Sulte says (Can.-Français, vol. vii., p. 42) that the Le Neuf family became extinct after the conquest of Canada.
[59] (p. [227]).—Concerning the Marquis de Gamache, see vol. [vi.], note [9].
[60] (p. [227]).—Various acts of the Hundred Associates, from 1634 to 1647, are signed by Lamy (L'Amy), "for the company;" but other information regarding him is not available.
[61] (p. [229]).—This was Emery de Caen; concerning his indemnification for losses incurred at the capture of Quebec by Kirk, see vol. [iv.], p. [258], note [21]; and vol. [vii.], note [18].
[62] (p. [235]).—Marie Madeleine de Wignerod (Vignerot) was the daughter of René de Wignerod, marquis du Pont de Courlai (who died in 1625), and of Françoise Duplessis, sister of Cardinal Richelieu. About 1620, Marie became the wife of Antoine de Beauvoir de Roure, marquis de Combalet; two years later, an officer in the Huguenot war, he fell in battle at Montpellier. His widow refused to marry again, and devoted her time and fortune to works of piety and charity. Le Jeune's Relation for 1635 directed her attention to the Canadian missions, and his suggestion as to the foundation of a hospital at Quebec at once appealed to her heart—an impression doubtless strengthened by the counsel of Vincent de Paul, who was an intimate friend of the Cardinal. She offered to send thither, at her own expense, some Hospital nuns from Dieppe; the Company of New France granted them lands; and the undertaking was aided not only by Madame de Combalet, but by Richelieu himself, who also gave his niece (1638) the estate of Aiguillon, and conferred upon her the title of duchess. After various delays, the Hotel-Dieu of Quebec was established in 1639. The Duchess d'Aiguillon continued for many years to aid this and other charitable enterprises; she died April 17, 1675.
[63] (p. [237]).—Montmartre: an eminence on the western side of Paris, about three hundred feet in height; so called (Lat. mons martyrum) because St. Denis, bishop of Paris in the third century, and two other Christians, were beheaded at the foot of the hill. The Chapel of Martyrs built here was still visible in the seventeenth century; and in it Ignatius Loyola pronounced his first vows, Aug. 15, 1534. The church of St. Pierre de Montmartre, evidently the one referred to in the text, was built in the twelfth century, by Louis VI. It served as a chapel for the Benedictine convent also founded by that monarch, and rebuilt by Louis XIV.; this was a "royal convent," the abbess being appointed by the king, not elected by the nuns. During the Reign of Terror, the abbess and all the inmates of this house were guillotined. A costly church has recently been erected on the highest point of Montmartre, where formerly stood temples dedicated to Mars and Mercury.
The heights of Montmartre were long famous for quarries of gypsum (hence the name "plaster of Paris"). Here, too, was begun the Communist insurrection of 1871.—See Hare's Walks in Paris (N.Y. and London, 1888), pp. 481-486.
[64] (p. [237]).—Concerning the Ursulines, see vol. [v.], note [3]. Sulte says (Can.-Français, vol. ii., p. 67): "The seigniory of Ste.-Croix, in Lotbinière county, measuring one league of frontage by six in depth, was granted Jan. 15, 1637, by the company, to Jean de Beauvais, commissary of the French marine, in order to found at Quebec a convent of Ursuline nuns."
There were many orders of hospital nuns, formed mainly to nurse the sick, but often also caring for neglected children and repentant women. The one introduced by the duchess d'Aiguillon was apparently that of the Hospital Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus, established in 1630, according to the rule of St. Augustine: it was confirmed eight years later by letters patent, and in 1664 and 1677 by papal bulls.
Both the Ursuline and the Hospital nuns arrived at Quebec Aug. 1, 1639.