Frontenac, Comte de, << FRON tuh nak or frawnt NAHK, kaunt duh >> (1620-1698), was governor general of New France in the late 1600’s. New France was the French empire in North America. Frontenac helped to firmly establish France’s power on the continent.
Frontenac was appointed governor general in 1672. His stern, military ways and hot temper often got him into trouble with the civil authorities in New France. However, the fur trade prospered under his rule.
Frontenac urged exploration of the west. He aided the explorations of René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle; Louis Jolliet, and Jacques Marquette. But he quarreled with church officials about using brandy to trade with the indigenous (Native American) people in New France. Frontenac was recalled to France in 1682.
Frontenac was appointed governor general again in 1689. The French planned to conquer the English colony of New York and to keep the remaining English colonies along the Atlantic Coast. Frontenac commanded French forces in a combined land and sea attack against the colonies. However, the attack failed. Frontenac then began campaigns against the Iroquois, whom the English encouraged to attack New France. He also sent bands of French fighters and Algonquian warriors to raid English frontier towns in New York and New England. In 1690, Frontenac defended Quebec against an attacking English fleet. Six years later, his forces laid waste the villages and lands of the Iroquois. The Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, stopped the war for a time. Frontenac died less than a year later, on Nov. 28, 1698..
Frontenac was born on May 22, 1620, in southwestern France. His given and family name was Louis de Buade. Frontenac became a soldier as a boy. He was made a brigadier general at the age of 26. He served in Flanders, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Crete before he became governor general of New France.
