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L'ORDRE DU BON-TEMPS ~ THE ORDER OF GOOD TIMES
Background
Founding of the Order: November 14th 1606
Location: Port Royal, Annapolis County, New France, Nova Scotia, Canada
Postnominal: OGT
Motto: "Fellowship and Good Cheer"
Membership: By invitation of the Province of Nova Scotia or Member of the Order
Original Charter: To share in the fellowship and good cheer amongst the "nevoux noblise" of New France as they wintered together in Port Royal and to revel in the Glory of King Henri IV of France.
Contemporary Charter: Presented in recognition to individuals valued by the Province of Nova Scotia and or in honour of the Acadian tradition in Canada.
The Order Today.
On May 11th 2001 Speaker of the House in Nova Scotia Canada, the Hon. Murray Scott reaffirmed recognition of the Order in Canada under the custodianship of the Nova Scotian Ministry of Heritage. According to resolution 1111, as a condition of membership a pledge to visit the Canadian Province Nova Scotia must be made. The year 2005 marked the 400th anniversary of the Order. As of 2007 the honorary "Grand Master" of the Order is the Lt. Governor of Nova Scotia, Right Honourable Mayann E. Francis while past Grand Masters have included Governor Generals of Canada among other notable Canadians. The Order is unique in many ways: it collects no initiation fee, charges no dues and never meets formally.
HISTORY OF THE ORDER
It was after a hard winter at Ste Croix Island, when many of the first French settlers in North America died of scurvy that the french fur trading colony relocated across the Baie Française (Bay of Fundy), settling in a ___location they named Port-Royal. the following year. L'Ordre Du Bon-Temps, or in English, the Order of Good Times, was founded at the new ___location on November 14th 1606 at the suggestion of Samuel de Champlain under the auspices Pierre du Gua Sieur de Monts and the Baron de Poutrincourt and was praticaly organized by Marc Lescarbot, as the first Chief Steward.
Colony Commander the Baron de Poutrincourt, Intendant to the King of France in North America, had been on an expedition on the Atlantic coast towards Cape Cod, and on the occasion of his return the Order was founded at a glorious reception. The preperations of which took hold of everybody remaining at Port Royal. His return on the 14th of November, 1606, is a date to remember in the annals of the New World, as the establishment of the first Order of Chivalry and the birth of the Nevoux Noblise of New France. Another first took place that evening with the staging of the first play to be performed in North America. The feasting of the Order was a weekly occurrence that was continued throughout the winter until the last of March, when they again began to cultivate the soil, only to recommence again in the Fall.
Rameau (Une Colonie Feodale, v. 1. p 33), quoting Lescarbot, says: "Poutrincourt returned from his excursion on the 14th November, 1606; Lescarbot, who was always full of ideas, and who knew, no doubt, the useful part to be obtained by exterior demonstrations, foresaw to prepare for his honor a quasi- triumphal return from his voyage; Nature itself has already furnished the principle [sic] initiative, and advantage of it had been taken, everywhere were decorations and garlands of natural green; a magnificent forest hid the rusticity of wooden buildings and huts; even a theatre was built where allegoric scenes were represented; there was a feast, a discharge of musketry, and as much noise as could be made by some fifty men, joined by a few Indians, whose families served as spectators."
The Nevoux Noblise of New France and the founding Chevaliers of the Order were originally those who dined at Sieur Poutrincourt’s table. The main table of Poutrincourt, in the great hall of the fort was reserved for 15 of the gentlemen of birth who are credited as the founding Matries d’Hotel or members of the Order And were only those with whom Champlain and Sieur de Poutrincourt would naturally care to dine. The guests of the Order would likely sit at other tables, getting probably as good dinners as the rest, but without being recognized as official members.
Founding Chevaliers of the Order 1. Commander Baron de Poutrincourt 1st Grand Chancellor 2. Pierre du Gua Sieur de Monts(governor of Bridge, appointed lieutenant of the king) 3. seur Samuel de Champlain 4. Marc Lescarbot (1st Chief Steward) 5. Louis Hébert 6. Charles de Biencourt 7. Claude de La Tour 8. Daniel Hay 9. The surgeon (?) 10. Champdore 12. Sagamore Membertou (The Chief of the Mi'kMaq people) 13. Unkown 14. Unknown 15. Unknown 14. Unknown 15. Unknown
Lescarbot's account of the Order: is best translated in Murdoch's (v. 1, p 34), in which is described the gathering of the Order, "There were 15 guests (at Poutrincourt's table), each of whom in his turn, became steward and caterer of the day. At the dinner, the steward, with napkin on shoulder, staff of office in hand, and the collar of the order round his neck, led the van. The other guests in procession followed, each bearing a dish. After grace in the evening, he resigned the insignia to his successor, and they drank to each other in a cup of wine. It was the steward's duty, to look to supplies, and he would go hunt or fish a day or two before his turn came, and add some dainty to the ordinary fare. During the winter they had fowl and game in abundance, supplied by the Indians and by their own exertions. These feasts were often attended by Indians of all ages and both sexes, sometimes twenty or thirty being present. The Sagamore, or chief, Membertou, the greatest Sagamore of the land, and other chiefs, when there, were treated as guests and equals."
