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.

The Military Roots of the 'dit' Name

The following article applies to both the Courchesne and Chagnon names. 1. Francois Chagnon, dit LaRose 1640-1693, arrived with the Militaire Régiment de Carignan-Salière aboard the ship ‘L'Aigle d'Or de Brouage, (Golden Eagle de Brouage), from La Rochelle on 5/13/1665 and arrived in Quebec on ​​19/08/1665. The following Companies of the Régiment de Carignan are aboard this ship, Grandfontaine, La Frediere, La Motte, and Salières. He was in the La Frediere company. There is a story about the origin of the dit name ‘LaRose’. Before his joining the Régiment de Carignan, Francois was a member of the French force that had participated in 1664 in the campaign in Hungary against the Turks, together with Austrian and German troops.  This French force performed "prodigies of valor” in the war against the Turks. On his return home to St-Georges-sur-Loire,Archeveche de Tours, Touraine, the locals threw roses in his path. In the fall of 1668 Francois agrees to accept the offer to stay on in New France and accepts his track of land in Vercheres, under the Seigneurie de Verchere, Francois Jarrais Sieur de Vercheres. He marries Catherine Charon, who was 13 yr's 10 mo. old at the time of the marriage. Francois was 39. The descendants of Francois diverge, some taking the Chagnon name, some taking La Rose. Francois Chagnon, dit LaRose B1640 is my 7th Great Grand father. 2. Jacques Brisset dit Courchêne 1648-1736. Son of Jacques Brisset (1626 - 1701), Who was baptized between 1620 and 1629 in a Calvinist church, Saint-Yon, La Rochelle, La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, France. He married Jeanne Fortier in 1648. He arrives in Quebec in 1651. According to Trudel, 14, arrived in 1662 with Jeanne Fortier, their mother to join their father,Jacques Brisset . In Montillier Charles, Marie Brisset, Sieur Jacques Brisset Courchêne, Jeanne Fortier and Jacques Brisset live in 1666 at Trois-Rivieres, Mauricie, Quebec, Canada ,(1666 Census of New France, referring to Volume IV, Chapter IV of the book History of the French Canadians.) This is the first time the name Courchêne (Courchesne) is recorded. It is referring to the son of Jacques Brisset B1626. He, Jacques Brisset dit Courchêne is Captain of the Militia. On 27 May 1695, Jacques contracted to work out west as a member of the Cadillac Convoy, who brought Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac to establish the first permanent settlement at Le Detroit du Lac Erie on July 24, 1701. The popular belief for the origan of the dit name ‘Courchêne’ is someone living at a farm with an oak tree in the farmyard, from French court ‘farmyard’ + chesne ‘oak’. The descendants of Jacques diverge, some taking the Brisset name, some taking Courchêne (Courchesne). Jacques Brisset dit Courchêne B1648 is my 7th Great Grand father.