Establishment of Ste.Marie II: Jesuit

Fade in: Establishment of Ste.Marie II: Jesuit

Father Michael is sitting in his office that overlooks the stone façade of the Martyr’s Shrine.

(Fr.Michael Knox (PhD), Martyr’s Shrine)

With the death of Brebeuf and Lalemant and also six others, it was becoming a, considered to be a precarious situation around Ste. Marie because you had village after village falling, after all, they brought Brebeuf to St. Ignace II, right, which was a Wendat village, which had obviously been conquered and they had been using it as a base. And then Ste. Marie was only 10 kilometers away.

So the Jesuits were aware that the villages around them were just being wiped out, they were aware of the low number of warriors available because of disease, and kind of the attrition of the overall community. And they were very concerned that Ste.Marie would then become a fortification for the Iroquois they captured that would be used to finalize the destruction of the Wendat people. And so the Jesuits in 1649 under Father Ragueneau’s leadership as the superior made the choice to burn down the mission and to take the remnants of the Christians, and remnants, I mean, I don’t think we should think two or three, right, we are talking about a few hundred people who then went with them to try again at what they call Ste. Marie II for a season.

Fade out: End credits.

Special Thanks: Ron Williamson, Peter Carruthers, Fr. Michael Knox, Louis Lesage

Filming: Nicole Aszalos, Eliza Brandy