The People's Court of New France

[felis_ultharus]

I updated my history/political blog. This historical entry's mostly filler -- it's an introduction to other entries that I've been researching quite heavily, and which won't be ready for a couple of days.

Towards that end, I've been poring over the complete judgements rendered by New France's highest court -- its court of appeal and high criminal court, the Conseil Souvrein. I'm looking for cases involving homosexuality, and also trying to get a sense of New France's legal culture -- what it punished and how, which is almost always a different thing from what the law says.

I found it tedious, at first, but I've developed an odd fascination with some of the cases. The same names crop up again and again as the cases wind their way through all the formalities over a course of months, and it's become a little like a historical soap opera:

• On Mar 5, 1691, Guillaume Hébert was commanded to give back François Poissot de la Couche's beavers. No explanation was given as to why Hébert had de la Couche's beavers, or whether beaver-theft was a common crime in New France, but the affair was considered so important that an assessor was assigned to watch over the beaver-transfer and make sure it happened honestly.
  
  
• On January 11, 1694, a woman asked the court to annul her son's marriage to a Native woman. According to her, her son didn't know he was getting married -- he didn't know the language. The boy's wife only spoke Cree, while he only spoke French.
  
  
• In March, 1694, a Father Foucault of the church of Batiscan felt so insulted by accusations a certain Captain François Dejordi had made against him -- unnamed accusations involving a young woman -- that he not only banned Dejordi from his church, but preached from the pulpit that he would have Dejordi tied to a post in a cabin in the woods, and whipped by little boys who Father Foucault had bribed into the act with plums and candies. So I'm guessing the Catholic Church hasn't changed much since then.

More as I tumble across these things. I still have about 9 decades of material to plow through.

Comments

[jenjoou.livejournal.com]

The beaver exchange made me laugh. In my head it sounds like something that would happen in Kindergarden. "Now Ti-Guy I want you to give back Franky's beavers right now and apologize." Did people actually keep beavers? I had always been under the impression that they hunted them. Or maybe they were already dead...

At what point did he realise he was married, I wonder...

Is being whiped by little boys worse than by grown men? They have such scrawny arms...

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

Having seen a guy walking around Verdun the other day with a small boa constrictor, I've had ample recent reminder that people will keep anything as a pet. My sister used to own an iguana and a de-stinged scorpion, and at least beavers are soft and furry.

'Course, houses at this time were almost all made of wood, so you have to wonder what state a person's home would be in by the end.

So far, in the part I've read, the boy himself hasn't testified -- only his mother on his behalf. So I'm wondering if this is something his mother made up, to pry him away from his wife.

As for being whipped by little boys, the idea is humiliation. Being punished by a child is supposed to be more humiliating than being punished by an adult.

'Course, this being the Catholic Church, you've got to wonder about anything said by a priest that involves the words, "little boys with whips."

I, personally, am trying to picture the expressions on the faces of the congregation when he said this (this was a speech made from the pulpit).

[montrealais.livejournal.com]

So I'm guessing the Catholic Church hasn't changed much since then.

Nor has the Foucault family.

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

True enough. I keep picturing Father Foucault with a shaved head and sunglasses.