The new royal government established for that French colony
in 1663 sought vigorously to promote settlement, economic development and
military security, closely guided and supported by the weighty central
bureaucracy of Louis XIV's absolute state. This new governing system, which
would last to the end of French rule in Canada, had at its core a Sovereign or
Superior Council, directly appointed by the crown and headed by three top
officials, the governor, intendant and bishop. The governor, particularly
concerned with military and external affairs, was nominally foremost; and in
wartime, or in Indian diplomacy and in the fur trade, he well would be. Yet the
intendant, dealing broadly with internal administration, especially in regard to
settlement, land, law, and economic policies, could loom large indeed. And the
bishop did not just lead the influential and established Catholic Church within
the colony, but, as a high officer of the ruling Council, could be powerful in
social, judicial and other matters brought before it.