in New France and the West Indies .

Life

François-Joseph Le Mercier was born in Paris on October 4, 1604, the son of Paul Le Mercier, goldsmith and valet of the king, and Marie Du Jardin. At the age of 18 he entered the order of the Jesuits on October 22, 1620 as a novice . He spent the first part of his religious career in Paris, where he studied philosophy and theology at the Collège de Clermont and then taught for four years. He was ordained a priest in 1633 and immediately after completing his training as a Jesuit, he sailed for New France, where he arrived in Québec on July 20, 1635. Just three days later he set out in a canoe for the land of the Hurons , which he reached on August 13th.

At that time the missionaries usually lived in Ihonatiria (St-Joseph I) under the direction of Jean de Brébeuf . Le Mercier learned very quickly the language of the Hurons, who gave him the name "Chaüosé", and began his activity. Brébeuf soon judged him “a perfect missionary”. The missionaries lived in the style of the Indians in typical local bark huts without furniture or blankets, and slept in full clothes on mats. They ate corn porridge and pumpkin, and occasionally fish. They visited the neighboring settlements and were often received in an unfriendly manner by the Indians, as guests in their tents they were tormented by the promiscuity , the dirt and the smoke, and molested by the dogs.

As early as the year after his arrival, Le Mercier had a lot to do as a nurse as the Hurons were hit by an epidemic. The hostility of the Indians was so incited by this epidemic that they decided in their deliberations to massacre the missionaries. During this time Brébeuf dealt with the establishment of a second mission station in Ossossané, the direction of which was transferred to Le Mercier. In Ossossané all the missionaries finally signed a letter on October 28, 1637, in which they surrendered to their fate in view of the impending death. The threat was not carried out after all, but the hostilities continued for years, Le Mercier narrowly escaped an arson attack, and his courage and eloquence helped him.

With the arrival of Jérôme Lalemant as superior of the mission on August 28, 1638, some changes occurred. So far the missionaries had lived with the Hurons in Ossossanë and since spring 1638 in Teanaostaiaé (Saint-Joseph II) instead of Ihonatiria. Lalemant conducted a census of the Huron settlements and found a population of 12,000. So he decided to consolidate the missionaries into a single fortified station, Fort Sainte-Marie , which was built in 1639 in what is now Midland, Ontario . As priest and procurator, Le Mercier played a major role in the establishment of this station, but did not neglect his missionary work alongside it. At first he was still traveling, when the mission station later became a regular meeting point for the Hurons, he was able to perform his priesthood permanently in the station, which also made his administrative work easier. Under his direction, “the soil was cleared and planted, animals and poultry were brought in from Québec with incredible efforts. The new foundation became an important farm. Harvesting, hunting, fishing and trading reached an adequate level after a few years to provide for the community, the donnés ( lay brothers ) and the servants. ”During this time, Le Mercier lived in the central residence under the two superiors Lalemant and Paul Ragueneau .

In the years 1648–1649, the Iroquois began their attacks to systematically destroy the Huron nation. After Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant died as martyrs in the spring of 1649 , the surviving Hurons urged the priests to flee with them to the island of Ahouendoé ( Île Saint-Joseph ). Ragueneau and Le Mercier agreed and burned their residence in Sainte-Marie on June 14, 1649. They built one on the island (Sainte-Marie II). Despite Le Mercier's administrative farsightedness, the following winter demanded unimaginable hardship from them, so that the missionaries were forced to retreat to Québec in 1650 with the rest of the Hurons because of the Iroquois raids that were still taking place on the mainland.

Le Mercier resided in Québec for the following years. In 1652 he was busy organizing aid for the Trois-Rivières settlement , which was threatened by the Iroquois. Despite the opposite view of the settlers, he arranged for fortifications to be built, which then made it possible in 1653 to keep away 500 Iroquois who had vowed to destroy the settlement.

On August 6, 1653, he was appointed rector of the Jesuit college in Québec and the superior general of the missions in New France. In this capacity he took part in the peace negotiations with the Iroquois and did not shy away from the dangers of visiting the Indians and taking responsibility for the establishment of the Iroquois mission in Gannentaha, which he personally inaugurated in 1656. On May 11, 1656, he appointed Jérôme Lalemant as his representative until the Jesuit general appointed his successor, Jean de Quen , in the summer . In May 1656 he undertook a one-year mission expedition to the land of the Iroquois to the tribe of the Onondaga , who gave him the name "Teharonhiagannra". On June 1, 1657, he was back in Quebec. He left Québec again on June 27, possibly a new mission expedition was planned, but he returned in Montreal and devoted himself to his various missionary activities in Québec over the next few years.

On August 6, 1665, Le Mercier was reappointed rector and general superior of the missions and dealt with the revival of the Jesuit mission to the Iroquois and Odawa around Sault Ste. Marie , as well as the opening of the La Prairie region near Montreal for colonization. After six years, Le Mercier was relieved of his post and appointed procurator and primary at the Jesuit college in Québec. But just a year later, in the summer of 1672, he was finally called back to France.

Giovanni Paolo Oliva , the general of the Jesuits, had planned for the veteran missionary to entrust him with the reorganization of the French missions in the West Indies, which were going through an internal crisis. The superior of these missions was recalled to France in 1673 and replaced by Le Mercier, with the mandate to visit all missions on behalf of the general . He began on December 17, 1673, attended all missions, settled the difficulties and was finally appointed superior general on October 12, 1674. He held this office until March 26, 1681, when he was replaced by Martin Poincet . Le Mercier stayed on Martinique for a year as spiritual director and confessor, after which he was given responsibility for the leadership of all Jesuits on the island, which he held from 1682 until his death. He died in Martinique on June 12, 1690 at the age of 86.

Works

Le Mercier left behind a large number of records, most of them included in the Relations des Jésuites series . They consist of letters or excerpts from letters, but also stories or parts of stories from his hand. As early as 1637 and 1638, Brébeuf had given him the recording of the reports of the Huron mission. He also wrote the annual reports that went to France in his years as Superior. His style was clear, concise, lively, and reflected the active person and dutiful missionary he was.

In relation to the year 1664/65 he also reports in great detail about his observations of the great comets C / 1664 W1 and C / 1665 F1 , which he observed in Quebec from November 19, 1664 to April 17, 1665.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Lucien Campeau: LE MERCIER, FRANÇOIS-JOSEPH. In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto / Université Laval, 2003. Retrieved July 14, 2014 .
  2. ^ Norm Léveillée: The Jesuits in New France. Retrieved July 14, 2014 .
  3. ^ GW Kronk: Cometography - A Catalog of Comets, Volume 1. Ancient - 1799 . Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-58504-0 , pp. 350-357.
personal data
SURNAME Le Mercier, François-Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Jesuit, missionary in Quebec and superior general of the missions in New France and the West Indies
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1604
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris , France
DATE OF DEATH June 12, 1690
Place of death Martinique , West Indies