Article ID: CBB675947539

Geographical Knowledge as Power: The Role of the Society of Jesus and the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris in the Early Exploration of Louisiana (2022)

unapi

The Society of Jesus and the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris played prominent roles in the early exploration of French Louisiana. The two societies competed over territorial jurisdiction since the presence of their missionaries provided privileged access to the latest geographical data. In times of exploration and colonial territorial expansion, geographical data proved to be an important lever of power, and French missionaries were one of the principal agents of acquiring and disseminating knowledge. We follow the role of the two mentioned missionary societies through the eyes of the Jesuit Father Paul du Ru, the priest of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris, Francois Le Maire, and two Jesuit travelers, Antoine de Laval and François-Xavier Charlevoix. Their journals, travel narratives, and maps offer an early testimony to Louisiana’s rich history and cultural encounters between European settlers and native nations. This article is based on original research.

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB675947539/

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Authors & Contributors
Allen, David Y.
Blais, Hélène
Combeau-Mari, Evelyne
Edington, Claire Ellen
Hébert, John R.
Lemmon, Alfred Emmette
Journals
French Colonial History
Journal of Historical Geography
Terrae Incognitae
Archives of Natural History
Canadian Historical Review
Comparative Studies in Society and History
Publishers
Brepols
CTHS, Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques
McGill-Queen's University Press
The Historic New Orleans Collection
University of Georgia Press
3 Fields Books, An Imprint of the University of Illinois Press
Concepts
France, colonies
Travel; exploration
Colonialism
Cartography
Geography
Science and religion
People
Amundsen, Roald
Colbert, Jean Baptiste
De Foucauld, Charles
Louis XIV, King of France
Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel
Rimbaud, Arthur
Time Periods
19th century
17th century
18th century
20th century, early
20th century
Early modern
Places
Louisiana (U.S.)
France
North America
Africa
Algeria
Korea
Institutions
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
Yellowstone National Park
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