LANGOISSIEUX, CHARLES (baptismal name Pierre), Recollet brother, the first Frenchman to become a religious in New France; originally from the city of Rouen; d. 1645 at Gisors.

He probably arrived in Canada in 1619 and he had been devoting himself to teaching the Indians in the region of Trois-Rivières for three years when he expressed his desire to join the Recollets. Father Guillaume Galleran “received him therefore into the noviciate; the ceremony of the taking of the habit took place in the month of September 1622 in our church of Notre-Dame-des-Anges, in the presence of his excellency the governor, of all the French inhabitants, and of a multitude of Indians. He was called Brother Charles, after our first syndic, Father Charles de Boves.”

During his noviciate Brother Charles almost lost his life in circumstances that Gabriel Sagard has described in his Histoire du Canada. When his noviciate was ended he made his profession and in 1624 returned to the post at Trois-Rivières to continue teaching the Indians. The surrender of Quebec put an end to his apostolate on Canadian soil. On 9 Sept. 1629, along with the other Recollets, he left Quebec for France, where he landed on 29 October.

After carrying out the humblest tasks reserved for the lay brothers in different convents of his province, he passed away at Gisors 23 Oct. 1645.

Frédéric Gingras