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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 analyses the women that came before the judiciary system in Montreal for a question of honour between 1698 and 1756. The analysis focuses on the power dynamics experience by these women. Seduction, rape, prostitution and slander trial archives serve as the basis for this study. In eighteenth-century Montreal, honour an essential capital to possess because without it women could experience marginalization within the society. Female honour essentially linked to their sexuality and the justice system going to either help or harm the women depending on the transgression of the sexual norms in place in the society. The analysis will focus on the litigants, on the power dynamics between the women and the men and between the women themselves. On the one hand, this study accords an extreme importance to the agency of the principal actors in the trials. On the other hand, this study focuses on the intersectional power dynamics. In this thesis, we ask: how does gender, race and social status influence the course of justice? Does justice play the same role for every woman in a trial linked to her honour? Which factors influence the differential treatment of the women during a trial? I will answer these questions by analyzing the litigants, the power dynamics between the men and the women and between the women themselves and the relations between the women, their family and the society.

This master thesis qualifies the friendship of two college students of the collège de Valleyfield between the years 1900 and 1908. It analyzes the intimate journals of Erle G. Bartlett (1886-1945) and Émile Léger (1883-1908) and their correspondence. This thesis also studies their relationship with Lionel Groulx (1878-1967) who is their spiritual director. While studying friendship practises and intimate exchanges between the pupils it is possible to show that the friendships between Erle and Émile constitute emotional refuges in the college strict emotional community. Both students define their friendships as Catholic friendships, elitist relationships with union in prayer for ideal. Mentorship relationship between pupils of different ages constitutes an imitation of the practice of spiritual direction applied in their friendships. Lionel Groulx influence the student's conception of friendship by making them read romantic Catholics authors, particularly Charles de Montalembert (1810-1870). The « Montalembertisation » of Erle and Émile encourage them to adopt a romantic friendship vocabulary more characteristic of 19th century friendships. As for Lionel Groulx, his inexperience in being a spiritual director makes him nearly become Émile and Erle friend instead of director. Those relationships will merit him to be sent away temporarily from the college in 1902. Lionel Groulx and his pupils, first members of the Action catholique de la jeunesse canadienne-française (A.C.J.C.) at the collège de Valleyfield, are not able to add a mandate of « Montalembertisation » at the A.C.J.C. The friendships of Erle and Émile are one of the last testimonies of romantic friendship between college students in an area where homophobia is more and more common thus rending this kind of homosocial friendship suspicious.

Cannibals, caravans under the burning desert sun, “Wild Indians” of the Northwest… these were just some of the exotic images that Quebec schoolchildren were presented with in the 19th century. In addition to being a vehicle for socialization into the nation, the school was also a window onto the wider world and a place to learn about stereotypes. What images of the Other, and produced by which ideologies, did Quebec schools transmit? How did Quebec youth become conscious of “otherness”? What recreative and pedagogical functions did these images serve? This thesis is an effort to answer these questions. The first three chapters of the thesis explore the rhetorical construction of otherness in the school. How was the Other identified and depicted? The rhetoric of otherness took many forms, from cultural distancing to racial essentializing. European imperialism and the knowledge it produced facilitated the classification of the world’s peoples, from which were drawn those peoples who had different and “bizarre” cultural practices. Consistent with the history of Orientalism, such fascination was particularly reserved for the peoples of Asia. But, as radical as the otherness of the Oriental could be, it did not attain the level of essentialization imposed on the “Negro,” defined by their race, and to the “Savage,” whose body was the primary indicator of their identity. Finally, the significant role that the figure of the Indian played in primary-level education is a reminder that it was key to realizing the very possibility of a national existence for Canadians – who were themselves essentialized as belonging to the civilized world. Far from having only been in the background of history, the Indian was at the heart of the narrative as the figure most likely to capture the interest of children. Retaining the interest of children was precisely what the pedagogy of the era was most concerned with as a means to develop various capacities, such as the power of observation and emotion, both of which the latter chapters of this thesis examines. Fascinated by the images they observed, children were exposed to a stereotyped representation of the Other that manifested itself across multiple disciplines. In employing the travel narratives of the European explorers, geography called upon students to imagine themselves elsewhere. The schoolwork of students explored here reveals their curiosity about and imaginings of far-off regions and peoples. Finally, we also see how a missionary rhetoric manipulated the emotional reactions of schoolchildren to poor non-Christian children and thereby used the school to transmit its message. The school setting ensured that children acquired a sense of authority over the Others that the educational discourse presented to them. The knowledge of the Others gave them a sense of superiority and authority. The school also transmitted a hierarchical vision of the world in which Canadian children, even those of the popular classes, belonged to the more privileged categories, that is to say to the white race and civilization. This highlights one of the central findings of this research: children were not defined as French-Canadians or English-Canadians vis-à-vis the Other; rather, they were defined as white and civilized. This thesis also shows how otherness was a pedagogical tool that public education privileged amid its expansion in the 19th century.

