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In Paris in Pierres lifetime there were 60 armuriers.....
in St. Etienne there were 600 armuriers.....
In Paris there were only 2 Master Armuriers.....who sold exclusively to the Royals.......
An Armurier was essentially a shop.......
for example if you walked down the Rues des Armuriers in Paris off of St. Denis back then.....
You would pass little shops or workships that would have a sign hanging out front with the picture of a helmet on it.
Inside would be the owner of the shop or the ARMURIER
and there would be a display of weapons to purchase......
Often there would also be an assortment of craftsmen
working on various pieces...
Armurier was essentially defensive armour....not offensive
and was highly regulated since 1562AD by the King Charles
as to what services were to be performed.
......all the way from making pieces of armour to polishing them......it was a very serious business
Keep in mind these men all belonged to guilds
all their work was signed
they were told who they could sell too
and that was 100% to nobles and up
Lesser men were not entitled to own weapons nor could they afford them.
Armurier de Roi: as a title;
did not mean supplier to the King
but inspector of armories for the KING.
It was a supervisory role.
Armuriers did not have much freedom.....they were completely controlled by the state......
They had many privileges in exchange and were certainly at the top of the crafts level status.....
They did not have the freedom to leave the country
but they also were exempt from military service
The King had first dibs on anything coming out of these shops.........specifically the armuriers of Paris and St. Etienne......
The goods produced in the west: the French navy had first dibs.
But otherwise; an armurier prior to Pierres lifetime might well work for just one noble house producing armour:
swords, bows and arrors, spears......but not guns.
By Pierres lifetime the old traditional armourer role had disappeared.......there was no further need for body armour with the onset of guns.
I have already searched the Tours region for a Sire armurier and cannot find one.
I am searching Toulouse but no luck either.
I have looked at the Belgic houses and no Sire yet.
In the past I have found Suires in Poitou who were archers and spear makers.....I will have to revisit that research once again.
Thus if we see Armuriers in New France we can generally conclude they probably left without permission.......probably were secretly Protestant.....or had were Armuriers de Roi....
Of all the trades in France Armuriers was at the highest in esteem and pay.
These were not at the same level as the disruntled linen and silk workers looking for escape and a better way of life.......nor farmers taxed nearly into starvation.
There was far less a motive for anyone in this profession to leave France: nor were they permitted to do so.
The disgrace and harm to ones family left behind for leaving illegally was not one undertaken lightly.
Nor was it really possible to just drop out of your guild and return later. Once signed up it was for life.
Anyone leaving probably could never come back without penalty.
Thus when we see Pierre indicating he was an Armurier: or owner of a weapons shop or dealership........who ends up in Acadia:
where no one had a dime to purcahse weapons........we have to suspect it was for only one of two reasons:
a) he was in fact an Armurier de Roi: sent to oversee the Kings position in armes regarding the hand back of Acadia to France
b) he was fleeing France for personal reasons.
That he was willing to stand up and speak openly during the census of 1671 to me signifies that he was not a refugee from religion or justice.
The Military powers taking control in 1671 would be very in tune with the profession of Armurier and understand he would not be entitled to leave arbitrarily.
Why would Pierre risk arrest and deportation by admitting such.....
I submit if he was a French armurier as opposed to the British definition of Gunner.....
Then he was sent to Acadia in 1668 on purpose.
We note he did not proceed to Beaubassin right away as the others of the Bourgeois clan did: but waited a year or two.
We note he did not have a good amount of land under cultivation.
These things indicate he had a livelihood in Port Royal or obligations.......and was not a farmhand who wandered in.
The only other speculation is that he undertook some kind of apprenticeship with the existing armurier in Port Royal and simply said that was his trade.
But one does have to remember that there was no cash in Acadia.........just barter.
If one was content with lots of food but nearly nothing else........it was a better life in most cases than France
for lesser status persons.
So one wonders:
Why is he there.........
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