Marie-Madeleine de Chauvigny de la Peltrie (founder of the Order of Ursulines of Quebec)

Marie-Madeleine de Chauvigny de la Peltrie (founder of the Order of Ursulines of Quebec)

Marie-Madeleine was not a nun herself, but she partook in much of the charitable work of one. As founder and patron of the convent, she paid for the education of both French and Indigenous girls. She also played an active role, taking on a class of girls and teaching them useful skills for women of the time, such as embroidery, reading, or counting. The education was also one of morality and Christian doctrine. These teachings were a gateway to converting Indigenous girls to Catholicism. She was known among the Ursuline nuns as a woman who would do any task, no matter how menial. Evidently however, her most important role was benefactress; during her 18-month trip to Montreal, the convent floundered without her financial aid.

1639-1671

Person

Monastère des Ursulines, Quebec City

Chabot, Marie-Emmanuel, o.s.u., “GUYART, MARIE, named de l’Incarnation (Martin),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 1966, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/guyart_marie_1E.html.

Gouvernement du Québec. “Chauvigny, Marie-Madeleine De.” Chauvigny, Marie-Madeleine de - Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec, 2013. https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=18509&type=pge.

Ville de Québec. “MONASTERY OF THE URSULINES OF QUÉBEC,” 2021. https://www.ville.quebec.qc.ca/en/citoyens/patrimoine/quartiers/vieux_quebec/interet/monastere_des_ursulines_de_quebec.aspx.

1603

Alençon, France

1671

Quebec City, Canada, New France

Missionary; patron; founder

French

Marie-Madeleine de Chauvigny (also called Marie Gruel de la Peltrie) was born at Alençon, France, in 1603. After the insistences of her father, Guillaume de Chauvigny, Sieur d’Alençon, Marie-Madeleine married the Chevalier de Gruel, Seigneur de la Petrie. At 22, after the death of her husband and only child, Marie-Madeleine dedicated herself to Catholic religion. When she heard about missionary trips to New France, she was determined to go, but was instead waylaid by a serious illness. After recovering, Marie-Madeleine paid her way to New France to open a convent, which would become the first institution for girls’ education in North America. Though she never officially became a nun with the Ursuline order, over her years at Quebec, she worked to educate French and Indigenous girls alike, paying for their room and board when they could not afford it. Often, for Indigenous girls, this education consisted of religious conversion. In 1642, nearly to the detriment of the convent, she took an 18-month trip to Montreal. She died after contracting pleurisy on November 12, 1671.

Sulte, Benjamin. “Mme De La Peltrie.” Gouvernement Du Quebec, 2013. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=18509&type=pge.

Conflict and Change in Early Canadian History (Carleton HIST 1301)

Naomi Badour