Cette recherche analyse les concepts de confiance et de réputation par l’entremise de procès intentés pour libelle diffamatoire entre les années l791 et 1815 dans le district de Montréal. L’étude montre que la réputation, protégée juridiquement, est un régulateur de l’espace public. Elle contrôle les discours, les correspondances et tout autre écrit qu’un individu pourrait juger diffamants. En plus d’encadrer la liberté d’expression, la réputation structure le marché économique montréalais. Elle se présente comme l’un des moyens mis à la disposition des créditeurs comme des débiteurs pour créer la confiance. Inversement, sa flétrissure compromet l’échange. La réputation sera donc analysée dans ce mémoire comme l’une des formes de régulation sociale des rapports interindividuels au tournant du 19e siècle.

Ce mémoire documente l’émergence d’une sous-culture gaie masculine dans la région montréalaise entre 1860 et 1910 et s’intéresse aux discours et à la répression envers les hommes ayant des comportements homosexuels ou d’inversion de genre. Par l’analyse de sources journalistiques, judiciaires et juridiques, il déconstruit une série de préjugés, notamment à l’égard des sources, présumées pauvres; du discours public sur les comportements homosexuels, supposé inexistant; et des hommes qui avaient ces comportements, que plusieurs imaginent invisibles et isolés les uns des autres. Il montre au contraire que des archives variées révèlent une vie « gaie » et le déploiement d’une opinion publique à son égard. Ainsi, l’analyse d’un important corpus d’articles de journaux et une étude de cas portant sur deux des plus anciens clubs homosexuels connus au Québec, démantelés en 1892 et en 1908, confirment l’existence de réseaux de sociabilités « gaies » dans la région montréalaise, dès le XIXe siècle. Ce faisant, il dévoile l’existence de pratiques caractéristiques des sous-cultures gaies telles que l’usage d’un vocabulaire spécifique ou l’adoption de manières efféminées par certains hommes que l’on qualifierait aujourd’hui d’homosexuels.

This study analyses school theatre practiced at the Congrégation Notre-Dame between 1850 and 1920. We will explore this poorly studied phenomenon as well as its implication in the girls’ gender building at the Congrégation. It is divided in two main sections. In the first, we will look at the reasons why theatre was practiced, while discovering the pedagogic and material objectives which theatre fulfilled in the congregation, after figuring out the origins of this practice by going back to its foundation by Marguerite Bourgeoys. Despite its advantages, theater found a fierce opponent in Mgr Édouard-Charles Fabre. He played an influential role on the practice’s development curve. We will also discuss the morality of feminine school theatre, which was tolerated under some bishops but challenged by Mgr Édouard-Charles Fabre. In the second part of this study, we will seek to understand how theater was practiced by analysing its representations and relative available texts. We will analyze the themes and gender used as well as their reproduction through a study of staging, costumes and decors. By creating this general perspective, we will identify the gender’s elements being proposed to girls and the process by which theater allowed for the integration of these elements.

