Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy

Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy (* 1583 , † April 11, 1660 ) was a French nobleman, knight of the Order of Malta and adventurer in the Caribbean , who was temporarily governor of St. Kitts , from where he fought against the English, Dutch and Spanish, but also stood in conflict with the King of France .

Life

1638 to 1641

On January 12, 1638, de Poincy sailed on behalf of the Compagnie des îles d'Amérique , in which Cardinal Richelieu was also involved, on board the " La Petite Europe " in the direction of the Caribbean to meet Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc, who died in 1637 of syphilis to replace who had made a first French colonization attempt in the Caribbean. On February 20, he reached Saint Christophe ( English : St. Kitts ) and took over as Lieutenant Governor of the American Islands and as Captain General of the French on the island, which had been divided between the British and the French since 1625. On his arrival, however, he wore the insignia of the Knights of Saint John and shortly afterwards he broke with the authority of France by proclaiming on the island “ The inhabitants of Saint Christophe will have no governor but de Poincy and they will not take orders from the King issued by France ”.

In 1639, he reached an agreement with the English stating that neither nation would grow tobacco on the island. The following year he sent one of his followers, the Huguenot Levasseur, together with 60 buccaneers to drive the English from Tortuga ( French : Île de la Tortue ). This undertaking was successful, and on November 6, 1640, de Poincy and Levasseur signed an agreement that guaranteed religious tolerance on Tortuga and allowed trade between the two islands.

1642 to 1647

Around 1642 he began building the Chateau de Montagne on his estate called La Fontaine . This was an extensive building described as one of the most stately castles built in America. Only ruins remain of him. He also had gardens laid out and planted with exotic flowers and trees. Among other things, it is alleged that he brought the flame tree from Madagascar for his garden to St. Christophe and thus made it at home in the Caribbean. This tree still bears the epithet poinciana regia after him . However, he had his official residence in Basseterre , the capital of the island, where Church Street is today. From there he spoke right and administered the colony.

On December 26, 1644, the French crown (King Louis XIV was just six years old) sent de Thoissy to St. Christophe to replace him as governor. However, de Poincy was able to prevent this by not letting it come ashore. De Thoissy was then sent back to France in chains. The Capuchin monks were also expelled from the island because they had sided with de Thoissy in the dispute. Instead, Jesuits were invited to the island to look after the souls of the residents.

1648 to 1650

In 1648 he first occupied the neighboring island of San Bartolomeo ( French : Saint Barthélemy ), which was only populated by 170 Europeans and 50 African slaves. In the same year, after the end of the Eighty Years' War , the Spaniards had given up their fort in the southeast of the island of St. Martin, where the Dutch from Sint Eustatius now settled. He then sent his nephew Robert de Lonvillliers de Poincy along with 300 men to occupy the island as well. As a result, the Dutch settled in the southern part of St. Martin ( ndl .: Sint Maarten ) and the French in the north. This division was confirmed in 1648 in the Treaty of Concordia between France and the Republic of the Seven United Provinces , which divides the island into two parts to this day. In 1650 he learned that the Spaniards had also evacuated the Virgin Island of Santa Cruz ( French : Saint Croix ), from which they had previously driven the English and Dutch. Thereupon he dispatched his follower Vaugelan with two ships and 160 men to occupy them. The French set fire to the jungle that had kept the Spaniards from settling.

1651 to 1660

In 1651 the Order of Malta intervened to make peace between him and the expelled de Thoissy, and so he paid 90,000 livres in compensation. De Poincy convinced the Grand Master Jean de Lascaris-Castellar of the economic potential of the islands and persuaded him to pay 120,000 livres to France for the rights to St. Christophe, St. Barthélemy, St. Croix and St. Martin. The contract with the crown was negotiated by Jacques de Souvré, ambassador of the order in Versailles. De Poincy was immediately confirmed by the Order of Malta as its governor of these islands, but shortly afterwards Fra 'Charles Huault de Montmagny was sent to take over this office from him. When he arrived, de Poincy acted as before with de Thoissy and refused to resign. Instead, he forced de Montmagny to settle in the north of Saint Christophe, where he stayed until his death in 1657.

In 1653, the French king confirmed the rights of the Order of Malta to the four islands, but reserved suzerainty by paying 1000 kroner when each new king took office.

On April 11, 1660, Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy died at the age of 77 and was buried in Basseterre on St. Kitts, presumably where the Saint George Church is today. He is still honored today as the one who made the place a flourishing port in the Caribbean. In the island's annual carnival, a group still performs today, the members of which are the descendants of an acrobatic troupe that de Poincy had imported from Africa as his personal slaves to perform at festivals on his La Fontaine estate .

He was succeeded as governor by Fra 'Charles de Sales, who was placed at his side by the Order of Malta in 1659. This drove back the financially risky engagement of the order in the Caribbean and sold the islands back to the French crown.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Worldstatesman.org - Saint Kitts and Nevis
2. ↑ Magazine Antiques: French colonial West Indian armoires