Nicolas Denys
Encyclopedia
.Nicolas Denys was a French aristocrat
who became an explorer, colonizer, soldier and leader in New France
. Today, he is perhaps best known for founding settlements at St. Pierre (now St. Peter's, Nova Scotia
), Ste. Anne (Englishtown, Nova Scotia
) and Nepisiquit(Bathurst, New Brunswick
).
, Indre-et-Loire
, France
, in 1598, the son of Jacques Denys, a captain of King Henri IV’s Royal Guard.
to be lieutenant-general of Acadia
and Nicolas Denys accompanied the expedition as one of de Razilly’s lieutenants. The expedition set sail in 1632 with 300 hand-picked men, supplies, six Franciscan missionaries and Nicolas’ brother, Simon.
They founded a colony at the LaHave River where Denys worked in shore fishery, lumber and fur trading – a good foundation of experience to prepare him for life in the New World. French administrators, including nearby Port Royal's
lord, the Sieur Charles de Menou d'Aulnay
, thought little of the colonists’ reclaiming tidal marshlands. Denys was very impressed with the “great extent of meadows which the sea used to cover and which the Sieur d'Aulnay has drained”. It was this extensive system of dikes and drainage sluices (called aboiteaux) that set his colony apart from any others. It allowed the colonists to reclaim land that the Mi'kmaq nation had no use for. This greatly aided peaceful co-existence with their neighbors, and Mi’kmaq trade, friendship and intermarriage was and is an immensely important part of the Acadian identity and heritage. When de Razilly died in December 1635 the colony broke up and Denys returned to France. In 1642 he married Marguerite de Lafitte in France, but soon took his new family across to his adopted lands of Acadia.
Denys served as a witness to one of the most unfortunate chapters of early Acadia’s history: the rivalry between the Lords d’Aulnay and Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour
, his bitter rival, and the dissipation of efforts to grow the colony. La Tour had also claimed royal permission to ply the fur trade in the American Northeast. His rival outposts were in often-open hostility with the budding d’Aulnay colony, competing for resources and markets. Decades of sparring led to bloodshed. In the Spring of 1643 La Tour led a party of English mercenaries against the Acadian colony at Port Royal. His 270 Puritan and Huguenot troops killed three Acadians, burned a mill, slaughtered cattle and seized 18,000 livres of furs. D'Aulnay was able to retaliate in 1645 by seizing all of La Tour’s possessions and outposts while La Tour was drumming up more support for his cause in the English port city of Boston
. Denys’ letters and journals give vivid descriptions of the drama.
and Isle Royale (now called Cape Breton Island
). Denys founded settlements at St. Pierre (now St. Peter's, Nova Scotia
, Cape Breton, home of the Nicholas Denys Museum), Ste. Anne (Englishtown, Nova Scotia
) and Nepisiquit (Bathurst, New Brunswick
).
His 'fortunes' had some reversals, however. Sieur Emmanuel le Borgne
, a rival with holdings at Port Royal, seized his properties by armed force in 1654 while Denys was at Ste. Anne. Later in 1654, King Louis XIV
officially recognized Denys’ claims to the property lost to le Borgne. Le Borgne was thereby commanded by royal decree to restore them to the rightful owner.
The Denys Family made their home in St. Pierre, Isle Royale and dwelt there in relative calm until the Winter of 1669, when Nicolas’ home and business were consumed in a fire. Denys relocated his family to Nepisiquit (Bathurst, NB), just south of the Gaspé Peninsula
. It was there that he turned his efforts to writing.
Denys' daughter, Marguerite, married her cousin, James Forsyth
, who was a captain in naval and land expeditions. Marguerite and James had their own daughter, Margaret, who in turn married another cousin, Walter Forsyth, a regent of the University of Glasgow and titular Baron of Dykes. Their children inherited from their mother's family the shipping and private armed vessels which were their part in the Forsyth and Denys enterprises on the seas, the same extending even to the French and British Americas and Indies. The Forsyths were in alliance with the Normans of France, favoring the Stuart cause in Scotland, and opposed to English control.
French nobility
The French nobility was the privileged order of France in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern periods.In the political system of the Estates General, the nobility made up the Second Estate...
who became an explorer, colonizer, soldier and leader in New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
. Today, he is perhaps best known for founding settlements at St. Pierre (now St. Peter's, Nova Scotia
St. Peter's, Nova Scotia
St. Peter's is a small incorporated village located on Cape Breton Island in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada....
), Ste. Anne (Englishtown, Nova Scotia
Englishtown, Nova Scotia
Not to be confused with present-day St. Anns, Nova Scotia, which was also the former name of Englishtown.Englishtown is a small coastal community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located on St. Anne's Bay in Victoria County on Cape Breton Island...
) and Nepisiquit(Bathurst, New Brunswick
Bathurst, New Brunswick
Bathurst is a Canadian city in Gloucester County, New Brunswick.Bathurst is situated on Bathurst Harbour, an estuary at the mouth of the Nepisiguit River at the southernmost part of Chaleur Bay....
).
Early years in France
Nicolas Denys was born in ToursTours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.-History:Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, in 1598, the son of Jacques Denys, a captain of King Henri IV’s Royal Guard.
Early years in Acadia
When Cardinal Richelieu authorized a stronger French presence in the New World, he commissioned Isaac de RazillyIsaac de Razilly
Isaac de Razilly was a member of the French nobility appointed a knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem at the age of 18. He was born at the Château d'Oiseaumelle in the Province of Touraine, France. A member of the French navy, he served for many years during which he played an important...
to be lieutenant-general of Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
and Nicolas Denys accompanied the expedition as one of de Razilly’s lieutenants. The expedition set sail in 1632 with 300 hand-picked men, supplies, six Franciscan missionaries and Nicolas’ brother, Simon.