Ce mémoire de maitrise porte sur la représentation de l’ailleurs véhiculée aux lecteurs d’images, au Québec, par les gravures du journal illustré L’Opinion publique. Effectivement, si l’Histoire commence avec les premières traces écrites, elle pose le problème de l’étude historique de ceux qui n’ont pas laissé de tels témoignages, les personnes qui ne sont pas ou peu alphabétisées. Nous proposons d’étudier ces personnes par le biais de l’image, médium auquel elles ont pu avoir accès. Nous avons ainsi cherché à savoir quelle connaissance de l’ailleurs a pu être véhiculée aux lecteurs d’images à travers les gravures du journal. Nous considérons que les gravures sont comprises par tous. Celles-ci représentent la moitié des pages du périodique, nous pensons que ce journal a pu être accessible à chacun, à ceux que nous appelons les lecteurs d’images. Nos conclusions montrent que ces illustrations ont pu étendre la connaissance de l’espace des Québécois, à travers la représentation de l’actualité. Il est à noter que ces gravures proviennent en partie de journaux français et montrent la France et ses colonies. La population montréalaise se trouve donc au contact d’une certaine influence française, dont les élites se font les vecteurs. Une comparaison avec le Canadian Illustrated News révèle de profondes différences. Ainsi, ce journal du même propriétaire indique un intérêt marqué pour l’Empire britannique. Ce journal qui vise un public plus cultivé que celui de son homologue francophone donne à voir un espace plus large à ses lecteurs. Ainsi, chaque ligne éditoriale se fait l’écho de représentations différentes, transmises à ses lecteurs, populaires ou moins, francophones ou anglophones.

This dissertation examines the reaction of Canadian clergy to the American invasion of 1775-1776. While historians have generally considered that the priests of the colony remained loyal to the British Government on this occasion, three priests stand in contrast to this image of loyalty: Eustache Chartier de Lotbinière (1716-1785), Pierre-René Floquet (1716 -1782), Joseph Huguet (1725-1783) and Pierre Huet de La Valinière (1732-1806). Suspected by church and colonial authorities to have shown sympathy to the American revolutionaries, these men were struck by various sanctions that permanently affected the development of their careers.

This dissertation focuses on the culture of collecting as a social act. It begins by studying the discourse held by individual collectors and groups of collectors pertaining to their collecting practices. This examination reveals the motivations that justify the social importance of an essentially individualistic act, by connecting it to various collective benefits such as furthering historical knowledge, building national identity, and civic education. The collectors propagate a utilitarian vision of their activities, and rationalize a hobby that is often negatively perceived. This analysis exposes the characteristics that compose the image of an ideal practitioner, as well as the criteria established to determine the status of private collections and their components. The dissertation also considers collecting as a practice, and demonstrates that collecting consists of a series of acts that can be grouped into three main categories: acquiring, managing, and disseminating. It describes how, and from whom collectors acquired objects, and reveals the importance of local and international networks of transaction. It then highlights the care given to objects in the area of collection management: preparing, cleaning, hanging, storing, classifying, inventory, and cataloguing. Finally, it establishes the particular forms, occasions, and public to which collections are exhibited. The dissertation does not consist of a study of collections, but instead puts forward a cultural history of the practice of collecting. The objects amassed and classified (coins, medallions, stamps, aboriginal artefacts, archeological objects, works of art, autographs, books, rare documents, natural history specimens) are not considered in themselves, but rather as the product of a process that is the true subject of this research. It presents a critical reading of collecting and seeks to understand the aspirations, beliefs, values and representations of collectors, for collecting is a way to organize the world, and thus the collection reveals, through the choices made in the selection of pieces and the order in which they are placed, a way to see and understand this world. The practice of collecting is considered as a way in which to study male sociability, the significance of notions such as virility or the nation, and the importance given to history, sciences, and civic education.

Entre la fin du régime français et l’adoption de l’Acte constitutionnel par le Parlement de Londres en 1791, le rapport que la noblesse canadienne entretient avec le système judiciaire civil de la colonie change de façon majeure. Les Canadiens doivent s’adapter au nouveau système mis en place par l’administration britannique de la colonie. En Nouvelle-France, les nobles présentaient leurs différends juridiques civils devant le Tribunal royal, régi par la Coutume de Paris ; à partir de la Cession (1763), ce sont officiellement les lois britanniques qui s’appliquent jusqu’au retour des lois civiles françaises en 1774. Après quelques adaptations, la Cour des Plaidoyers communs devient la cour de prédilection des Canadiens, et par conséquent, de l’ancienne élite militaire. Le système judiciaire constitue un élément important de l’étude de l’évolution de la colonie, car l’attitude de la caste élitaire face aux tribunaux est un indicateur de sa capacité d’adaptation et de son degré d’implication dans la vie sociale.

