The Compagnie de Saint-Christophe was a company created and chartered by French adventurers to exploit the island of Saint-Christophe, the present-day Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Kitts and Nevis

The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis , located in the Leeward Islands, is a federal two-island nation in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population....

. In 1625, a French adventurer, Pierre Bélain sieur d'Esnambuc

Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc

thumb|220px|Pierre Belain d'EsnambucPierre Bélain, Sieur d'Esnambuc was a French trader and adventurer in the Caribbean, who established the first permanent French colony, Saint-Pierre, on the island of Martinique in 1635....

, landed on Saint-Christophe with a band of adventurers and some slaves. Returning to France, in 1626 he applied to and received a charter from Cardinal Richelieu to create the Compagnie de Saint-Christophe. Richelieu was a major stockholder in the company, contributing some 10,000 livres out of the company's capital stock of 45,000 livres. The company was not very successful. In 1635 Richelieu directed his councilor François Fouquet to reorganize the company under the name Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique

Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique

The Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique, French for Company of the American Islands, was a French chartered company that in 1635 took over the administration of the French portion Saint-Christophe island from Compagnie de Saint-Christophe which was the only French settlement in the Caribbean at that...

, French for "Company of the American Islands". It was charged with colonizing Sainte-Christophe, Martinique

History of Martinique

This is a page on the history of the island of Martinique.-100-1450:The island was originally inhabited by Arawak and Carib peoples. Circa 130 CE, the first Arawaks are believed to have arrived from South America. In 295 CE, an eruption of Mount Pelée resulted in the decimation of the island's...

 and Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

.

In 1645 d'Esnambuc landed in Martinique

History of Martinique

This is a page on the history of the island of Martinique.-100-1450:The island was originally inhabited by Arawak and Carib peoples. Circa 130 CE, the first Arawaks are believed to have arrived from South America. In 295 CE, an eruption of Mount Pelée resulted in the decimation of the island's...

 and founded a colony at what is now Saint Pierre

Saint-Pierre, Martinique

Saint-Pierre is a town and commune of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique, founded in 1635 by Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc. Before the total destruction of Saint-Pierre in 1902 by a volcanic eruption, it was the most important city of Martinique culturally and economically, being known...

. His nephew Jacques Dyel du Parquet assisted him and later became governor of the island.

Source

• Louis Jean Pierre Marie Bonnassieux. Les grandes compagnies de commerce: étude pour servir à l'histoire de la colonisation. Paris: 1892. Reprinted 1969 by Ayer Publishing.