Marie-Josephte Corriveau (1733 at

Saint-Vallier, Quebec Saint-Vallier () is a municipality of about 1,000 people in Bellechasse Regional County Municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches administrative region of Quebec in Canada. Demographics Notable people * Laurent Catellier (1839–1918), p ...

– at

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

), better known as "la Corriveau", is a well-known figure in Québécois folklore. She lived in

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

, and was sentenced to death in 1763 by a British

court martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

for the murder of her second husband. She was hanged, and her body was placed in a

gibbet Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hanged on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. Occasionally, the gibbet () was also used as a method of public ex ...

on public display in

Lévis Lévis () is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old Lévis, and two bridges, the Quebec Bridge and the Pierre-Laporte Bridge, connect we ...

. Her story has become a legend in Quebec, and she is the subject of many books and plays.

Early life

Marie-Josephte Corriveau was born in 1733, most probably in January or February,The record of the act of baptism, of May 14, 1733, indicates that she was about three months old. and baptised on May 14, 1733, in the rural parish of Saint-Vallier in

. She was the only surviving offspring of Joseph Corriveau, a farmer, and Marie-Françoise Bolduc. Her ten brothers and sisters all died in childhood..

Marriages and deaths of spouses

Corriveau married at the age of 16, on November 17, 1749, to Charles Bouchard, aged 23, also a farmer. Three children were born in this marriage: two daughters, Marie-Françoise (1752) and Marie-Angélique (1754), followed by a son, Charles (1757). Rumors (that only started after the death of her second husband) say that she murdered him, as there is no concrete record of his deathhe was said to have died of "putrid fevers". Charles Bouchard was buried on April 27, 1760, and she remarried fifteen months later, on July 20, 1761, to another farmer from Saint-Vallier, Louis Étienne Dodier. On the morning of January 27, 1763, he was found dead in his barn, with multiple head wounds. Despite an official recording of the cause of death being from kicks of horses' hooves, and a speedy burial, rumours and gossip of murder spread rapidly through the neighbourhood. Dodier was on bad terms with his father-in-law and with his wife.

Arrest and trial

At the time, New France had been conquered by the British in 1760 as part of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

and was under the administration of the British Army. On hearing the rumours, the local British military authorities (charged with keeping order) set up an inquiry into Dodier's death. The inquiry opened in

on March 29, 1763, at the

Ursulines of Quebec The Ursuline Monastery of Quebec City () was founded by a missionary group of Ursuline nuns in 1639 under the leadership of Mother Marie of the Incarnation, O.S.U. It is the oldest institution of learning for women in North America. Today, the ...

, charging Joseph Corriveau and his daughter Marie-Josephte, before a military tribunal made up of 12 English officers and presided over by Lieutenant Colonel Roger Morris. Many persons in the community had testified, including Joseph's niece and Marie-Josephte's cousin, a young woman approximately the same age as Marie-Josephte named Isabelle Sylvain. The case ended, on April 9, with Joseph Corriveau being sentenced to death, for culpable homicide of his son-in-law. Marie-Josephte was found to be an accomplice to murder, and sentenced to 60

lashes Lashes may refer to: * Lashes, a form of Flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' ni ...

and branded with the letter M on her hand. One of Joseph Corriveau's nieces, Isabelle Sylvain (who he employed as a servant), had testified but changed her story several times during the hearing; she was found guilty of

perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...

and given 30 lashes and branded with the letter P. Condemned to hang, Joseph Corriveau then told his

confessor In a number of Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism, a confessor is a priest who hears the confessions of penitents and pronounces absolution. History During the Diocletianic Persecut ...

, that he was no more than an accomplice to his daughter, after she had killed Dodier. At a second trial, on April 15, Marie-Josephte testified to having killed her husband with two blows of a hatchet during his sleep, because of his ill-treatment of her. The tribunal found her guilty and sentenced her to hang, her body after to be "hanged in chains" (that is, put up for public display on a

Execution

The place of execution was Quebec, on the Buttes-à-Nepveu, near the

Plains of Abraham The Plains of Abraham () is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759, ...

