Les défis procéduriers d'un commerçant de La Rochelle en Acadie: Nicolas Denys, 1636–1684

Abstract

This article is in no way an attempt to present a biographical sketch of French entrepreneur Nicolas Denys in Acadia during the seventeenth century. Instead, it seeks to give him a more appropriate place within the business historiography of colonial Acadia and New France. The objective was to approach the topic by examining three aspects of Denys's career: the attacks from his opponents, the consequences of the numerous trials he was involved in, and finally, the administrative inconsistencies of the French authorities that also contributed to his bankruptcy.