St. Marguerite Bourgeoys

1620 - 1700  (79 years)

• Name	Marguerite Bourgeoys
  Prefix	St.
  Birth	17 Apr 1620	Champagne, France   [1, 2, 3]
  Baptism	17 Apr 1620	Saint-Jean-du-Marché, Troyes, Aube, Champagne-Ardenne, France   [4, 5]
  Gender	Female
  Death	12 Jan 1700	Montréal, Québec   [3]
  Burial	13 Jan 1700	Montréal, Québec   [4]
  Person ID	I32415	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
  Last Modified	18 Dec 2023

  
  

  Father	Abraham Bourgeoys,   b. Bef 13 Oct 1579   d. Oct 1651, France (Age > 72 years)
  Mother	Guillemette Garnier,   b. Bef 5 Sep 1593   d. Between 12 Dec 1638 and 19 Dec 1638 (Age > 45 years)
  Marriage	3 Feb 1609	Saint-Rémy, Troyes, Aube, Champagne-Ardenne, France   [5, 6]
  Family ID	F4169	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  "Marguerite Bourgeoys [...] was a French nun and founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal in the colony of New France, now part of Québec, Canada. Born in Troyes, she traveled to Fort Ville-Marie (now Montreal) by 1653, where she developed the convent and educated young girls, the poor, and children of First Nations until shortly before her death at the turn of the 18th century. She is also significant for developing one of the first uncloistered religious communities in the Catholic Church. Declared 'venerable' by the pope in 1878, she was canonized in 1982 and declared a saint by the Catholic Church." [Wikipedia] She is depicted, among other places, in the Canada sidechapel of the church of San Gioacchino ai Prati Castello (built 1891) on Via Pompeo Magno in the Prati neighborhood of Rome. A more detailed biography of her can be read here at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography. In addition, the site of the Canadian medieval music ensemble Schola Magdalena features this thoughtful essay about her. As a side note, evidently Marguerite Bourgeoys coined the phrase "filles du roi" to describe the women who were brought to New France to alleviate the colony's catastrophic shortage of marriageable women in the 1660s and 70s.

  
  

• Sources

  [S5195] Marguerite Bourgeoys and Montreal, 1640-1665 by Patricia Simpson. Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press, 1997., date only. [S38] Genealogy of the French in North America, by Denis Beauregard. Complete version, 2024., date only. [S7036] Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700) at the website of the Holy See. [S38] Genealogy of the French in North America, by Denis Beauregard. Complete version, 2024. [S5195] Marguerite Bourgeoys and Montreal, 1640-1665 by Patricia Simpson. Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press, 1997. [S38] Genealogy of the French in North America, by Denis Beauregard. Complete version, 2024., year and town only.