Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site of Canada

Natural Wonders & Cultural Treasures

The Jesuit Mission

Print of Father Jean de Brébeuf, from the waist up. © National Archives of Canada / C-1190

Beginning in 1625, the territory occupied by the current Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site was witness to a new type of human occupation, characterized by religious, agricultural and industrial activity.

The first mission of the Jesuits in the St. Lawrence Valley began in mid-June 1625 with the arrival in Québec of five members of this order, including the celebrated Jean de Brébeuf. On a portion of the land ceded to them by the viceroy of New France, the newcomers built a modest habitation of about 13 x 7 m, which housed a chapel dedicated to Notre-Dame-des-Anges. By 1629, they had built a second structure of equal size, and planted a number of crops. During this time, Brébeuf conducted his first missions among the Amerindians. The Jesuits were expelled from the colony following the capture of Québec by the Kirke brothers, English privateers, in 1629. Their activities were thus suspended until their return in 1632, whereupon they set about repairing their residence and rebuilding a section of the second building which had been set on fire by the invaders. They also set up a 4.55-m-high stake fence around the yard area, which measured approximately 10.56 m².

A residence for evangelizing

In 1635, the Notre-Dame-des-Anges residence was the only remaining property which the Jesuits owned outright in the colony. That was why Father Lejeune, the community superior, planned several different uses for it, in a college for educating children of the French, a seminary for evangelizing young Amerindians, and a headquarters for mission work. The seminary was the only project to materialize in the residence located on the current location of the Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site. The Jesuit father's plans called for selecting the best Aboriginal candidates and training them for four to five years before allowing them to return to their communities, where they would spread their religious knowledge. The experiment, which lasted approximately three years, proved a failure because the recruits showed little interest in their education and stayed for a much shorter period than planned. The seminary was abandoned around 1640, the year when the Jesuits relocated to the Notre-Dame-de-la-Recouvrance presbytery in Québec.

Estates for farming

Beginning in 1652, the Jesuits were granted the Notre-Dame-des-Anges seigneury, a section of land apportioned under the semi-feudal system of land tenure established by the French in their nascent colony. Bordered on the west by a brook, the ruisseau St-Michel, and on the east by the rivière Beauport, the land coincided with the lot ceded in 1626 by Henri de Lévy, Viceroy of New France. Although the Jesuits did not actually live within the boundaries of their seigneury, they were nevertheless concerned with developing it. They, in turn, granted land for farming, erected windmills, and set an example for colonists by farming two estates. One of these estates, the Notre-Dame-des-Anges farm, which partially covered the site of the Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic site, maintained its original borders and was farmed until 1855.

Lands for industrial uses, then for building lots

As of 1688, however, industrial activity began developing in the neighbourhood, first with the establishment of a brickyard, and then, several years later, with the founding of a tannery and a pottery. The 19^th century saw numerous shipyards spring up in the sector. Around 1850, a number of shipbuilders leased portions of the land occupied by the former Notre-Dame-des-Anges farm. Following this, a number of steam-driven sawmills were operated on the site for several years, before being replaced by the Rochette brick works. The spread of urban development throughout the 20th century led to division of the former Notre-Dame-des-Anges farm and surrounding farmland into building lots.