MONTMORENCY-LAVAL, FRANÇOIS de. — Bishop of Québec, b. 30 Apr. 1623 at Montigny-sur-Avre (Eure-et-Loire), d. at Québec on 6 May 1708 in a reputation for holiness. As archdeacon of Évreux he took part in the founding of the Seminary for Foreign Missions in Paris. In 1658 he was named the first Vicar Apostolic of New France and in 1674 the first bishop of the diocese of Québec.
With success he defended the rights of the Apostolic See against the Gallican pretensions of the government; he organized the ministry among the whites and the mission among the Indians, largely in the hands of the Jesuits; he fought against the sale of alcoholic beverages to the Indians; he strenuously defended their rights. In 1663 he opened a seminary at Québec for both the ministry among the whites and the mission among the Indians; the Seminary was affiliated in 1665 to that of the Foreign Missions in Paris; in 1668 followed the foundation of a minor seminary, and in 1678 that of an industrial school. He resigned in 1688, having endured imprisonment in England. The cause of beatification was opened in 1890. A monument was erected to him at Québec in 1908.