The Scourge of l'Éminence rouge ("the Red Eminence") reaches to the New World.

The latest post in the ‘Courchesne / Chagnon Chronicles’.
The year 1632 finds Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu attending to the Court of King Louis XIII of France, as Chief Minister. You will remember Richelieu as our antagonist, and the nemesis of my ancestors.  ( see my Aug 24 post  History, Genealogy and Historical Fiction: or How to find a Huguenot in a Papist’s Attic). He is basking in his victories at the  Siege of La Rochelle in 1628 and the Anglo-French War (1627-1629).

 If you did your suggested reading from my Aug 24th post, The Three Musketeers, you know the back ground for this tale. His future actions will continue to influence the lives and names of my family.


Isaac de Razilly (1587 – December 1635) was a member of the French nobility appointed a knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem at the age of 18. He is the cousin of Cardinal Richelieu. Razilly participated to the Blockade of La Rochelle, where he commanded the blockade fleet, and lost an eye there. In 1632, Razilly became involved, at the request of Cardinal Richelieu, in the colonization of Acadia. Razilly was to take possession of the Habitation at Port-Royal (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia) and develop it into a French colony. To deal with a shortage of funds, a company was set up by Razilly and some of his friends which became known as the Razilly-Condonnier company. Together with the Compagnie de la Nouvelle France, an expedition was outfitted to sail to Acadia. The King gave Razilly the official title of lieutenant-general for New France. One of his able lieutenants in Acadia was Charles de Menou d'Aulnay who was instrumental in maintaining the shipping to and from France. Razilly died in 1636. Claude de Rasilly succeeded his brother. Since he found it necessary to stay in France, he delegated the task of looking after the Rasilly interests in Acadia to his cousin, Charles de Menou d’Aulnay , so began a series of violent and costly confrontations.

Richelieu now has ‘eyes & ears’ in New France. A place of refuge for many Huguenots that have fled from him in France. Many change their name to protect themself. Note in my Aug. 24th post the name change of Pierre LAVERDURE  1590-1676, my 8th GGrandfather,   to Pierre MELANSON. 

Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour was born in France in 1593 and died at Cap de Sable (present-day Port La Tour, Nova Scotia) in 1666. In 1610, at the age of 17, Charles arrived at Port-Royal in Acadia with his father, Claude de Saint-Étienne de la Tour, in an expedition that was led by Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt, who had been one of the original settlers in 1604 at Saint Croix and 1605 at Port-Royal. In 1613, the settlement, or habitation, at Port Royal was attacked by colonists from Virginia led by Captain Samuel Argall. Several settlers were killed, others taken prisoner and the fort and goods were destroyed. In 1625, Charles married an Abenaki Indian, from one of the local First Nations' tribes and the family built a trading fort at the mouth of the Penobscot River in present-day Castine, Maine. In 1626, the fort was attacked and destroyed by New England colonists. Charles returned to Port-Royal. In 1631, Charles had become governor of Acadia and moved to the mouth of the St. John River in present-day Saint John, New Brunswick where he built a new fort. 1632 brings Isaac de Razilly, as stated above. After Razilly’s death, conflicts with Menou d’Aulnay lead to  La Tour being accused of treason and crimes against Acadia. In the Spring of 1643, La Tour led a party of English mercenaries against the Acadian colony at Port Royal. His 270 Puritan and Huguenot troops killed three, burned a mill, slaughtered cattle and seized 18,000 livres of furs. D’Aulnay was able to retaliate in 1645 by seizing all of La Tour’s possessions and outposts,^[2] especially Fort La Tour at St. John and Cape Sable. In the Battle of St. John (1645), La Tour's second wife, Marie Jacquelin La Tour, defended the fort for three days. On April 17, despite losing thirty-three men, d'Aulnay took control of the fort. La Tour's men were sent to the gallows. Madame La Tour was taken prisoner and died three weeks later. In 1650, d'Aulnay died when his canoe capsized. La Tour, hearing of the death of d'Aulnay, returned to France and was rehabilitated, going on to become governor of Acadia once again. With his property and his commission as governor restored, La Tour gathered several families of colonists, including that of his childhood friend Mius d’Entremont, and sailed in the summer of 1651 for Port-Royal.

Upon the death of Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu in 1942 Jules Mazarin succeeded his mentor as Cardinal and Chief Minister. He continues with the persecution of Protestant Huguenots. The period of 1651-1653 is known as the Fronde. A civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War. The Fronde finally resulted in the disempowerment of the territorial aristocracy and the emergence of absolute monarchy. Many French nobles, especially those with Protestant backgrounds flee France.

1651 Lord, Sir Phillipe Mius D' ENTREMONT I, De Pobomcoup, Lieutenant-Major

Philippe Mius, sieur d’Entremont, 1st Baron of Poboncoup (c. 1601-1700) was born in Normandy and came from a longtime noble family, and was brought to Acadia with his family in 1651 by the new governor Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour. The governor in July 1653 awarded him one of the few fiefs to constitute territory in North America, the Barony of Poboncoup, extending from Cap Nègre to Cap Fourchu (Yarmouth), and in 1670 appointed him lieutenant-major and commander of the king’s troops, and procureur du roi (crown attorney), which post he retained until 1687. He was briefly captured in 1654 by Major Robert Sedgwick, during the latter's pass through Acadia, but resurfaced with his family following this English occupation. Philippe married Madeleine Hélie in Normandy and they came to Acadia with their daughter, Marguerite. One of his three sons, Philippe Mius-d'Entremont dit d'Azit, married a Mi'kmaq woman named Marie Coyoteblanc and became the progenitor of the Meuse and Muise families; while his other two sons, Jacques and Abraham, married daughters of La Tour, and their descendants retain the surname d'Entremont. His daughter, Marguerite, married Pierre Melanson Dit La Verdure 1632-1720, in 1665.

 Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour 1593-1666 was the Father-in-law to my 7th Great Grand Uncle.
Philippe Mius, sieur d’Entremont 1601-1700 was my 8th Great Grand Father.
Pierre Melanson Dit La Verdure 1632-1720 was my 7th Great Grand Father.
Marie-Marguerite Mius D'entremont 1649-1733 was my 7th Great Grand Mother.

Please go to the ‘Genealogy Reports’ Page and view the Courchesne / Chagnon Descendants Reports, under which you will find ‘Maternal Melanson Lineage of Joseph Hector Euclide Courchesne 1892-1985’.  Line #2 shows the marriage of Pierre Melanson Dit La Verdure 1632-1720 to Marie-Marguerite Mius D'entremont 1649-1733. And indicates her mother and father.

Suggested readings:

The Seigneurs of Old Canada

by William Bennett Munro
 
Stay connected by becoming a ‘FOLLOWER” of ‘Forgotten Journeys’ and you won’t miss the next post in “The Courchesne / Chagnon Chronicles’‘. ‘Mysteries, Intrigue and Deceit, ‘Who boarded CHARLES  LA TOUR ‘s ship, in La Rochelle, during the summer of 1651, and who disembarked in Port-Royal, Acadia?’