Saint Malo and Canada during the sixteenth century: from power to obscurity

Saint-Malo developed a complex relationship with Canada throughout the long sixteenth century. Jacques Cartier's trajectory, today immediately associated with the exploration and colonisation of North America, was not representative of the choices favoured by this city. The Malouin traders concentrated their activities on seasonal ishing or fur trade but opposed projects of permanent colonisation on the continent, although several inhabitants played a key role in the establishment of the first French colonists in America. In the collective memory, Jacques Cartier himself was forgotten for a long time, until an historic and patrimonial re-appropriation in the nineteenth century. However, he is nowadays partially put aside in favour of other later local heroes associated to the representation of Saint-Malo as a "corsair city".