Guide to Documents Relating to French and British North America in ...

documents relating to the missions of the Society of Jesus, while the Fondo Sessoriano has a dossier
on the Quebec church at the beginning of the eighteenth century (ms 230).16
8. ARCmVES OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS
Most religious orders keep their general archives in Rome. Their archives tend to be
homogeneous, in that they usually stem from the order's working apparatus, its administration and its
bureaucracy. As far as North America is concerned, their archives must be approached selectively,
according to the time periods in which the orders were active in certain areas of North America. The
Archivio Generale dell'Ordine dei Cannelitani Scalzi (Discalced Cannelite General Archives), for
example, contains material relating to the early history of Newfoundland,!7 and is likely to contain
documents on the endeavours of the order in Louisiana at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The
Archivio Generale dei Frati Minori Cappuccini (Capuchin Archives), though never surveyed, is likely
to preserve documents relating to Acadia in the first half of the seventeenth century, where the
Capuchins operated extensively. The Spiritans were very active in eighteenth-century Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, and that is the period one must look for in their Archivio
Generale dei Padri dello Spirito Santo (Spiritan General Archives).
The Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu (Jesuit Roman Archives) is the most important repository
that was originated by a religious order, if only on account of the importance of the Society of Jesus
in the early history of North America. Among the various series that should be consulted,!s the most
important are vols. 109 and 110 of Fondo Gallia, and the Catalogi Breves. The Jesuit Archives are
currently being examined by two Canadian scholars, Lucien Campeau and Robert Toupin, the former
dealing with the seventeenth century, the latter with the eighteenth century. Their aim is to publish in
their entirety (at least for the seventeenth century) documents relating to the history of the Society of
Jesus in Canada that are scattered among many repositories around the world, of which ARSI is only
one. Judging from the quality of the three volumes by Campeau that have appeared in print to date,
dealing with the years 1602-1637/ 9 one could only hope that the following volumes of the series will
soon be made available, and the high standard of scholarship set by the first three volumes be indeed
maintained. 2O
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