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On 22 June 1845, a curious religious procession took place in the streets of Montreal. A “huge crowd” gathered to accompany through the city the body of a man exhumed from the Roman catacombs. His bones had been shipped to Montreal and placed in a wax figure representing a Roman soldier. Presumed to have died for his faith, this martyr was carried through the streets at arm’s length amid incense and hymns. Surprisingly, this procession was not an isolated one. From 1830 to 1930, the remains of dozens of presumed Christian martyrs extracted from the Roman catacombs were sent to Canada. In Halifax, Rimouski, Joliette, Toronto, and Windsor, they attracted the faithful and the curious. Adopted as powerful intercessors, these foreign saints would shape the beliefs, representations, and identity of generations of Catholics. Around their relics, a whole devotional universe would develop and maintain various and complex relations with society. These relics provide us with a unique window into nineteenth-century Canadian society. This thesis makes a significant contribution to historiography by exploring for the first time the topic of ultramontane devotions in Canada. It studies the deployment of the cult of Roman martyrs and their relics in the Canadian Church and reconstitutes the development of this devotion from a cultural history perspective. Using archival documents found on both sides of the Atlantic, this thesis examines how Canadians discovered, sought, and adopted this foreign devotion. In reality, this infatuation for Roman relics is primarily a transnational phenomenon that is part of the profound changes that the Catholic Church experienced in the nineteenth century, driven in particular by the Ultramontane movement. Therefore, it seeks to situate the presence of relics from the catacombs in Canada in its global context while considering its Canadian particularities. It rests on a considerable number of novel sources drawn from more than thirty archival centers. With the help of these documents, it examines the different facets that this devotion had, whether in cities or the countryside, among English-speaking or French-speaking communities or in predominantly Catholic or Protestant environments. The first chapter reveals the fascination with Christian Rome among nineteenth-century Canadians and the importance that the catacombs and their martyrs had in the minds of the Catholic faithful. The second chapter identifies the many networks uniting the Canadian Church with Rome, and more broadly with Europe, that allowed the acquisition and shipping of relics to Canada. It replaces this devotion in a larger framework by linking it to other manifestations of this expression of piety elsewhere in the world. It pays particular attention to the exchange of goods between the Italian peninsula and North America by studying the commercial routes that allowed the circulation of relics. The remaining three chapters are devoted to the presentation, the reception, and the adoption of catacomb saints in Canada. They examine the art of molding wax bodies containing relics and the symbolism of these recumbent-reliquaries, before describing the religious ceremony organized to mark the arrival of a new martyr. Finally, this thesis explores the faithful’s various expressions of piety: patronages, prayers, indulgences, and claims of miracles. It examines the attachment but also the opposition and the tensions provoked by Roman relics within society. This research demonstrates the influence that foreign religious devotions held in the spiritual lives of Canadians and the many connections uniting Canadian society with Europe. It also testifies to significant changes in the devotional universe of the nineteenth century. But above all, it highlights the profound transformations of both culture and mentalities and particularly of beliefs, emotions, and the idea of death. This study contributes to a better understanding of the religious past of several generations of Canadians by studying a devotion that has now completely been forgotten.

This thesis examines the credit records between 1847 and 1872 of the Montreal branch of the Mercantile Agency, among the most important credit bureaus in 19th century North America. The 19th century saw the acceleration of transatlantic trade. Montreal, located between Great Britain and the United States, was at the crossroads of the economic expansion. In this period, commonly referred to as the transition to capitalism, the legal, commercial and financial institutions of the metropolis were forced to adjust. In the financial sector, the state was compelled to adopt bankruptcy laws to lessen the negative effects of bad debts and to encourage and support the spread of commercial credit. However, because of limited accessibility, and the complexity and costs of the procedure, the laws were unable to fully guarantee the recovery of loans and were deemed unsatisfactory by the business community. The thesis claims that the emergence of credit agencies responded to the needs of the business community to address problems of information asymmetry. These agencies, like the Mercantile Agency, established a type of self-regulation of commercial credit. They provided information on risk to lenders. To a large extent, the information gathered represented the opinion of the Montreal merchant community. The credit offices of the Mercantile Agency used this information to generate rankings of the credit worthiness of merchants. The information was disseminated to the Agency’s network of subscribers. In this fashion, the Agency contributed to the construction of an economy of reputations. The research, which is inspired by contributions to the new history of capitalism, explores the effects of the construction of the economy of reputations on the relationship between lenders and borrowers. I find that the structure of the relationship favored creditor over debtors. The chapters of the thesis describe the role of reputation in the creditor-debtor relationship, the determinants adopted to measure credit worthiness, and the tensions and conflicts that emerged in the economy of reputations.

Maintenant is a French Canadian catholic paper created by the Dominican Order and published from 1962 to 1974. Its authors are proponents of Emmanuel Mounier’s personalism. According to this philosophy, the true catholic faith calls for believers to positively transform profane society following evangelical lines. Maintenant’s writers postulate that Québec’s numerous catholic institutions are an obstacle to this ideal : rather than encourage believers to reshape their environment, these institutions seek to isolate them from society in order to shield them from nefarious beliefs and temptations. This « system », la chrétienté, is relentlessly criticized and painted as the main cause behind the observed religious decline. Indeed, the monthly publication argues that these institutions are indissociable from an authoritarian stance that breeds conformism and religious ignorance. From 1965 onward, secularism in Québec dramatically reduces the Catholic Church’s institutional presence. The Liberals’ « Bill 60 », for example, makes the government the primary actor in matters of public education. In turn, the intellectuals of Maintenant gradually shift their focus from la chrétienté to secularism’s impact on religious belief and practice. Convinced that Catholicism and the rising secular mentality can coexist, they put forward ideas of pastoral, liturgical and ecclesiological reform aimed at reconciling the two. These propositions are deeply influenced by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) during which a majority of the clergy is won over by personalist ideals. The paper’s authors are nonetheless disappointed by the reforms emanating from the works of the Council as they are deemed unambitious and badly implemented.