, probably on April 18. Her body was then taken, as directed by the sentence, to be put in chains at Pointe-Lévy, at the crossroads of Lauzon and Bienville ( Rue Saint-Joseph and Rue de l'Entente).These were all near an ancient religious site between the Saint-Joseph and Vaudreuil roads. There was a religious monument called the which remained in the middle of the nineteenth century, until 1885. The body, in its iron gibbet, was exposed to the public view until May 25 at the earliest. Following the requests of those living nearby, an order from the military commander of the district of Quebec, James Murray, addressed to the captain of the militia of Pointe-Lévy, permitted its being taken down and buried. In 1851, the "cage" was dug up from the cemetery of the church of Saint-Joseph-de-la-Pointe-Lévy when a pit was dug.Some renown attached to the bones recovered in this dig. The writer

Louis Fréchette Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

wrote about this discovery at the age of ten. Soon after, the cage was stolen from the church cellar, and acquired by the American impresario

P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was ...

and put on display as a "macabre object". After that, it was put on display at The Boston Museum. The museum slip indicated its provenance with two words: "From Quebec". Through the efforts of the Société d'histoire de Lévis, the cage was acquired from the Boston Museum and is now part of a permanent display at

Musée de la civilisation The Musée de la civilisation, often directly translated in English-language media outside Quebec as the Museum of Civilization, is a museum located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It is situated in the historic Old Quebec area near the Saint L ...

in Quebec City.

In legend

The post-mortem exhibition of Corriveau's remains at a busy crossroads (a practice also in use under the French regime, and reserved in England for those found guilty of the most serious crimes);See

Gibbet Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hanged on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. Occasionally, the gibbet () was also used as a method of public ex ...

. the repercussions in the trial; the rumour that her father would be convicted of murdering Dodier at his daughter's instigation; and the gossip which grew up around the circumstances of the death of her first husband all stirred up the popular imagination and became legends still told today in the

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

— increasing the number of murdered husbands to as many as seven and likening la Corriveau to a

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

. The 1851 discovery of the iron cage buried in the cemetery of Saint-Joseph Parish (now the Lauzon district) served to reawaken the legends and the fantastic stories, which were amplified and used by 19th-century writers. The first, in 1863, Philippe Aubert de Gaspé in ''Les Anciens Canadiens'', has a supernatural Corriveau hanging in the Pointe-Levy cage that terrorizes one night a passer-by conducting a

Witches' Sabbath A Witches' Sabbath is a purported gathering of those believed to practice witchcraft and other rituals. The phrase became especially popular in the 20th century. Origin of the phrase The most infamous and influential work of witch-hunting lor ...

and a

will-o'-the-wisp In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp, or ; ), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in the United Kingdom by a variety of names, including jack-o'- ...

at the

Île d'Orléans Île d'Orléans (; ) is an island located in the Saint Lawrence River about east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage of French Canadians c ...

James MacPherson Le Moine Sir James MacPherson Le Moine (24 January 1825 — 5 February 1912) was a Canadian author and barrister. He was involved with the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, helping in the development of their natural history museum, and later ser ...

(''Maple Leaves'', 1863) and William Kirby, following in his footsteps (''

The Golden Dog ''The Golden Dog'' (''Le Chien d'Or'') was a novel by William Kirby (1817–1906) that was written between April 1869 and 1872, with further revisions being up through 1876. After being rejected by several publishers, the work was finally arrang ...

'', 1877), made her a professional poisoner, a direct descendant of

La Voisin Catherine Monvoisin, or Montvoisin, née ''Deshayes'', known as "La Voisin" (c. 1640 – 22 February 1680), was a French fortune teller, commissioned poisoner, and professional provider of alleged sorcery. She was the head of a network of for ...

