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 (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain ...

. In 1625, a French adventurer, Pierre Bélain sieur d'Esnambuc, landed on Saint-Christophe with a band of adventurers and some slaves. Returning to France, in 1626 he applied for and received a charter from

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

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 new name ''

Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique The Company of the American Islands (french: Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique) was a French chartered company that in 1635 took over the administration of the French portion of ''Saint-Christophe island'' ( Saint Kitts) from the Compagnie de Sai ...

'' ('Company of the American Islands') and with a charge to colonize Sainte-Christophe,

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...

and

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

. On 15 September 1635, d'Esnambuc landed in the harbour of St. Pierre with 150 French settlers after being driven off Saint-Christophe by the English. He claimed Martinique for King

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

and the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique, establishing the first European settlement at Fort Saint-Pierre (now St. Pierre). His nephew,

Jacques Dyel du Parquet Jacques Dyel du Parquet (1606 – 3 January 1658) was a French soldier who was one of the first governors of Martinique. He was appointed governor of the island for the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique in 1636, a year after the first French set ...

, assisted d'Esnambuc and in 1637 became he governor of the island.

Sources

*{{cite book, title=Les grandes compagnies de commerce: étude pour servir à l'histoire de la colonisation, language=fr, trans-title=The grand companies of commerce: A study of their use in the history of colonization, first=Pierre, last=Bonnassieux, date=1892, publisher=E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie., location=Paris, url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9692870s.texteImage Trading companies History of Martinique History of Guadeloupe 1626 establishments in France 1635 disestablishments History of the Caribbean French colonization of the Americas Chartered companies 17th century in Martinique

See also

Sources