Arquebusier
Was your ancestor an arquebusier or harquebusier? Learn what this occupation was like in New France and Canada.
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The Arquebusier
In its simplest sense, the arquebusier (sometimes spelled “harquebusier”) was a soldier armed with an arquebus.
Close-up of the Jardin des arquebusiers in “Vue de la Bastille et de ses environs en 1789” (View of the Bastille and its surroundings in 1789) by Theodor Josef Hubert Hoffbauer, Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris (present-day de la Roquette street, close to Place St Antoine and the Bastille).
Around the year 1460 in France, the “canon à main” (hand canon) was introduced, which soon became known as a “couleuvrine” (a culverin), then a “hacquebute” (a hackbut) and finally an “arquebuse” (an arquebus). By 1575, the French guild of arquebusiers was formed in Paris. For one to become a master arquebusier, he needed to forge a “rouet” (a metal wheel that was part of the arquebus), as well as an arquebus canon that was three and a half feet in length. Once completed, the weapon needed to be tested: the canon would be filled with gunpowder two times the weight of an ordinary cannonball and fired. The guild requested a dedicated space for these trials from the king himself. They wanted captains, gentlemen and children to be able to fire these arquebuses on the first Sunday of every month. The request was granted and a space created called the Jardin des arquebusiers, which can be located on old maps of Paris. Therefore, the historical sense of the word arquebusier in France meant not only using the weapon, but also creating it.
1874 drawing by Viollet-le-Duc appearing in Dictionnaire raisonné du mobilier français de l'époque carlovingienne à la Renaissance - illustration Tome 6, Wikipedia Commons.
According to Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des sciences et métiers (edited in 1751-1777), the arquebusier was an artisan who made portable firearms: muskets, arquebuses, guns and pistols. His art allowed him to forge cannons and lock plates which were mounted on a wooden barrel.
Similar to the armurier (gunsmith), the profession of arquebusier was not exactly the same in New France as it was in the old country. Weapons were, for the most part, not manufactured in New France. The arquebusier performed simplified tasks, primarily because of the lack of specialized tools in the colony. Historians have hypothesized that gunsmiths and arquebusiers did not manufacture whole firearms since they did not have the precision tools and machines that existed in Europe. Essentially, they used a variety of small instruments to make and repair different parts of the firearm. This lack of precision tools may have been deliberate on the part of the French royalty, with the aim of keeping a monopoly in weapons manufacturing and thus maintaining some control over the circulation of armaments.
The gunsmith was one of 7 main occupations in New France relating to metalwork, the others being the locksmith, the blacksmith, the tinsmith, the coppersmith, the edge-tool maker, and the gunsmith.
Drawing of a Mounted Austrian Arquebusier, late 16th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wikipedia Commons.
The occupational terms of arquebusier and gunsmith were often used interchangeably. When looking at an ancestor’s vital and notarial records, a gunsmith could be identified as an arquebusier, and vice versa, on several documents.
Arquebusiers in New France: Jean Badeau, Théophile Barthe, Guillaume Beaudry dit Desbuttes, Henri Belisle, Pierre Belleperche, Barthélémy Bertaut, Jean Bousquet, Jacques Cavelier, Claude Chasle, François Comeau, Jean de Guy, Bernard De Landaboure, Jean De Lespinace, Jean de Noyon, Étienne Desainctes, Nicolas Doyon, Gilles Dutartre dit Lacave, René Fezeret, Pierre Gabourit, Nicolas Gauvreau, Pierre Gauvreau, Joseph Genaple de Bellefond, Simon Guillory, Ange Guion, Paul Guion (or Guyon), Léonard Jean Baptiste Hervieux, Jacques Jouiel/Joyal dit Bergerat, François Lamoureux dit St-Germain, Jérôme Langlois, Antoine LeBoesme dit Lalime, Louis Lecomte dit Dupré, Jean Lemire, Jean Lespinasse, Louis Martin, Pierre Maurache, Étienne Montreuil, François Morneaux, Jean Morneaux, Joseph Parent, Yves Pinet, Jean Poisson, Pierre Porteret, Nicolas Pré (or Prayé), Pierre Prudhomme, Olivier Quesnel, Nicolas Sarazin, Jean-Baptiste Soulard (Sr. and Jr.), Pierre Soulard (Sr. and Jr.), Jacques Thibierge, Louis Trafton, René Vallet, Jacques Villiers.
Sources:
Alfred Franklin, Dictionnaire historique des arts, métiers et professions exercés dans Paris depuis le treizième siècle (Paris, H. Welter, 1906), 43-44.
Russel Bouchard, Les Armuriers de la Nouvelle-France, Série Arts et métiers, Ministère des Affaires culturelles (Québec, Québec, Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, 1978), 159 pages.