, famous for her purported role in the

Affair of the Poisons The Affair of the Poisons (, ) was a major murder scandal in France during the reign of King Louis XIV. Between 1677 and 1682, a number of prominent members of the aristocracy were implicated and sentenced on charges of poisoning and witchcr ...

. Writers and historians such as

and

Pierre-Georges Roy Pierre-Georges Roy, KCSG, FRSC (; 23 October 1870 – 4 November 1953) was a Canadian journalist, historian, and archivist. Born in Lévis, Quebec, Roy was a journalist for the ''Canadien'' and the ''Quotidien''. In 1895, he founded the ''Bu ...

have tried to give Corriveau's history, but without completely separating the facts from the anachronistic fantasies added in legend and novels. The figure of Corriveau still inspires novels, songs and plays and is the subject of arguments concerning guilt. Oral tradition also perpetuated and has not stopped and remains alive, as is evidenced by the numerous stories collected in the lands of many regions of Quebec.Notably the 52 stories collected between 1952 and 1973 under the direction of Luc Lacourcière ( and the 122 put together between 1975 and 1990 by the students of Nicole Guilbault ().

In popular culture

She pressed the glowing flowers to her lips

* 1863: ''Les Anciens Canadiens'' (''The Canadians of Old''), novel by Philippe Aubert de Gaspé * 1863: ''Marie-Josephte Corriveau, A Canadian Lafarge'', in ''Maple Leaves'' by

* 1877: ''The Golden Dog, A Legend of Québec'', novel by William Kirby, translated into French by , (1884) * 1885: , novel by

, first published in a special edition of the newspaper , 24 February 1885; reprinted and rewritten many times, notably under the title in the , Montreal, 1913. * 1966: ''La Corriveau'', dramatic ballet choreographed by Brydon Paige, with original theme and songs by

Gilles Vigneault Gilles Vigneault (; born 27 October 1928) is a Canadian poet, Publishing, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalism, Quebec nationalist and Quebec sovereignty movement, sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Qu ...

and music by

Alexander Brott Alexander Brott, , born Joël Brod (March 14, 1915April 1, 2005),

. Commissioned by the , the ballet was premièred by

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (GBCM) is a ballet company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A creative and repertory company, it performs works that reflect the diverse trends of contemporary ballet. History Les Grands Ballets Canadien ...

, with the collaboration of the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the curren ...

at the

Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier is a large multipurpose venue in Montreal, Quebec equipped with sophisticated technical equipment. It seats 2,996 people and is part of the Place des Arts cultural complex in Montréal's Quartier des Spectacles entertainme ...

of the

Place des Arts frame, View of the Place des Arts esplanade. The Musée d'art contemporain is on the left; behind it is the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, with the Théâtre Maisonneuve on the right. Place des Arts () is a major performing arts centre in Montreal, Q ...

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, 21 and 22 December 1966.. * 1972: ''La Corriveau'', song written by

in 1966 for the ballet of the same name, is recorded by

Pauline Julien Pauline Julien, (May 23, 1928October 1, 1998), nicknamed "La Renarde", was a singer, songwriter, actress, feminist activist and Quebec sovereigntist. Born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec,Christian Rioux and Betty Nygaard King."Pauline Julien" ''Th ...

on her album * 1973: ''Ma Corriveau'', play by

Victor-Lévy Beaulieu Victor-Lévy Beaulieu (; September 2, 1945 – June 9, 2025) was a French Canadian writer, playwright, and editor. Born in Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix, Quebec, in the area of Bas-Saint-Laurent, Beaulieu began primary school at Trois-Pistoles, Queb ...

written for the public examinations of the students of the

National Theatre School of Canada The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, ) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants awarded by the Government of Canada and cultural ...

, premièred at the

Monument-National The Monument-National () is an historic Canadian theatre located at 1182 Saint Laurent Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec. With a capacity of over 1,600 seats, the venue was erected between 1891 and and was originally the cultural centre of the Sai ...

, its Montreal base, from 3 to 6 October 1973 with a production by

Michelle Rossignol Michelle Rossignol, (4 February 1940 – 18 May 2020) was a Canadian film actress. She appeared in fifteen films between 1956 and 2010. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991 and a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 2 ...

, first premièred professionally at the Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui in Montreal from 19 September to 30 October 1976 in a production by André Pagé. * 1978: , fantasy story by , translated into English in 1982. * 1981: ''La Corriveau'', historical novel by Andrée LeBel * 1990: ''La Cage'', play by

Anne Hébert Anne Hébert (pronounced in French) (August 1, 1916 – January 22, 2000), was a Canadian author and poet. She won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Awards, Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once fo ...

, translated into English in 2009. * 1993: ''La Corriveau'', short story by the English Canadian Douglas Glover, translated into French the same year, and into Serbian in 1995. * 1993: ''La Corriveau'', play by

Guy Cloutier Guy Cloutier (born 11 February 1940 in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian music producer and talent manager. Cloutier adapted reality TV to the Quebec market. Entertainers Stéphanie Cloutier and Véronique Cloutier are his daughters. his d ...

, produced by Denise Verville and staged at the , Quebec, from 12 to 30 January 1993. It was reprised, adapted for television with the title ''La Corrivaux'' by the director Jean Salvy, with

Anne Dorval Anne Dorval (; born November 8, 1960) is a French Canadian television, stage, and film actress. She is known for her work with Xavier Dolan that includes appearing in five of his films, '' I Killed My Mother'' (2009), '' Heartbeats'' (2010), '' La ...

in the title role, and broadcast on the Télévision Radio-Canada network in 1995. * 1999: ''La Maudite'', teen novel by Daniel Mativat * 2001: ''La Corrida de la Corriveau'', song by

Mes Aïeux Mes Aïeux () is a neo-traditional Quebec folk music group founded in 1996. Style Although a leader of the Quebec " neo-traditional" scene, the band takes a modern slant on that style, borrowing stories and characters from French Canadian folkl ...

(on the album ') * 2003: ''La Fiancée du vent: l'histoire de la Corriveau, née en Nouvelle-France et pendue sous le Régime anglais'', novel by Monique Pariseau * 2003: ''Julie et le serment de la Corriveau'', teen novel by *2003: Her story and the alleged paranormal aspects of it were featured in Episode 1 of Season 2 of the Canadian paranormal documentary series ''

Creepy Canada ''Creepy Canada'' is a Canadian television series that aired on OLN. It focused on paranormal activities around Canada. The show first premiered on October 23, 2002, and began its third season on May 5, 2006. With the third season, the show's s ...

'', which carried out and showed a reenactment of her story and its allegedly paranormal aspects. * 2004: ''

Battle of the Brave ''Battle of the Brave'' () is a 2004 historical romance film directed by Jean Beaudin, written by Pierre Billon and starring Noémie Godin-Vigneau, David La Haye, Juliette Gosselin, Sébastien Huberdeau, Gérard Depardieu, Bianca Gervais, ...

(Nouvelle-France)'', film produced by

Jean Beaudin Jean Beaudin (6 February 1939 – 18 May 2019) was a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He directed 20 films since 1969. His film ''J.A. Martin Photographer'', was entered into the 1977 Cannes Film Festival, where Monique Mercure won the ...

(loose adaptation on the theme of la Corriveau) * 2006: ''La Corriveau'', animated film by Kyle Craig * 2015: Corriveau is featured on a postage stamp from

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

*2022: ''Les Filles du QUOI?'', play by Abby Paige

Sources

* * * * . Brief article published in the online version of ''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

'' * * * Anthology containing fifteen oral versions of the legend of la Corriveau, different literary texts inspired by the theme, and four studies. * * * * Reprinted in * * * Encyclopaedia article * * *

Notes

References

External links

''Latest access date of external links: 17 April 2010'' Archive documents
Documents concernant la Corriveau

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec The (; ; abbr. BAnQ) is a Quebec government agency which manages the province's legal deposit system, national archives, and national library. Located at the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal, the BAnQ was created by the merging of the Biblioth ...

, Centre d'archives de Québec, Collection Centre d'archives de Québec, P1000,S3,D435. 128-page collection of research notes on la Corriveau (p. 1), typed transcription of the article by James MacPherson Le Moine, ''Marie-Josephte Corriveau, A Canadian Lafarge'', from 1863 (pp. 2–11), a newspaper clipping entitled ''Le procès de la Corriveau'', dated 28 February 1939 (p. 12) and a copy of the proceedings of the Corriveau case (typist's copy and photostat of the manuscript) (pp. 13–128) of the originals preserved by the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

in London. Oral tradition * Angélina Roy
''La Corriveau''
1953. Story about the legend of la Corriveau, recounted 15 November 1953 by Madame Wilfrid Fradette, née Angélina Roy (1875–1958), of Saint-Raphaël de Bellechasse, to

Luc Lacourcière Luc Lacourcière, CC (October 18, 1910 – May 15, 1989) was a Québécois writer and ethnographer, who established himself during his lifetime as a leading figure in folklore studies. Trained by Marius Barbeau, he in turn influenced renowned ...

. Archives de Folklore de l'Université Laval, Collection Luc Lacourcière, enreg. 1658, published in * Gema Leblanc
''La Corriveau''
1989. Story about the legend of la Corriveau, recounted in 1989 by Gema Leblanc, inhabitant of Quebec, to Isabelle-Sophie Dufour. Published in Nicole Guilbault (ed.), ''Contes et sortilèges des quatre coins du Québec'', Documentor/Cégep François-Xavier-Garneau, Quebec, 1991. * José Bourassa

1989. Story about the legend of la Corriveau, recoiunted in 1989 by José Bourassa, inhabitant of

Charny, Quebec Charny () is a district (''secteur'') within the Les Chutes-de-la-Chaudière-Est borough of the city of Lévis, Quebec. It is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, south of Quebec City. Formerly an independent city, Charny was m ...

, born in

Drummondville Drummondville () is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville ...

, to Dany Parizé. Published in Nicole Guilbault (ed.), ''Contes et sortilèges des quatre coins du Québec'', Documentor/Cégep François-Xavier-Garneau, Quebec, 1991. Song * Mes Aïeux
''La Corrida de la Corriveau''
(lyrics) * Gilles Vigneault
''La Corriveau''
(lyrics) Sculpture
''La Corriveau''
bronze sculpture by

Alfred Laliberté Alfred Laliberté (19 May 1877 – 13 January 1953) was a French-Canadian sculptor and painter based in Montreal. His output includes more than 900 sculptures in bronze, marble, wood, and plaster. Many of his sculptures depict national figure ...

made between 1928 and 1932, now in the

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (), abbreviated as MNBAQ, is an art museum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The museum is located in National Battlefields Park and is a complex of four buildings. Three of them were purpose-built for ...

Popular culture
Nineteenth-century tobacco rolling machine
in the figure of la Corriveau in the cage * Corriveau is featured o
a postage stamp from Canada Post
in 2015 Animated film * ''La Corriveau'', animated film by Kyle Craig �
original version
(23 min.) an
abridged version
(12 min.) Commercial use
La Corriveau
dark oatmeal ale from the Quebec microbrewery Le Bilboquet {{DEFAULTSORT:Corriveau, Marie-Josephte People of New France People executed by military occupation forces 1733 births 1763 deaths Executed Canadian women Executed French people People executed by the British military by hanging French people convicted of murder Canadian people executed for murder People from Chaudière-Appalaches Canadian female murderers Canadian legends Canadian folklore Canadian ghosts Mariticides French people of the French and Indian War