Médard Chouart, sieur des Groseilliers – Baptised 400 Years Ago

Today – July 31, 2018 – marks the 400th anniversary of the baptism of Médard Chouart, sieur des Groseilliers.

Médard is my 8x maternal great-grandfather. My mother Jacqueline, née Desgroseilliers, descends from Marie-Antoinette Chouart (1661-1731), youngest daughter of Médard by his second wife Marguerite Hayet.

The future explorer and fur trader was the fourth son of Médard Chouart by his wife Marie Poirier. Infant Médard was baptised on 31 July 1618 in St-Martin parish church in Charly (now Charly-sur-Marne), 81 km (50 miles) east of Paris. [1] Unfortunately, the priest omitted Médard’s date of birth in his baptism record, but the child likely received the Sacrament within a day or two of his birth.

Charly église St-Martin 1280.jpg [2]

I originally wrote about Médard’s baptism two years ago in Church Record Sunday: Médard Chouart, sieur des Groseilliers’ 1618 Baptism Record. At that time, I tried to decipher the Latin text, but couldn’t quite manage it. Since then, I came across an article that included both the Latin and the French texts. [3]

Médard Chouart's baptism record* [Archives Départementales de l’Aisne]

* I circled Médard’s name (seen here as Medardus) in yellow.

The Latin transcription of Médard’s baptism record by author Roland-Yves Gagné [4]:

Ultima die mensis & anni ejusdem baptizatus fuit Medardus filius Medardi Chouart & Maria Poirier coniugis cujus patrinus fuit Anthoinis Cheron maxima autrus Illium Catharina LeRoy

Gagné’s French translation of Médard’s baptism record [5]:

Le dernier jour du même mois et année fut baptisé Médard fils de Médard Chouart et Marie Poirier son épouse le parrain fut Antoine Cheron l’ainé l’autre parrain Catherine LeRoy

Here is my English translation of Gagné’s French text:

The last day of the same month and year was baptised Médard son of Médard Chouart and Marie Poirier his spouse the godfather was Antoine Cheron the elder the other [godparent] Catherine LeRoy

I’m pleased that I found Roland-Yves Gagné’s article. His Latin transcription was just what I needed to understand my ancestor’s baptism record.

Sources:

1. Saint-Martin parish (Charly-sur-Marne, France), Registres paroissiaux et d’état civil, Baptêmes 1600-1645, vue: 126/364, poste: 242; baptême, Medardus Souar [sic], 31 juillet 1618; digital image, Archives Départementales de l’Aisne (www.archives.aisne/fr : accessed 8 September 2012).

2. "File:Charly église St-Martin 1280.jpg", Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Charly_%C3%A9glise_St-Martin_1280.jpg&oldid=223390728 : accessed 29 July 2018).

3. Roland-Yves Gagné, “Charly, Médard Chouart des Groseilliers et Jeanne Godard”, Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadienne-française (MSGCF) 57 (été 2006): 109-114, specifically 112; DVD edition (Montreal, QC: SGCF, 2013).

4. Gagné, “Charly, Médard Chouart des Groseilliers et Jeanne Godard”, 112.

5. Gagné, “Charly, Médard Chouart des Groseilliers et Jeanne Godard”, 112.

Copyright © 2018, Yvonne Demoskoff.