Individual Details

Mathieu Choret

(1580 - 17 Oct 1636)

Events

Birth	1580	La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France (then: La Rochelle, Aunis, Diocese of Saintes, Kingdom of France)
Marriage	Abt 1620	La Rochelle, Aunis, France - Jeanne Serre
Burial	Aft 1624	La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Death	17 Oct 1636
Life sketch		Mathieu Choret, also recorded as Mathieu Choré, was born in 1580 in La Rochelle, situated within the Diocese of Saintes, in the historical region of Aunis, France. His early years would have coincided with the closing stages of the French Wars of Religion, a period that had left a lasting impact on La Rochelle, then a major Huguenot stronghold. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, La Rochelle remained a key Atlantic port with active Catholic and Protestant communities under close royal scrutiny. Choret resided in the parish territory of Notre-Dame-de-Cougnes in La Rochelle, a church that served an important role in the Catholic presence of the city. Surviving records do not indicate whether he was baptized there, but it was the parish environment in which he and his family lived. The parish was among those that maintained continuity even amid the civic and religious conflicts of the late sixteenth century. At some point before 1624, Choret married Jeanne Serré, also of La Rochelle. The exact date of their union has not been found in the surviving registers, many of which were disrupted or lost during this period of conflict and rebuilding. The marriage likely took place within La Rochelle under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Saintes. Their family is recorded with at least four children, including their son Mathieu Chouret (1624–1664), who would later emigrate to New France, establishing a lineage that carried the Choret name into Canada. Choret’s life unfolded during a period of significant transition in La Rochelle. In the early seventeenth century, the city retained its political privileges and defensive character. However, tension with the French monarchy increased, culminating later in the siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628), after Choret’s lifetime. Economically, La Rochelle was thriving as one of France’s most important maritime centers, with links to Atlantic trade and colonial ventures, while also being a focal point of religious tension between the crown and its Protestant population. Mathieu Choret is noted to have died after 1624 in La Rochelle, with his burial recorded at Notre-Dame-de-Cougnes. His death occurred before the onset of the great siege, but during a time when the city was already marked by uncertainty and royal pressure. The parish churchyard of Notre-Dame-de-Cougnes, his burial site, was a traditional resting place for residents of that part of La Rochelle, reflecting his local ties. Through his marriage to Jeanne Serré and the birth of children including the younger Mathieu Chouret, Choret became a progenitor of a family line that would soon intersect with the colonial history of France in North America. While direct details of his own occupation or social role remain undocumented, the survival of his lineage in historical sources underscores his part in the broader demographic movement from La Rochelle to New France, a trajectory common to many families of Aunis in this era.

Families

Spouse	Jeanne Serre (1605 - )
Child	Mathieu Robert Choret (1624 - 1664)

Endnotes