Who was the Comte de Frontenac?
Answer
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac (1622 to 1698), Governor of New France in 1672 to 1682 and 1689 to 1698, who defended the colony against the Iroquois and an English invasion in 1690 and famously rebuked the English envoy Major Walley.
Explanation
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau (May 22, 1622 to November 28, 1698) was Governor General of New France during two terms (1672 to 1682 and 1689 to 1698) and one of the most consequential figures of 17th-century New France. Frontenac was born into the French nobility and served as a soldier in the Italian and Catalan wars before being appointed Governor of New France in 1672 by King Louis XIV.
Frontenac's first term (1672 to 1682) was marked by expansion of the fur trade and conflict with the Bishop of Quebec, François de Laval, over the brandy trade and clerical influence. Frontenac built Fort Frontenac at the eastern end of Lake Ontario in 1673 (the site of present-day Kingston) and supported the explorations of La Salle. The Sulpician seminary in Montreal and the Jesuit missions resented his secular tendencies. Frontenac was recalled to France in 1682 after his disputes with the Sovereign Council, the Bishop, and the Intendant Jacques Duchesneau.
Frontenac's second term (1689 to 1698) followed the August 5, 1689 Lachine Massacre, in which 1,500 Iroquois warriors attacked the village of Lachine on the Island of Montreal, killing 24 settlers and burning 56 of 77 houses. King Louis XIV reappointed the now-67-year-old Frontenac to manage the crisis. Frontenac led a major counter-offensive, organising raids against the Iroquois Confederacy and the English colonies. He commissioned Hertel, d'Iberville, and other Canadian-born officers in raids against Schenectady (February 1690), Salmon Falls (March 1690), and Casco Bay (May 1690).
Frontenac's most famous moment came on October 16, 1690 during the English invasion of New France led by Sir William Phips. Phips's fleet of 32 ships and 2,000 men anchored before Quebec on October 16 and demanded Frontenac's surrender. Frontenac's reported reply, given through the captured English envoy Major Thomas Savage, was 'Je n'ai point de réponse à faire à votre général que par la bouche de mes canons et à coups de fusils' (I have no answer to make to your general except from the mouths of my cannons and the rifles of my men). After ineffective bombardment and an unsuccessful land attack, Phips withdrew on October 24. Frontenac launched further raids against the Iroquois in 1693 and 1696. Together with his successor and the diplomatic work of Louis-Hector de Callière, Frontenac's military pressure prepared the ground for the Great Peace of Montreal of 1701, though Frontenac himself died in 1698. He is buried in the Récollets Church in Quebec City.
Why this matters for your test
The Comte de Frontenac defended New France through its most dangerous decade and is one of the most celebrated figures of French Canada. Recognising his 1690 defence of Quebec and his role in the Iroquois wars gives candidates two specific anchors.
Source: Dictionary of Canadian Biography; Library and Archives Canada
