Filles Du Roi Analysis

1292 Words6 Pages

In the early years of New France men vastly outnumbered women in the colony. With a lack of women, many men returned to France, consequently hindering the growth of the Canadienne population. To combat this, Louis XIV sent hundreds of women to New France in hopes supply marriageable women for men. These women are now known as the filles du roi. In Imbalance, Les Filles du Roi, and the Choice of Spouse in New France Yves Landry, the author, exhibits how the marriages of the filles du roi diverged greatly not only from the French counterparts but also the common practice of marriage in the seventeenth century in New France as well. These differences are demonstrated with the hastiness of the process as well as the social and age differences that …show more content…

It is notable with marriage contracts to understand how the filles du roi deviated from French marriages. As Landry demonstrates through the historian Marcel Tudel’s data, typically 65% of marriages had a drawn contract, whereas the filles du roi “82% signed a contract.” These two components demonstrate how the filles du roi were able to skip lengthy courtships in lieu of legal promises. Thirdly, Landry indicates that nearly half of the filles du roi were exempt from banns. This meant that unlike most women the filles du roi were able to bypass the process of publicising potential marriages. Also, as Landry points out, it was common practice to post three banns, and traditionally the rule had been to post them spaced out over a matter of weeks, but in the case of the filles du roi, banns were posted after the marriage ceremony and in quick succession. This makes it apparent that this was uncommon in reference to traditional marriages and explains to how the filles du roi were able to marry quickly. In demonstrating these aspects, Laundry is able to explain how which the filles du roi were capable of speeding up the process of marriages and how these processes were untraditional in comparison