Le samedi 24 avril 1999 03:00:00 UTC-4, Patrick Rock a écrit :

Bonjour,

I recently read of the execution of Jacques Bertault and his wife,
Gilette Banne (or Baune), and even though I know that punishments in the
17th century were considerably more barbaric than our own time, the
story still causes one to shudder.

They were convicted of the poisoning murder of their son-in-law, Julien LaTouche.

Both were stripped except for a shift of some kind and forced to kneel
before Quebec's parish church with ropes around their necks and burning torches in their hands and "to beg for God's and the King's
forgiveness".

They were taken to the main square of the Upper city, and Bertault was strangled on a croix St-Andre (an X-shaped cross), but was spared having
his limbs also broken beforehand (they were broken AFTER his death),
while his wife was condemned to watch her husband's death and then
submit to the same punishment, less the broken limbs (as if that were a comfort).

Their daughter, Isabelle, was also judged guilty of the murder but
spared the gallows due to her age (13 1/2), but (along with a fine that
she and her parents were assessed), was forced not just to witness but
to assist in the execution of her parents.

Isabelle remarried less than a year after her parents' execution, had
six children, then remarried again and had five more offspring by her
second marriage, but one wonders what scars she carried.

These were not my ancestors, but were in-laws to an ancestor of mine,
Denis Verroneau, whose first marriage was to Marguerite Bertault
(1665-1687).

My questions are thus:

Are there any records of the murder case itself? It seems they were obviously guilty of killing Julien LaTouche, but was a reason for their
act ever sought? Did they kill him for money, or because their daughter
did not want to remain married to him, or were they defending their
daughter from a bestial spouse? Was this an unusual case, and was the execution particularly newsworthy in its time?

Anyone?

Merci

Patrick Rock
rockpf@swbell.net

(Change "nospam" to "net" in reply ID to email.)

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