It is said that Marie de l’Incarnation began teaching the day after her arrival in New France, in 1639. She did so under an ash tree, where native girls came to join her. This tree, around which the Ursuline monastery of Quebec was later built in 1642, was destroyed by a storm about a hundred years ago. But two other ash trees have since been replanted in the same place.
This ash tree and its descendants symbolize the roots of the works of the Ursulines in Quebec, against all odds. Some 385 years after their arrival, the institution on rue du Parloir, in Old Quebec, continues to welcome primary school students, well dressed in their checkered uniform. This summer, on the occasion of its 385e anniversary, the Ursulines school opens its doors to the general public for the first time. This is done under the aegis of the Cultural Center of the Ursuline Monastery, created in 2016 by the nuns to ensure the promotion of their heritage.
It has been several years since the last Ursulines of Quebec left the monastery to settle in a residence for the elderly in Beauport. But the walls of the monastery continue to vibrate with the thousand events that have shaped their history and ours – the hasty burial of Montcalm in the chapel, at the time of the Conquest; the Corriveau trial, which occurred within its walls in 1760; the fires which twice ravaged the monastery; the refoundation of Ursuline teaching in the 19th centurye century.
The first school
In all, there are 17 buildings in Old Quebec that still fall under the trust formed by the nuns in 2021 to ensure the future of their assets. This summer, we will be able to visit the site of the very first Ursuline school, which is accessed by the old Saint-Augustin wooden staircase.
At the bottom of this staircase, a door opened onto the river and another onto the forest, where the indigenous students came from in the early days of the institution. Some families left bags of grain or other foodstuffs there to pay for the lessons. “For the Aboriginal people, it was free,” explains Yohan Bonnette, who shows us around. “They came naturally,” says Sophie Limoges, director of the cultural center. “The mothers brought their daughters. »
“The first Ursulines will learn several indigenous languages. They will write dictionaries in the Iroquois language and the Algonquin language. They will also use music a lot in their approach to young people. In fact, they crossed the ocean with a viola da gamba,” she continues. Even today, music plays a major role in schools. On the floor dedicated to it, the pianos on which so many little hands have placed their hands are full of history.
The Ursulines quickly taught young French women, then young English women after the Conquest. And also, depending on the waves of migration, to Irish, Scottish and American women.
Archives as far as the eye can see
Since 2016, the Cultural Center of the Ursuline Monastery has managed not only the museum and the institution’s collections, but also its precious archives. Currently, only 2% of them are on display to the public. “In all, there are 50,000 to 60,000 artifacts or works of art,” continues Mme Limoges. “If we put all the documents in the archives side by side, we would cover half a kilometer. »
In addition to the school, visitors have access to the museum, located in the former house of Madeleine de la Peltrie, where the Ursulines came to take refuge when the fire devastated the monastery, and to the chapel. This is where the body of Louis-Joseph de Montcalm rested for centuries, buried in a disaster after his death, before being reburied with his compatriots in the cemetery of the Quebec General Hospital. For years, his skull was displayed there for students to see.
“If we are to believe the urban legend of the time, there was a cannonball which made a hole there during the bombardment by the English. Then Montcalm would have been buried there in the middle of the night. At the time, the information was secret,” explains Yohan Bonnette, who shows us around. The English, who have just taken the city, have completely occupied the monastery.
At the beginning of the colony, the Ursulines were renowned for their embroidery, some examples of which can be admired. Marie Guyart de l’Incarnation, alias widow Martin, had managed a textile company in France with her husband before coming to settle in America. But from the 19th centurye century took place a sort of refoundation of the institution, which would become at the forefront of the education given to girls, under the tutelage of the Reverend Mother Marie-Louise McLoughlin and the chaplain Thomas Maguire.
From that moment on, the Ursulines will have approaches more based on observation and understanding of phenomena. “Sciences will take up a lot more space,” continues Mr. Bonnette. “We will teach chemistry and physics, mathematics, natural sciences, astronomy. The Ursulines will look for the best instruments. »
At that time, he continues, the Ursulines brought writings from all over the world to be at the forefront of developments in pedagogy.
Leading and daring women, Marie de l’Incarnation and Madeleine de la Peltrie opened the way for a whole series of educated women who distinguished themselves: Louise de Ramezay and Marguerite d’Youville, in the 18th century.e century ; Laure Gaudreault, pioneer of Quebec unionism, and Laure Conan, first Canadian novelist, in the 19th centurye ; Simone Hudon, 20th century painter and engravere ; crime fiction author Chrystine Brouillet today.
Cloistered, the nuns only maintained external contact with their students. And they adopted part of the nuns’ way of life. This is further evidenced by the parlor gates, behind which the young girls stationed themselves when their parents visited. In the refectory, meals will be taken in silence until the XXe century, and the students had to sign to ask for salt or dessert, says Yohan Bonnette.
The old floors that creaked under their feet are now ready to welcome visitors, from July 3 to August 3.