Marching and Memory in Early Twentieth-Century Quebec: La ... · Article abstract During a three-day period in June 1908, 250,000 people attended a series of elaborate celebrations

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Journal of the Canadian Historical AssociationRevue de la Société historique du Canada

Marching and Memory in Early Twentieth-Century Quebec: LaFête-Dieu, la Saint-Jean-Baptiste, and le Monument LavalRonald Rudin

Volume 10, Number 1, 1999

URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/030514arDOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/030514ar

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Publisher(s)The Canadian Historical Association/La Société historique du Canada

ISSN0847-4478 (print)1712-6274 (digital)

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Cite this articleRudin, R. (1999). Marching and Memory in Early Twentieth-Century Quebec: LaFête-Dieu, la Saint-Jean-Baptiste, and le Monument Laval. Journal of theCanadian Historical Association / Revue de la Société historique du Canada, 10(1), 209–235. https://doi.org/10.7202/030514ar

Article abstractDuring a three-day period in June 1908, 250,000 people attended a series ofelaborate celebrations in Quebec City in honour of Mgr François de Laval, thefirst bishop of Quebec, upon the bicentenary of his death. A monument toLaval was unveiled on the middle day, in between the two most importantsummer festivals of the French-Canadian calendar. The Fête-Dieu (CorpusChristi) celebrations preceded the unveiling, while the Fête de laSaint-Jean-Baptiste followed. In planning the festivities, particular care wasdevoted to organising processions through the streets of Quebec City. Thesetwo processions, the former organised by clerics and the latter by laymen, sentsomewhat contradictory messages to both spectators and participants.Nevertheless, they formed part of a collective effort by clerical and lay leadersto claim the streets of Quebec, in the process asserting their power at a timewhen French-Catholic society was being challenged from various quarters.