Hôtel du Chaudron

This former mansion belonged to the Chomedey de Maisonneuve family, whose son Paul left for Canada, then known as "New France".

In 1642, he founded Ville-Marie, later Montreal, and served as its governor until 1664.
His sister, Jacqueline de Chomedey de Chevilly, occupied this hotel. She made it partly available to Marguerite Bourgeoys and two of her companions, who wished to form a non-cloistered community to honor Mary's visitation of her cousin Elizabeth. These women lived outside the convent, "without veil or wimple", a very modern idea for the time. The experiment, begun at the instigation of Abbé Antoine Gendret in 1644, had no future.
The baptismal register of Saint-Jean-au-Marché church records the birth of Marguerite Bourgeoys on April 17, 1620. This little provincial embarked on a great adventure, leaving Troyes for Ville-Marie in the company of Governor Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, abandoning her possessions, family and friends. It was a decision that would earn her a place in the history of Canada's pioneers: a missionary and distinguished teacher, she founded the Congrégation de Notre-Dame de Montréal, which is still active today.
Her work crossed the centuries as it crossed the ocean. When she died in Montreal in 1700, she was considered "the mother of the colony". The Catholic Church made her a saint in 1982.

Languages

• French