Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve


 * For other uses of this and similar names, see Maisonneuve.



Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (February 15, 1612 – September 9, 1676) was a French military officer and the founder of Montreal in New France.

Early life
Maisonneuve was born into the aristocracy in Neuville-sur-Vannes in Champagne, France. He was the son of Louis de Chomedey, seigneur of Chavane, Germenoy-en-Brie, and his second wife Marie de Thomelin, the daughter of Jean de Thomelin, a king’s counsellor and a treasurer of France in the generality of Champagne, and of Ambroise d’Aulquoy.

Paul de Chomedey grew up in the manor-house at Neuville-sur-Vanne, not far from the Maisonneuve fief, which his father acquired in 1614. He had two sisters and one brother. He began his military career at the age of 13 in Holland, where he also learned to play the lute.

He had a successful career in which he was noted for his ability and his honesty.

At the age of 30, he was hired by Jérome le Royer de la Dauversiere, a Jesuit who was head of the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal. Royer de la Dauversiere had a vision that inspired him to build a society mission on Montreal Island in New France. Maisonneuve was hired to lead the colonists and ensure their safety in the new land.

Governor of Montreal
In 1642 Ville-Marie was founded on the southern shore of Montreal island, where a chapel and a small settlement were built. A hospital, under the command of Jeanne Mance, was also established. Maisonneuve was the first governor of Montreal.

The settlers maintained peaceful relations with the Algonquin people, one of the indigenous tribes of the area. The first year of the colony's existence was peaceful. In 1643 a flood threatened the city. Maisonneuve prayed to the Virgin Mary to stop the inundation and when it abated, he erected a cross atop Mount Royal. A cross has been maintained there to the current day.

The Algonquin were often at war with the Iroquois. In 1643 the Iroquois discovered the settlement and began a long conflict with the French, as they were competing for game and other resources. The Mohawk, who were already trading with the Dutch and English in New York, resented French efforts to interrupt the trade. The Mohawk were based in present-day New York state, south of Montreal. They severely threatened the colony. Maisonneuve commanded its defence, using his military training. In 1644 he was almost killed when a group of 30 Montrealers were surrounded by over 200 Iroquois, and Maisonneuve barely managed to make it back to the safety of the fort.

In 1645 Maisonneuve received news that his father had died, and he returned to France. While there, he was offered the position of governor of New France, but turned it down, wanting to continue his leadership of Ville-Marie. Maisonneuve returned to Montreal in 1647 and the wars with the Iroquois continued. In 1649, Maisonneuve stood as godfather for the first white child baptized in the colony. She was Pauline Hébert, the daughter of the fur-trader Augustin Hébert and his wife Adrienne Du Vivier, who had come to Montreal in 1648 with Maisonneuve and their elder daughter Jeanne.

In the spring of 1651, the Iroquois attacks became so frequent and so violent that Ville-Marie thought its end had come. Maisonneuve made all the settlers take refuge in the fort. By 1652, the colony at Montreal had been so reduced that he was forced to return to France to raise 100 volunteers to go with him to the colony the following year. If the effort had failed, Montreal was to be abandoned and the survivors re-located downriver to Quebec City. When these 100 arrived in the fall of 1653, the population of Montreal was barely 50 people. They included Jacques Archambault, who dug the first water well of the island in 1658, at the request of Maisonneuve.

Over time, the colony grew in size and eventually was large enough to be secure from the Iroquois threat. Control of the colony was taken from the missionary society and taken up by the crown in 1663. Maisonneuve had not enjoyed the favour of the new governor-general Augustin de Saffray de Mésy. In September 1665, Alexandre de Prouville, the lieutenant-general of Montreal, ordered Maisonneuve to return to France on indefinite leave. After twenty-four years as head of the colony, he left Montreal for good.

The later years
Settling in Paris, Maisonneuve lived in relative obscurity. In 1671, he welcomed Marguerite Bourgeoys at his home in Paris. With his encouragement, in 1657 she had established the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal, an order of teaching nuns, who educated French and indigenous children.

Maisonneuve died in 1676; at his bedside were his young friend Philippe de Turmenys, and his devoted servant Louis Fin. On September 10, his funeral took place at the church of the Fathers of the Christian Doctrine, situated not far from the abbey of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont; he was also buried there.

Honours
After his death, Saint-Paul Street in Montreal was named after Maisonneuve, who had built his home in 1650 on the early street.

Nuns' Island was once called Île Saint-Paul in honour of the founder of Montreal. The current name of the island appears starting from the 19th century and was exclusively used from the 1950s on.

The Maisonneuve Monument was erected in 1895 on Place d'Armes in Old Montreal, to his memory. It is the work of Louis-Philippe Hébert (1850–1917). An imaginary model was used to represent Maisonneuve, as no authentic portrait exists of the first governor of Montreal.

De Maisonneuve Boulevard in Downtown Montreal is named for him, as are Maisonneuve Park, the Collège de Maisonneuve, the neighbourhood of Chomedey in Laval, and the Maisonneuve pavilion, a dormitory at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean.