It is a simple statement, but what exactly did he mean? One could understand him in at least three ways. Perhaps Champlain meant to say that he had logged the equivalent of thirty-eight years of what the navy calls sea duty; but this is impossible. To survey his many voyages, as in Appendix B below, is to discover that for all his many voyages, the total time actually spent at sea did not come even close to thirty-eight years. Clearly, this was not what he had in mind.
Or he may have meant that he had been going to sea for a period of thirty-eight years from the date of his statement. That is the way Liebel read this passage, and he takes it to mean that Champlain began to go to sea in 1594, which would have made a total of thirty-eight years by 1632, when this passage was published. Liebel’s interpretation runs into several difficulties. First, Champlain told us that he had gone to sea at an earlier age. Second, it is not what Champlain actually wrote. He did not state that he had been going to sea for a period of thirty-eight years, but that he had spent or passed (passé) thirty-eight years in making sea voyages. The difference between these two statements becomes important when we remember that in the period from 1594 to 1632, Champlain spent many years ashore, sometimes two or three years at a time. When we construct a chronology of his voyages, we find that he was at sea in twenty-two years out of thirty-four between 1598 and 1632. To reach his total of thirty-eight years at sea he would have had to make voyages in at least sixteen years before 1597.
To reach a total of thirty-eight years, Liebel’s thesis that Champlain was born in 1580 would have required Champlain to have made sea voyages in sixteen of the seventeen years from 1580 to 1597, which is highly improbable. An inescapable conclusion is that Champlain began his sea voyages before 1580. If Champlain’s statements about his years at sea were correct, Liebel’s estimate of his birth date must be mistaken.
There is also another problem in Liebel’s thesis. Let us consider Champlain’s statement that he had been drawn to “the art of navigation” at a “very early age,” and had ventured, as he wrote, “nearly all of my life on the turbulent waves of the ocean.” From this statement it is reasonable to think that Champlain’s voyages did not begin in the year 1594 as Liebel argues, but much earlier when as a boy Champlain was sailing with his father, who was an experienced pilot and probably his teacher. Historians in Brouage believe that Champlain also spent some of his early years ashore, perhaps attending an academy in the town.
If Champlain had been born in 1570, he would have had to have been at sea in sixteen of his first twenty-seven years from 1570 to 1597, and this would have allowed him to have spent his infancy in his mother’s arms and some years in school. A birth date of 1570 fits this frame better than does a birth date of 1580. It is also consistent with the literal meaning of Champlain’s statement about his thirty-eight years of sea voyages and his interest in the art of navigation at a very early age. To study this evidence is to find that Liebel’s thesis requires us to believe that Champlain began his sea voyages at the age of one.
Then there is a third clue that was discussed by Laverdière in 1870 and became the basis of Liebel’s argument. This is Champlain’s statement that when he thought of Pont-Gravé he thought of him as a father because of his age.14 Most scholars accept Liebel’s discovery that Pont-Gravé was baptized on November 27, 1560, but there is a problem of interpretation here. How large an age-difference was necessary for Champlain to think of Pont-Gravé as a father? Liebel’s answer is at least twenty years. Laverdière believed that ten or twelve years could have done it.
In the United States Navy, during and after the Second World War, young seamen and midshipmen tended to think in paternal terms of chief petty officers or commissioned officers who were often much less than twenty years their senior. Officers in turn called enlisted men “son,” even when their ages were less than a decade apart. A published example appears in a memoir of John A. Williamson, a lieutenant aboard USS English, a destroyer escort that sank six Japanese submarines in twelve days. Halfway through that campaign, Williamson was on his way to the wardroom for that elixir of the old Navy, a cup of coffee, when a “young seaman” came up to him:
“Lieutenant Williamson,” he said, “can I have a word with you? … Are we really sinking those submarines, sir?”
“Yes, we really are,” said the lieutenant.
“Sir, how do you feel about killing all those men?”
Williamson recalled, “I had no good answer, but I didn’t let him know that.” Instead, he said, “Son, war is killing. The more of the enemy we kill, and the more of the enemy we can kill, and the more of his ships we can sink, the sooner it will be over…. We are in a war that we must win, for to lose it would be far worse.”
Later Williamson commented, “My young inquisitor seemed relieved. At least he thanked me. But somehow when I reached the wardroom, that cup of coffee didn’t taste as good as I thought it would.”
The “young seaman” in this story would probably have been no younger than seventeen, plus or minus a year. Lieutenant Williamson was twenty-five or twenty-six. They were nine years apart, and yet they spoke literally as if they were father and son.15
In short, Liebel is certainly correct about the age of Pont-Gravé. His discovery of the baptismal record is a useful contribution. But Laverdière was correct about the difference in age that might have sustained a feeling of paternal respect. Ten years could have done it, or even less depending on the circumstances. We have no hard evidence here to settle this question, which will always remain a matter of interpretation. Suffice to say that Champlain’s statement is consistent with the possibility that only ten years separated them.
We also have a fourth clue, which rules out the possibility of a birth date much earlier than 1570. In 1634 Champlain wrote to Richelieu, suggesting that he himself should lead a punitive expedition against the Iroquois. Bishop writes: “Make every allowance for a valiant old gentleman’s sense of well-being; he could still not be over seventy. That gives us 1564 as the earliest possible date.”16
In short we have four suggested birth dates for Champlain in the secondary literature. They yield the following age patterns through his life cycle:
In my judgment, a date of birth around 1570 is most probable. The earliest recorded estimate of 1567 could also be correct. A birth date as early as 1564 is at the outer limit of possibility and highly improbable. A date of 1580 is beyond that limit and impossible. I conclude that Champlain was born around the year 1570, plus or minus several years.
APPENDIX B
CHAMPLAIN’S VOYAGES
A Chronology
YOUTH
1570–94 Many voyages with his father, a pilot and captain
BRITTANY
1594–98 Campaigns in Brittany; secret missions and at least one voyage for the king
SPAIN AND HISPANIC AMERICA
1598 Blavet (now Port-Louis), to Cadiz, Spain, in Saint-Julien
1598–09 Cadiz to Sanlucar to Seville to Sanlucar
1599 Sanlucar to Guadeloupe in San Julian
Guadeloupe to Virgin Islands, in San Julian
Virgin Islands to Margarita, in patache Sandoval
Margarita to Puerto Rico, in patache Sandoval
Puerto Rico to Haiti in San Julian
Haiti to Mexico in San Julian
Mexico to Panama
Panama to Mexico
Mexico to Cuba in San Julian
Cuba to Cartagena
Cartagena to Cuba
1600 Cuba to Florida and return?
Cuba to Spain by way of Bermuda and the Azores
1600–01 In Cadiz with his uncle
Cadiz to France?
1602–03 In France, visiting family in Brouage; studying with geographers in Paris; working with ships’ chandlers at Dieppe; visiting other ports and places
TADOUSSAC, 1603
1603 March 15 Departs Honfleur in Bonne-Renommée with Françoise
May 26 Arrives Tadoussac Harbor
May 27 T
abagie at St. Mathew’s Point (Pointe aux Alouettes)
May 28—June 9 Meetings with Montagnais, Etchemin and Algonquin at Tadoussac
June 11–17 Explores lower Saguenay River
June 18—July 11 Explores upper St. Lawrence River from Tadoussac to the Great Rapids near Montreal
July 15–19 Explores lower St. Lawrence River from Tadoussac to Gaspé and return
July 20—August 3 Explores upper St. Lawrence River
August 16—September 20 Tadoussac to Honfleur in Bonne-Renommée
FRANCE, 1603–04
1063 September 20 Arrives Honfleur in Bonne-Renommée
November 15 Receives license to publish his first book, Des Sauvages
September—April Working in France
ACADIA AND NORUMBEGA, 1604–05
1604 April 7—May 8 Sails from Honfleur (Normandy) to La Hève (Acadia) in Don-de-Dieu with de Mons, Pont-Gravé, and Poutrincourt
May 13—June? Explores coast of Acadia from Port Mouton to St. Mary’s Bay, his first independent command in New France
June 16–24 Explores coast of Acadia to the Bay of Fundy with de Mons in command; finds sites for colonies at Cape Sable, St. Mary’s Bay, Port Royal, Sainte-Croix, Saint John
July—September Working on Sainte-Croix Island; exploring Sainte-Croix River
August 31 Poutrincourt leaves Sainte-Croix for France in Don-de-Dieu
September 2—October 2 Explores coast of Maine from Sainte-Croix to Penobscot and mouth of the Kennebec River; his second independent command
October 2 Returns to Sainte-Croix Island
Winter at Sainte-Croix Island
PORT-ROYAL, 1605–07
1605 March 15—April 10 Explores the coast and islands of Acadia, Pont-Gravé in command and Champdoré as pilot; ends in wreck of their barque near Port-Royal; Champlain saves all passengers and the crew
June 18—August 3 Explores coast of New England to Cape Cod with de Mons in command
July 23 Fight with Indians at Mallebarre (Nauset on Cape Cod)
August—September Helps move the colony from Sainte-Croix to Port-Royal
November—December? Voyage from Port-Royal to Saint John River and the Port-aux-Mines in search of copper deposits
1605–06 Winter at Port-Royal (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia)
1606 Spring Explores coast of Acadia with Pont-Gravé in command
July 26 Poutrincourt arrives, takes command at Port-Royal
September 5—November 14 Explores coast of New England with Poutrincourt in command
October 15–16 Fight with Indians at Misfortune Harbor (Stage Harbor, Cape Cod)
1606–07 Winter at Port-Royal
1607 July Colonists ordered by de Mons to return to France
August 11–September 2 Sails from Port Royal to Canso
September 3–30 Sails from Port-Royal to Saint-Malo in ship Jonas
FRANCE, 1607–08
1607 September 30 Arrives Saint-Malo
Meets with De Mons and the king
1607–08 Winter in France, completes manuscript map of 1607 (now in Library of Congress)
1608 Offered command of a new settlement at Quebec
April 13—June 3 Sails from Honfleur to Tadoussac Roads in Don-de-Dieu
QUEBEC, 1608–09
1608 June 3–29 Explores Saguenay River and lower St. Lawrence River
June 30 Sails upriver from Tadoussac
July 3 Founding of Quebec
July 4 Begins construction of storehouse and first habitation
July “Some days after” July 3, Jean Duval’s conspiracy to kill Champlain is discovered; conspirators are arrested; Duval is executed; other leaders sent to France in chains
September 18 Pont-Gravé sails for France; Champlain remains in command of 28 hivernants
September—October Montagnais and French work together at eel fishing
November 18 First heavy snow
1608–09 Very hard winter, two or three fathoms of ice and snow on the river; many Montagnais die; only eight of twenty-eight French survive
1609 June 5 Supplies and men arrive from France
June 7 Champlain sails from Quebec to Tadoussac; receives letter from De Mons, recalling him to France
June 18 Champlain explores upper St. Lawrence Valley; meets Indians; plans campaign against Mohawks
June 28 Leaves Quebec with Montagnais
July 3–12 Rendezvous with Algonquin and Huron; enters River of the Iroquois
July 12–29 Leaves rapids on the Iroquois River for Lake Champlain and explores the lake and Vermont shore while waiting for the dark of the moon
July 30 Champlain and allies win battle with Mohawk; afterward he explores the chute from Lake George
July 30—August Returns to Quebec
August Visits with Montagnais in Tadoussac and Algonquins in Quebec
September 1 Leaves Quebec for Tadoussac, homeward bound
September 5—October 10 Sails from Tadoussac to Île Percée, La Conquête, Honfleur
FRANCE, 1609–10
1609 October 10 Arrives Honfleur
October Takes post to Fontainebleau; meets de Mons and Henri IV
November De Mons and Champlain meet investors in Rouen, work closely with Lucas Le Gendre to plan next expedition
December–February With de Mons in Paris
February 28 To Rouen and Honfleur; recruits artisans, settlers
1610 March 7 Sails from Honfleur; Champlain taken ill; returns to Le Havre
March 15 His ship returns to Honfleur to shift ballast
April 8 Sails from Honfleur in the ship Loyale; Pont-Gravé in command
QUEBEC, 1610
1610 April 26 Arrives in Tadoussac, New France, after a passage of 18 days
April 28 Sails from Tadoussac for Quebec; finds all well
May 18 Meets with Montagnais and others; plans another campaign
June 14 Leaves Quebec to meet Montagnais, Algonquin, and Huron; Iroquois at Trois-Rivières
June 19 Leaves Trois-Rivières for River of the Iroquois
June 19 Arrives at river, told that his allies had surrounded Mohawks in a barricade at what is now Sorel. Champlain and arquebusiers engage; nearly all Mohawk are killed or captured; ends major hostilities with Mohawk for 20 years
July Champlain meets with Iroquet; arranges for Étienne Brûlé to live among the Algonquin Petite-Nation and Iroquois
July—August Champlain returns to Quebec, learns that Henri IV was assassinated on May 14; letter from de Mons urges Champlain to return to France at once
August 8 Leaves Quebec for Tadoussac and France
FRANCE, 1610–11
1610 September 27 Arrives in Honfleur after a slow crossing of 50 days
December 30 Marries Hélène Boullé in Paris
QUEBEC, 1611
1611 March 1 Departs from Honfleur for America
May 13–17 Arrives Tadoussac; sails for Quebec in a leaky barque
May 21 Arrives Quebec; repairs boat; departs on exploring voyage
May 28 At Great Rapids near Montreal
June Explores St. Lawrence
June 1–13 Selects site for future settlement of today’s Montreal; plants test gardens
June 13—July 18 Meets Hurons, Algonquins, and has reunion with Étienne Brûlé; explores upper St. Lawrence
July 18 Returns to Quebec; repairs settlement, plants roses
July 20–3 Sails to Tadoussac August 11 Departs for France
FRANCE, 1611–13
1611 September 10 Arrives La Rochelle; visits de Mons in Saintonge
September Starts for court; “nearly killed” when horse falls on him; meets de Mons at Fontainebleau; consults President Jeannin, Chancellor Brûlart, and Marshal Brissac on how to support New France; they recommend a noble protector; Champlain gets help of sieur de Beaulieu, chaplain to Louis XIII
1612 September 27 Through Beaulieu, Champlain approaches the comte de Soissons and asks him to be governor of New
France; he agrees
October 12 Soissons, cousin of Louis XIII, appointed lieutenant general and governor of New France, with vice-regal powers
October 15 Soissons appoints Champlain his lieutenant in New France
November 1 Soissons dies suddenly; approaches are made to prince de Condé
November 22 Condé appointed viceroy of New France; makes Champlain his lieutenant
1613 January 9 Champlain publishes Les Voyages and second general map
January—February Champlain and Condé meet opposition from merchants; Champlain makes three journeys to Rouen; prepares an expedition of three ships from Rouen and one from Saint-Malo with men and supplies for Quebec
March 6 Departs from Honfleur in a ship commanded by Pont-Gravé
April 10 Sights Grand Bank; goes fishing; survives severe storm
QUEBEC, 1613
1613 April 29 Arrives Tadoussac after a crossing of 54 days; Montagnais recognize Champlain by his wound-scars, welcome him
May 2–7 Sails to Quebec; finds settlers in good health and fields “bright with flowers”
May 13–27 Sails to Great Rapids; meets Algonquin, who report more trouble with central Iroquois
May 29—June 17 Explores the Ottawa River, to Morrison Island and Allumette rapids; meets Indian nations and makes alliances; returns to Great Rapids on the St. Lawrence; more meetings with Indians; and arrangements for interpreters
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