Il exista, dans la Province du Canada (1841-1867), une culture collégienne francophone dotée d’un organe de presse et d’un système délibératif autorégulé. C’est ce que démontre une lecture serrée et longitudinale de L’Abeille que produit, entre 1848 et 1862, la Société typographique du Petit Séminaire de Québec. Par un examen matériel et intellectuel de la sociabilité étudiante, ce mémoire contribue au champ historiographique qu’est celui de l’histoire des élèves et investit un terrain où convergent l’histoire de l’Église canadienne-française, l’histoire de la presse, l’histoire de l’éducation et l’épistémologie de l’histoire. La présente étude explore, dans un Canada libéral en construction, la mise en langage spécifique au cœur du mécanisme fondamental de la formation d’une sous-culture cohérente. Les collégiens de l’entreprise de presse de Québec importèrent dans leur maison d’enseignement un savoir-faire réservé aux typographes professionnels et établirent des canaux de communication entre les élèves de différents collèges du Canada français. En donnant une existence écrite à la chanson et à une surprenante série d’épisodes de sociabilité étudiante, L’Abeille dota les collégiens de leur propre définition du politique. L’hebdomadaire coordonna les espaces où les élèves pouvaient s’exprimer les uns devant les autres sur des questions les concernant — des espaces séparés de la sphère où des adultes faisaient l’expérience de leur publicité canadienne-française. L’espace public résultant de cette articulation hébergea l’élaboration de deux épistémologies estudiantines de l’histoire dont la mécanique et la fine chronologie n’avaient pas encore été exposées. En la première se joue en partie l’essor d’une écriture collégienne de l’histoire du Canada. En la seconde se découvre une attitude résolue devant l’impossibilité de réconcilier le collège et le monde.

Ce mémoire a pour but d’éclairer le processus de mobilité sociale ascendant et descendant dans une perspective historique. Il étudie une famille canadienne-française ayant vécu une telle mobilité entre la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle et la première moitié du siècle suivant. Il cherche à en comprendre les causes ainsi que la façon dont ce processus fut vécu par les membres de cette famille. La trajectoire sociale de notre principal sujet, Émile Théroux (1870-1944), et de sa famille, fait ressortir le caractère complexe des causes d’une telle mobilité. Ce texte explore une mobilité sociale ascendante qui prend racine dans la paysannerie du Québec et la classe ouvrière des États-Unis et dont le déploiement se fait dans la petite-bourgeoisie rurale du Centre-du-Québec. Les balbutiements en sont une première tentative d’exploitation d’un hôtel à Drummondville par les parents d’Émile Théroux. L’ascension se poursuivit par l’exploitation pendant plus de dix ans d’un autre hôtel à Saint-Cyrille de Wendover et par l’achat d’une briqueterie par notre protagoniste au début du XXe siècle. Elle s’arrêta brutalement à la fermeture de cette même entreprise en 1918. Le déclassement se confirma avec une faillite en 1925. Face à ces déboires, les différents membres de la famille eurent à quitter la bourgeoisie pour émigrer socialement vers la très petite-bourgeoise, la paysannerie et la classe ouvrière. Grâce à une approche microhistorique et un usage de sources primaires diversifiées, ce mémoire démontre l’importance de prendre en compte les pratiques, les habitus et les structures dans l’analyse d’un processus de mobilité sociale. Cette étude a fait le pari, en analysant le parcours social de la famille Théroux, d’éclairer un processus encore peu étudié par l’historiographie. Il met particulièrement en lumière les réactions différenciées des multiples membres de la famille vis-à-vis du déclassement tout en démontrant son impact traumatisant.