Ragueneau, Paul (Jesuit missionary in Île-Saint-Joseph, Canada)

Ragueneau, Paul (Jesuit missionary in Île-Saint-Joseph, Canada)

Father Paul Ragueneau was the superior of the Huron mission. Following raids by the Iroquois, as well as epidemic and starvation problems, Ragueneau made the tough decision to move the 300 or so surviving Hurons from Saint-Marie onto a small island named Île St-Joseph, or Saint-Marie II (now Christian Island), off the coast of the Georgian Bay. They would spend the harsh winter on the island, with many Hurons dying of starvation and disease during the period of refuge. Because of this unsustainable living space, and the potential threat of an Iroquois attack, Ragueneau decided they couldn’t stay there much longer. He, alongside the remaining Hurons, left the island and took the long journey back to Quebec.

1649-1650

Person

Île St-Joseph (Christian Island), Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada

Léon Pouliot, “RAGUENEAU, PAUL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed October 3, 2021, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/ragueneau_paul_1E.html.

1608

Paris, France

1680

Paris, France

Priest; Jesuit; missionary; superior of the Huron mission; superior of the Jesuits in Canada; procurator of the Canadian mission in Paris

French

Paul Ragueneau entered the Paris noviciate in 1626, and taught at the Collège in Bourges from 1628 to 1632. He arrived in Quebec in 1636, before being moved to the Huron area the following year. After eight years as a subordinate, he rose to become the Huron mission's superior in 1645, and stayed in the village of Saint-Marie. In 1649, following Iroquois attacks and other health problems in the mission, he would move with the Hurons on the little island of Île St-Joseph (now Christian Island) in the Georgian Bay, naming it Saint-Marie II. He would stay on the island for the winter before departing for Quebec. In 1650, he was named as the superior of the Canadian mission, holding onto that post for three years. In 1656, he was moved to Trois-Rivières, before departing again for Sainte-Marie-de-Ganentaa. He would leave for France in 1662, and never returned to Canada. In Paris, he was named as the representative of the Jesuit missions in New France. He would pass away on the 3rd of September 1680, at the age of 72 years.

N/A

Paul Ragueneau, père, [Around 1950], BAnQ Québec, Collection Centre d'archives de Québec, (03Q,P1000,S4,D83,PR4), Non-identifiable photograph.

URL: https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3108530

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

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