DCB/DBC Mobile beta
+

As part of the funding agreement between the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and the Canadian Museum of History, we invite readers to take part in a short survey.

I’ll take the survey now.

Remind me later.

Don’t show me this message again.

I have already taken the questionnaire

DCB/DBC News

New Biographies

Minor Corrections

Biography of the Day

ROBINSON, ELIZA ARDEN – Volume XIII (1901-1910)

d. in Victoria 19 March 1906

Confederation

Responsible Government

Sir John A. Macdonald

From the Red River Settlement to Manitoba (1812–70)

Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Sir George-Étienne Cartier

Sports

The Fenians

Women in the DCB/DBC

The Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences of 1864

Introductory Essays of the DCB/DBC

The Acadians

For Educators

The War of 1812 

Canada’s Wartime Prime Ministers

The First World War

CRISAFY (Crisasy, Crisaci, and Crisacy), THOMAS, officer, Knight of Malta, originally from Messina in Sicily; d. 29 Feb. 1696 at Montreal.

A first cousin of the Prince de Monaco, Crisafy belonged to the house of Grimaldi, one of the most powerful families in Italy. He took part in the Sicilian uprising against the prince who ruled the island in the name of the king of Spain. With his elder brother, the Marquis Antoine de Crisafy*, he declared himself on the side of the king of France. As soon as the revolt was suppressed and peace restored, their possessions were confiscated, and they asked help and protection from France. They were both reduced to accepting command of a company of colonial regular troops bound for Canada, where they arrived probably in 1684.

Thomas Crisafy conducted himself gallantly. He served under Philippe de Rigaud* de Vaudreuil. In 1690 it was he who came to the help of the mother of Madeleine de Verchères [Jarret*] when the former was attacked by a band of Iroquois. The following year he drove off a detachment of Oneidas at Repentigny. He was also the right-hand man of Governor Buade de Frontenac, who in 1695 instructed him to go and relieve Fort Cataracoui (Frontenac). Governors Frontenac and Brisay* de Denonville, as well as Intendant Bochart* de Champigny, commended him highly to the minister, but in vain: they did not succeed in obtaining for him the pension that he sought.

“One could not determine,” said Charlevoix* of him, “what one should most admire; his skill in war, his shrewdness in counsel, his conduct in the undertakings that were entrusted to him, his fearlessness, or his presence of mind in action…”

Léopold Lamontagne

Charlevoix, Histoire, II, III. NYCD (O’Callaghan and Fernow), IX. Royal Fort Frontenac (Preston and Lamontagne). BRH, VI (1900), 320, 346f.; XXIII (1917), 53; XXIX (1923), 315f.; XXXII (1926), 524–28; XL (1934), 341f. Tanguay, Dictionnaire.

General Bibliography

Cite This Article

Léopold Lamontagne, “CRISAFY, THOMAS,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed March 19, 2024, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/crisafy_thomas_1E.html.

The citation above shows the format for footnotes and endnotes according to the Chicago manual of style (16th edition). Information to be used in other citation formats:


Permalink:   http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/crisafy_thomas_1E.html
Author of Article:   Léopold Lamontagne
Title of Article:   CRISAFY, THOMAS
Publication Name:   Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1
Publisher:   University of Toronto/Université Laval
Year of publication:   1966
Year of revision:   1979
Access Date:   March 19, 2024