Champlain's account of the Order: "We spent this winter very joyously and of good times, due to the L’Odre de l Bon Temps that I established here, which each person finds useful for their health and more beneficial than any sort of medicine that we could have used. The Order was presented as a Chain of office that we placed with some small ceremony, at the neck of one of our people, charging him that day with going hunting; the next day we gave it to another and thus consequently: all who wished to try would do their best and bring the most beautiful hunt: We don’t find it half bad , as well as the Indians who were with us" Voyages of Champlain: 1613
There were at Port Royal, in 1606 less than 70 men. Lescarbot states, that about 50 Frenchmen, joined by a few Indians, participated in the welcoming home of Poutrincourt. Likely all of whom took part in the play, “Le Théâtre de Neptune en la Nouvelle-France,”, written by Lescarbot and performed at the first celebration Order. Marking the first theatrical performance in North America.
du Théâtre de Neptune on the Eve of the founding of the Order Nov 14th 1606
File:Illustration du Théâtre de Neptune.jpg
A Brief timeline of the Order
1604~King Henry IV give a commission to Pierre du Gua, sieur de Monts, appointing him viceroy of the territory in North America lying between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the mouth of the Hudson River.
1604 May 8th (NS), de Monts arrived at the mouth of the LaHave River on the coast of Nova Scotia. A few days later he sailed up the Bay of Fundy and into the Annapolis Basin. Henry IV was assassinated in May 1610 and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII, age nine.
1605~Pierre du Gua Sieur de Monts, Samuel de Champlain, and Baron de Poutrincourt established a colony at Port Royal.
1607~the colony was abandoned.
1608~Henry IV's Commission to Sieur de Monts "And in view of the proposition to us of Sieur de Monts, gentleman in ordinary of our chamber, and our lieutenant-general in that country, to make a settlement, on condition of our giving him means and supplies for sustaining the expense of it, it has pleased us to promise and assure him that none of our subjects but himself shall be permitted to trade in pelts and other merchandise, for the period of one year only, in the lands, regions, harbors, rivers, and highways throughout the extent of his jurisdiction: this we desire to have fulfilled." Given at Paris the seventh day of January, in the year of grace sixteen hundred and eight, and the nineteenth of our reign. Signed, HENRY...
1610(May)~ Louis XIII succeeded to the throne of France
1610 ~ Poutrincourt returns and established the first successful settlement of Europeans in what is now Canada.
1613 ~ English colonists from Virginia captured Port Royale
1621 ~ Acadia was renamed Nova Scotia by William Alexander, who had been granted the territory by James VI/I on September 10, 1621. His attempts to colonize the region were a failure, but his royal charter gave Nova Scotia its name, coat-of-arms, and flag.
1629 ~ Groups of Scots settled at Charlesfort, near Port Royal, and at Rosemar, on Cape Breton Island.
1632~ the colony was ceded to the French under the Treaty of St-Germain-en-Laye. Port-Royale was refounded — at Annapolis Royal, close to its former site — and Acadian colonization proceeded through the Annapolis Valley to the Chignecto Isthmus,
July 14, 1640 Germain Doucet was at Port Royal and Captain of the Army of Pentagoet as well as the right-hand man of the Governor of Acadia (Charles de menou d'Aulnay de Charnizay).
1650 After the death of the Governor,Germain was made the Commander at the fort of Port Royal and Deputy Guardian of the Governor's children.
August 16, 1654, when 500 Bostonian soldiers under the command of Robert Sedgewick attacked the fort of Port Royal, Germain found it wise to give up without a struggle as he had only 100 men to oppose them. All military personnel were repatriated back to France. Germain left his brother-in-law, Jacques Bourgeois, surgeon, as Lieutenant of Port Royal and as a witness to see that the conditions of the treaty were carried out. He returned to France in 1654 resulting from quarrels among the Acadians prompted Oliver Cromwell to dispatch an occupying force in 1654.
1667 The Treaty of Breda, signed by France and England marked the return of Acadia to its place among the French colonies
1713 The Peace of Utrecht granted British control of Acadia, however the French retained Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island.
1744 during King George's War the French and British again battled over Nova Scotia. The British decided to make Nova Scotia British by bringing in more settlers. Halifax was founded as a fishing port and naval station, and other towns were planned.
1754-1763 During the French and Indian War , the French settlement of Fort Beausejour fell under an American attack, and Fort Gaspereau fell to the British. After the war Governor Charles Lawrence ordered more than 6000 Acadians deported to the American colonies, but about 2000 escaped.
Description of L’Ordre du Bon Temps written by Champlain in 1613
Les premiers hivers des Français en Acadie furent très pénibles et coutèrent la vie à plusieurs hommes. On n'a qu’à penser au premier hiver à l’Île Sainte-Croix en 1604-1605 où plus d’une trentaine d’hommes de la compagnie du sieur de Mons périrent du scorbut. Les hivers à Port-Royal furent moins rigoureux, mais quand même longs et ennuyants.
Afin d’égayer l’ambiance et créer un plus grand esprit de corps entre les membres de l’état-major du sieur de Poutrincourt, seigneur de Port-Royal, Samuel de Champlain eut l’idée de créer « l’ordre de Bon-Temps » durant l’hiver 1606-1607.
Tour à tour, les membres de la petite élite de Port-Royal devaient préparer un repas gastronomique pour leurs confrères, repas fruit de leur chasse et de leur pêche dans le riche environnement naturel acadien qui abondait en gibier et en poissons de différentes espèces. De temps en temps, le sagamo Membertou et ses proches étaient aussi invités à partager le festin au cours duquel le responsable de la soirée entrait cérémonieusement dans la salle principale de l’Habitation en portant au cou le collier de l’Ordre qu’il tendait au futur hôte de la prochaine soirée. Dans l’actuelle Habitation reconstruite, aujourd’hui un lieu historique national du Canada, on peut facilement imaginer l’ambiance de ces soirées. Le gouvernement de la province de la Nouvelle-Écosse a redonné vie à l’ordre du Bon Temps et il est possible d’en devenir membre.
Voir description of l'ordre de Bon Temps:Samuel de Champlain dans : BIGGAR, H. P. (éd.) The Works of Samuel de Champlain : vol. I, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1922, p. 447-448.