Ursulines of Quebec

Ursuline Monastery of Quebec

Monastère des Ursulines de Québec
Location within Quebec
Monastery information
Order	Ursulines
Established	1639
Mother house	Ursuline Monastery of Tours
Diocese	Archdiocese of Quebec
People
Founder(s)	St. Marie of the Incarnation, O.S.U.
Important associated figures	Mother Geneviève Boucher, O.S.U.; Jeanne Le Ber; St. Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, S.G.M.
Architecture
Functional Status	active
Designated date	1972
Groundbreaking	1641
Completion date	1642
Site
Location	Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Coordinates	46°48′44″N 71°12′29″W / 46.812094°N 71.208127°W / 46.812094; -71.208127Coordinates: 46°48′44″N 71°12′29″W / 46.812094°N 71.208127°W / 46.812094; -71.208127
Public access	yes
National Historic Site of Canada

The Ursuline Monastery of Quebec City, (French: Monastère des Ursulines de Québec), was founded by a missionary group of Ursuline nuns in 1639 under the leadership of Mother Marie of the Incarnation, O.S.U. It is the oldest institution of learning for women in North America. Today, the monastery serves as the General Motherhouse of the Ursuline Sisters of the Canadian Union. The community there also operates an historical museum and continues to serve as a teaching centre.

The complex was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1972.

The Ursulines are a Roman Catholic religious order founded at Brescia, Italy by Angela de Merici in 1535, primarily for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula.

The Viceroyalty of New France was the area colonized by France in North America starting with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534. The French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Québec in 1608 among the Algonquin people as the administrative seat for New France. Colonization was slow and difficult. Many settlers died early, because of harsh weather and diseases. In 1630, there were only 103 colonists living in the settlement, but, by 1640, there were 355.

The Ursuline Sisters were the first Catholic nuns to land in the New World. The history of the Ursulines in Quebec begins on 1 August 1639, when its first members landed in Canada. The monastery was established under the leadership of Mother (now Saint) Marie of the Incarnation (1599–1672), an Ursuline nun of the monastery in Tours, and Madame Marie-Madeline de Chauvigny de la Peltrie (1603–1671), a rich widow from Alençon in Normandy. The letters patent sanctioning the foundation issued by King Louis XIII are dated 1639.