They founded a colony at the LaHave River where Denys worked in shore fishery, lumber and fur trading – a good foundation of experience to prepare him for life in the New World. French administrators, including nearby Port Royal's
Port Royal, Nova Scotia
Port Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710 and is now a town called Annapolis Royal in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Initially Port Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, at the site of the present reconstruction of the...
lord, the Sieur Charles de Menou d'Aulnay
Charles de Menou d'Aulnay
Charles de Menou d'Aulnay was a pioneer of European settlement in North America and Governor of Acadia .-Biography:D'Aulnay was a member of the French nobility who was at various times a sea captain, a lieutenant in the French navy to his cousin Isaac de Razilly, and Governor of Acadia...
, thought little of the colonists’ reclaiming tidal marshlands. Denys was very impressed with the “great extent of meadows which the sea used to cover and which the Sieur d'Aulnay has drained”. It was this extensive system of dikes and drainage sluices (called aboiteaux) that set his colony apart from any others. It allowed the colonists to reclaim land that the Mi'kmaq nation had no use for. This greatly aided peaceful co-existence with their neighbors, and Mi’kmaq trade, friendship and intermarriage was and is an immensely important part of the Acadian identity and heritage. When de Razilly died in December 1635 the colony broke up and Denys returned to France. In 1642 he married Marguerite de Lafitte in France, but soon took his new family across to his adopted lands of Acadia.
Denys served as a witness to one of the most unfortunate chapters of early Acadia’s history: the rivalry between the Lords d’Aulnay and Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour
Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour
Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour, the French King's appointed Governor of Acadia from 1631–1642 and again from 1653–1657, was born in France in 1593 and died at Cap de Sable in 1666...
, his bitter rival, and the dissipation of efforts to grow the colony. La Tour had also claimed royal permission to ply the fur trade in the American Northeast. His rival outposts were in often-open hostility with the budding d’Aulnay colony, competing for resources and markets. Decades of sparring led to bloodshed. In the Spring of 1643 La Tour led a party of English mercenaries against the Acadian colony at Port Royal. His 270 Puritan and Huguenot troops killed three Acadians, burned a mill, slaughtered cattle and seized 18,000 livres of furs. D'Aulnay was able to retaliate in 1645 by seizing all of La Tour’s possessions and outposts while La Tour was drumming up more support for his cause in the English port city of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. Denys’ letters and journals give vivid descriptions of the drama.
Governor
Once he secured rights to his own lands in Acadia through the Company of New France, Denys continued to seek his fortunes now as the Governor of CansoCanso, Nova Scotia
For the headland, see Cape Canso.Canso is a small Canadian town in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, next to Chedabucto Bay. The area was established in 1604, along with Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The British construction of a fort in the village , was instrumental...
and Isle Royale (now called Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
). Denys founded settlements at St. Pierre (now St. Peter's, Nova Scotia
St. Peter's, Nova Scotia
St. Peter's is a small incorporated village located on Cape Breton Island in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada....
, Cape Breton, home of the Nicholas Denys Museum), Ste. Anne (Englishtown, Nova Scotia
Englishtown, Nova Scotia
Not to be confused with present-day St. Anns, Nova Scotia, which was also the former name of Englishtown.Englishtown is a small coastal community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located on St. Anne's Bay in Victoria County on Cape Breton Island...
) and Nepisiquit (Bathurst, New Brunswick
Bathurst, New Brunswick
Bathurst is a Canadian city in Gloucester County, New Brunswick.Bathurst is situated on Bathurst Harbour, an estuary at the mouth of the Nepisiguit River at the southernmost part of Chaleur Bay....
).
His 'fortunes' had some reversals, however. Sieur Emmanuel le Borgne
Emmanuel Le Borgne
Emmanuel Le Borgne was the governor of Acadia 1657–67 and was the claimant to the estate of Charles de Menou d'Aulnay who had governed Acadia at a previous time....
, a rival with holdings at Port Royal, seized his properties by armed force in 1654 while Denys was at Ste. Anne. Later in 1654, King Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
officially recognized Denys’ claims to the property lost to le Borgne. Le Borgne was thereby commanded by royal decree to restore them to the rightful owner.
The Denys Family made their home in St. Pierre, Isle Royale and dwelt there in relative calm until the Winter of 1669, when Nicolas’ home and business were consumed in a fire. Denys relocated his family to Nepisiquit (Bathurst, NB), just south of the Gaspé Peninsula
Gaspé Peninsula
The Gaspésie , or Gaspé Peninsula or the Gaspé, is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, extending into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
. It was there that he turned his efforts to writing.
Legacy
Denys died in 1688 at Nepisiquit ( Outskirts of Bathurst New Brunswick), a town of his own creation. During his tenure in the New World, he appears to have offered more stability of governance than those other royal appointees around him. Perhaps his greatest legacy is his writings about the lands and peoples of Acadia, especially Description géographique et historique des costes de l’Amérique septentrionale: avec l’histoire naturelle du païs.Denys' daughter, Marguerite, married her cousin, James Forsyth
Clan Forsyth
Clan Forsyth is one of Scotland's wealthiest clans.The name Forsyth derives from the Gaelic 'man of peace'...
, who was a captain in naval and land expeditions. Marguerite and James had their own daughter, Margaret, who in turn married another cousin, Walter Forsyth, a regent of the University of Glasgow and titular Baron of Dykes. Their children inherited from their mother's family the shipping and private armed vessels which were their part in the Forsyth and Denys enterprises on the seas, the same extending even to the French and British Americas and Indies. The Forsyths were in alliance with the Normans of France, favoring the Stuart cause in Scotland, and opposed to English control.