Jesuit Relations

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Jesuit Relations (Relations des jésuites), the voluminous annual documents sent from the Canadian mission of the Society of Jesus to its Paris office, 1632-72, compiled by missionaries in the field, edited by their Québec superior, and printed in France by Sébastien Cramoisy. As a result of Cardinal Richelieu's decision to enlist the Jesuits in colonizing French North America, the early history of settlement was systematically and colourfully documented by priests attempting to convert the Indians and also to attract support at home for their project.

The journals and letters of Paul LE JEUNE, Jérôme LALEMANT, Jean de BRÉBEUF and Paul Ragueneau, among others, dramatize tribal warfare in Huronia and the day-to-day life of colonists in ACADIA; these are supplemented by "relations" of Jesuit participation in colonial matters throughout the New World. Invaluable as ethnographic and documentary sources, the Jesuit Relations were avidly and widely read in the 18th century, along with the works of Cartier and Champlain, as exciting travel literature. Reuben Gold Thwaites edited 73 volumes as The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France 1610-1791 (1896-1901), presenting annotated parallel versions of his translations and the French, Latin and Italian original texts.

Jesuit Relations
Jesuit Relations
Jerome Lalemant, "Relation de se qui s'est passe de plus remarquable aux missions," 1663, title page (courtesy National Library, Rare Book Division).

Author MICHÈLE LACOMBE


Links to Other Sites
Raid on Deerfield
A narrated history of the 1704 Raid on Deerfield and its aftermath from Native and European perspectives. Also features fascinating stories about Native societies, cultures, trade practices, and traditions. This multimedia website is from the Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Jean Nicollet de Belleborne
A detailed biography of Jean Nicollet de Belleborne, a 17th century explorer, interpreter, and French liaison with First Nations tribes. From the “Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.”

The Jesuit Relations
This site provides a brief overview of the historical significance of "The Jesuit Relations" documents as well as links to related reference sources. From Athabasca University.

The Jesuit relations and allied documents travels and explorations of the Jesuit missionaries in New France, 1610-1791
See an online digitized copy of an 1896 American book that includes the complete text in French of this influential document collection along with an English translation. The "Introduction" provides additional historical details about early Jesuit activities in North America. From canadiana.org.

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