Company of the American Islands
The Company of the American Islands (French: Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique) was a French chartered company that in 1635 took over the administration of the French portion of Saint-Christophe island (Saint Kitts) from the Compagnie de Saint-Christophe which was the only French settlement in the Caribbean at that time, and was mandated to actively colonise other islands. The islands settled for France under the direction of the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique before it was dissolved in 1651 were:
- Dominica (1632), formerly as Compagnie de Saint-Christophe
- Guadeloupe (28 June 1635 to 1649)
- Martinique (15 September 1635 to 27 Sep 1650)
- St. Lucia(1643 to 27 Sep 1650)
- St. Martin (23 March 1648)
- St. Barts (1648)
- Grenada (17 March 1649 to 27 Sep 1650)
- St. Croix(1650)
In 1635,
On 15 September 1635,
In 1642 the company received a twenty-year extension of its charter. The King would name the Governor General of the company, and the company the Governors of the various islands. However, by the late 1640s, in France
Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy (1584–1660)[2] was a French nobleman and Bailiff Grand Cross of the Knights of Malta. He governed the island of Saint Christopher from 1639 to his death in 1660, first under the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique and later under the Knights of Malta themselves. Poincy was the key figure in the Hospitaller colonization of the Americas. The Knights of Malta bought Saint-Christophe, Saint Croix, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint Martin. In 1665, the Knights sold the islands they had acquired to the newly formed (1664) Compagnie des Indes occidentales.[3]
See also
- European chartered companies founded around the 17th century (in French)
- List of trading companies
- Virginia company
Sources
- ^ Oaul André Dubois, 1997, De l'oreille au coeur: naissance du chant religieux en langues amérindiennes dans les missions de Nouvelle-France 1600-1650. In Septentrion, p.37
- ISBN 978-0-415-30828-1.
- ^ Bonnassieux