Denis Jamet, O.M.R., (or ''Denis Jamay'') (died February 26, 1625, in

Montargis Montargis () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Montargis is the seventh most populous commune in the Centre-Val de Loire ''région'', and the second in the Loiret ''département'' after Orléans. It is near ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) was a French

Recollect The Franciscan Recollects () were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects devoted their lives to an extra emphasis on prayer, penance, and spiritual reflecti ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

and

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

and the first superior of the Canadian mission (1615). Jamet,

Provincial Superior A provincial superior is an officer of a religious institute (including religious orders) acting under the institute's Superior General. A provincial superior exercises general supervision over all the members of that institute in a territorial ...

of the Order in the

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Saint-Denis in France, in 1615 was chosen by his superiors as Provincial Commissary and chief of the first band of Recollect friars, who were also the first missionaries of Canada. He sailed from

Honfleur Honfleur () is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from Le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. The people that inhabit Hon ...

on the ''St. Étienne'' on April 24, 1615, with three other Recollects, Father

Joseph Le Caron Joseph Le Caron, O.M.R., (c. 1586 near Paris – March 29, 1632 in Gisors, France) was one of the four pioneer missionaries of Canada (together with Denis Jamet, Jean Dolbeau, and Pacifique du Plessis, all Recollect friars), and was the first ...

, Father

Jean Dolbeau Jean Dolbeau, Recollects, O.M.R., (12 March 1586 – 9 June 1652) was a Recollects, Recollect friar, one of the four Recollects who were the first Catholic missionaries to northern New France, present day Canada. Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec, Dolbeau ...

and

laybrother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choi ...

Brother Pacifique Duplessis. They arrived at

Tadoussac Tadoussac () is a village municipality in La Haute-Côte-Nord RCM (Regional County Municipality), on the north shore of the maritime section of the estuary of St. Lawrence river, in Côte-Nord region, Quebec, Canada. Geography Tadoussac is ...

on May 25 and Jamet went immediately with

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

to meet the Indians at Kahnawake 14, Quebec, Sault St. Louis. On June 24, 1615, at

Rivière des Prairies The Rivière des Prairies (; ), called the Back River in English, is a delta channel of the Ottawa River in southwestern Quebec, Canada. The Kanien'kehá:ka called it ''Skowanoti'', meaning "River behind the island". The river separates the citi ...

, he celebrated the first

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

said in Quebec. He sent back to France a relation dated July 15, 1615 (addressed to Cardinal

François de Joyeuse François de Joyeuse (24 June 1562 – 23 August 1615) was a French churchman and politician. Biography Born at Carcassonne, François de Joyeuse was the second son of Guillaume de Joyeuse and Marie Eléanor de Batarnay. As the younger son of ...

). This relation included some description of the topography, climate, inhabitants, customs and religion of New France, as well as Jamet's views on the conditions necessary for the evangelization of the country. On July 20, 1616, Jamet left for France with Champlain and Father Le Caron to urge before the king and the Associates of Rouen the material and spiritual interests of the colony. During his four years in France, while still working on behalf of the Canadian missions, he also served as superior of the convents of Saint-Denis (1617), Châlons (1618), and Sézanne, which he founded in 1619. Again elected commissary provincial, he returned to Canada with Champlain and his wife, sailing on April 5, 1620, on the ''Sallemande''. On reaching Quebec he exhorted the colonists to obey the viceroy and his lieutenant, Champlain. He completed the first regular convent of the Recollects at Quebec, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, with the financial assistance of Charles de Boves,

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune north of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official (capital) of the Val-d'Oise '' département'', although in reality the ' ...

, Henry II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, and Sieur Louis Houel. He dedicated the convent on May 25, 1621. Jamet returned to France in the spring of 1622. He died at the friary of

, in

Orléanais The Duchy of Orléanais () is a former province of France, which was created during the Renaissance by merging four former counties and towns. However after the French Revolution, the province was dissolved in 1791 and succeeded by five ''départ ...

, on February 26, 1625.

Bibliography

* Samuel de Champlain, ''Les Œuvres de Champlain'', ed. by

Charles-Honoré Laverdière Charles-Honoré Cauchon ''dit'' Laverdière (23 October 1826 – 10 March 1873) was a French-Canadian priest and historian. Biography Laverdière was born in Château-Richer, East of Quebec City, on 23 October 1826. His parents, Charles Cauchon ...

(6 vols., Quebec, 1870) *

Gabriel Sagard Gabriel Sagard, OMR ( ''fl.'' 1614–1636) was a French lay brother and member of the Recollects, a reform branch of the Order of Friars Minor known for its strict poverty. He was among the first Christian missionaries to New France, and is ...

, ''Histoire du Canada'', ed. Tross (4 vols., Paris, 1866) * ''Histoire chronol. de la province de St-Denis'' (Bibliothèque nationale, Paris)

External links

"Denis Jamet"
by Frédéric Gingras at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

by John J. O’Gorman, S.C.D., ''The Catholic World'', v. CII, March 1916. Contains additional information on the establishment of the mission ---- * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jamet, Denis 1625 deaths French Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada 17th-century French Roman Catholic priests Recollects Franciscan missionaries 16th-century French Roman Catholic priests Year of birth unknown Roman Catholic missionaries in New France French Franciscans