Maudoux in France.

René.

René Maudoux, son of Jehan Maudoux and Jehanne Fleuriau, was born 1 April 1570 in La Flèche, Anjou. He married Lezine Chauvin 17 February 1593 in Saint-Pierre Catholic Church in the small village of Requeil. Their son Michel was born the 15th and baptized on the 16th of January 1606 in the same church.

The Wars of Religion amped up after 1560 as John Calvin inspired followers, called Huguenots, in France. Henri IV, known as Good King Henry, was raised as a Protestant though he soon converted to Catholicism. Promoting religious tolerance Henri issued the Edict of Nantes. While the edict declared France Catholic, it did allow Huguenots to practice their religion. Without the strife caused by religious wars France was rebuilt under his rule -roads were repaired and lined with elm trees, bridges constructed, canals reworked - a legacy that long contributed to the beauty of the French countryside. Henri also made it illegal to confiscate livestock and tools from the peasantry and he sought to see "a chicken in their pots every Sunday." Québec and the other colonies were of little interest to him, as he felt they would "be ours only at great expense and to little purpose." His reign lasted from 1589 until his assassination in 1610.

Michel.

Michel married Marie Regnault, daughter of René Regnault and Marie Herpin, on 12 January 1636 in Saint-Pierre church in Doué-la-Fontaine, Anjou. An ancient town, it is believed to have had the first habitable stone-built donjon, or keep, in France. The couple had ten children, including our ancestor Aubin born 14 September 1646.

For his part, Aubin did see a purpose in the New World.

Aubin, 23, contracted to work in the French colony of Québec, arriving in 1667. Both his parents died in 1670, his mother Marie Regnault on 26 February and father Michel on 12 August.