Entre 1774 et 1815, la noblesse canadienne tente de stabiliser sa position sociale au sein d’une société canadienne désormais sous tutelle britannique. Pour cela, les nobles opèrent une redéfinition culturelle et sociale de leur idée de noblesse afin de s’adapter au nouveau régime. Grâce aux relations qui s’établissent entre les nobles restés dans l’Empire britannique, ceux l’ayant quitté et les nouvelles élites qui s’établissent dans la colonie au tournant du XIXe siècle, il est possible de mieux appréhender la façon dont la noblesse réinvestit son capital symbolique. L’étude des patrimoines matériels, sociaux et intellectuels ainsi que leurs modes de transmission permettent d’examiner les modalités d’adaptation de la communauté noble. Enfin, cette noblesse à cheval entre deux empires, dont les réseaux s’étendent sur de nombreux territoires, permet de mieux percevoir les évolutions qui s’opèrent à cette époque dans les sociétés coloniales et en particulier en Amérique du Nord et au Canada. En étudiant cinq familles emblématiques de la noblesse canadienne, cette thèse tente de répondre à la problématique et aux sous-questions suivantes : comment la noblesse francophone se renouvelle-t-elle et évolue-t-elle en tant que groupe social distinct au sein des élites impériales entre 1774 et 1815 ? Qui est noble ? Être un noble canadien après la Cession dans les empires français et britanniques, qu’est-ce que ça signifie ? Quelles sont les stratégies d’adaptation de la génération de la noblesse canadienne qui vit sa vie publique et adulte entre 1774 et 1815 ? Y a-t-il une « canadianisation » de la noblesse et, si oui, comment se caractérise-t-elle ? Les nobles canadiens s’adaptent-ils au nouveau régime ? Les élites influencent de façon importante la construction de la société dans laquelle elles évoluent : au XIXe siècle la société canadienne-française telle qu’on la connaît jusqu’au milieu du XXe siècle commence à se développer ; elle a en parti été mise en place par et pour les nobles canadiens. Ma recherche a donc pour but de trouver les mécanismes de reproduction des élites coloniales. C’est-à-dire de comprendre comment, en particulier, les nobles continuent à exister sous le Régime britannique. Mon hypothèse est que les nobles réussissent à trouver une forme d’équilibre entre le besoin de renouvellement qui découle du changement de régime et leur fidélité à des traditions présentées comme séculaires. Ce sont des « caméléons sociaux » qui existent à travers trois paradoxes : un imaginaire transnational dans une réalité juridique nationale ; un désir d’éternité couplé à un besoin d’évolution constant ; une culture de la distinction affirmée à l’intérieur de frontières poreuses. La thèse cherche encore à mieux comprendre comment se vit une identité transatlantique et coloniale, se détachant progressivement, mais jamais totalement des pairs de la « vieille Europe » et à travers la formation d’une identité américaine au sein des empires. Elle démontre également l’ambiguïté qui existe entre l’identité noble coloniale, qui pousse au détachement par rapport à la métropole, et l’identité élitaire, qui, au contraire, ramène les nobles canadiens vers l’Europe et les caractéristiques de son élite. Between 1774 and 1815, Canadian nobility attempted to stabilize their social position within a Canadian society now under British reign. In that order, nobles operated a cultural and social redefinition of their idea of nobility to adapt to the new regime. Thanks to the relationships that nobles who remained in the British Empire developed with those who left it, and the new elites who settled in the colony, it is possible to better understand how Canadian nobility reinvested its symbolic capital. The study of material, social and intellectual heritages as well as transmission mode make possible to examine the modalities of adaptation of the noble community. Finally, this nobility straddling two empires, whose networks spanned many territories, allows us to better perceive the changes that took place at that time in colonial societies and, more specifically, in North America and Canada. By studying five emblematic families of the Canadian nobility, this thesis attempts to answer the following problematic and sub-questions: how the French-speaking nobility is renewing itself and evolving as a distinct social group within the imperial elites between 1774 and 1815? Who is noble? What does it mean to be a Canadian nobleman after the Conquest in both French and British Empires? What are the coping strategies of the generation of Canadian nobility who lived their public and adult life between 1774 and 1815? Is there a “Canadianization” of the nobility and, if so, how is it characterized? Are nanadian nobles adjusting to the new regime? The elites significantly influence the construction of the society in which they operate: in the 19th century French Canadian society as we know it until the middle of the 20th century began to develop; it was in part set up by, and for, Canadian nobility. My research therefore aims to find its reproduction mechanisms. That is, to understand how, in particular, nobles continued to exist under British rule. My hypothesis is that the nobility manages to find some kind of balance between the need for renewal that arises from regime change and its loyalty to traditions presented as secular. Noblemen and women are “social chameleons” that exist through three paradoxes: a transnational imaginary in a national legal reality; a desire for eternity coupled with a constant need for evolution; a culture of distinction asserted within porous borders. This thesis seeks to better understand how a transatlantic and colonial identity is experienced, separating itself gradually, but never completely from the peers of "old Europe" and through the formation of a North American identity within the empires. It also demonstrates the ambiguity that exists between the noble colonial identity, which encourages detachment from the metropolis, and the elite identity, which, on the contrary, brings the Canadian nobles back to Europe and the characteristics of its elite.