dit LaFantaisie

 The coat of arms accorded to Nicolas MAURICE The description uses heraldique terms:
«D'azur, à une croix d'argent, cantonnée de quatre étoiles de même, et chargée en cœur d'une tête de maure de sable ; et pour cimier un dextrochère tenant une couronne de laurier au naturel»
Translation:
"Azure, of a silver cross, "cantonnée" with four stars as well, at the centre (in the heart) of the cross is the head of a moorish man, black...maure(ice); and for crest a "dextrochère" holding a crown of laurel "au naturel".

 by Paul Arthur Freynet

I received a genealogical study of this Lorraine branch of the MAURICE family, along with the above shield, in response to an inquiry I made to the author, Stephane Louis. They were assembled by him while studying the Valdenaire family genealogy.

 Although a lot of research is needed to confirm it, my personal opinion is that this Maurice family is the one Claude and Jean-Francois descended from.

My reasons are,

First: the obvious repetition of given names. Jean himself bears a traditional name from the Lorraine line and he named his son Claude which is frequently seen throughout the notes.

Claude also named his sons after previous members in the Lorraine line. The names repeated are Jean, François, (these two in combination), Bernard, Joseph, and Claude.

Although these are common names, it is unusual that so many match the line studied in the notes below.

Please note that I am not implying that this family was nobility at the time of Claude. Titles of nobility awarded for merit in Lorraine at the time in question could not be inherited.

The given names for Claude’s sons that do not match are Charles Marie (first son), Jacques Urbain, René and Pierre Louis. If it can be shown that these names are matches for names used in the family of Claude’s wife, Marie Madeleine Dumouchel, it would reinforce the possibility that the others were taken from Claude’s family.

Second: Since LAFANTAISIE is a very uncommon nom-de-guerre, it is unlikely to have been given because Claude MAURICE was day dreaming once or twice instead of polishing his boots.

A likely explanation of the name is that this man was an experienced horse trainer, probably descended from a line of horsemen. LaFantaisie was a term used in dressage for a high spirited horse that - momentarily - refused to obey his master.

« Fantaisie : Se dit des mouvements d'un cheval qui veut agir contre la volonté du cavalier. Ce cheval a des fantaisies. »

Translation:

"Fantasy: is said of the movements of a horse that acts against the will of its rider. That horse has fantasies."

Again:

« On doit nommer fantaisie dans le cheval, une action quelconque suggérée par une volonté tellement opiniâtre & rebelle, qu'elle répugne à toute autre dénomination; & appeler du nom de défense, la résistance plus ou moins forte que l'animal oppose à toute puissance émanant d'une volonté étrangère. »

Translation:

"We designate "fantasy" in a horse, a sudden action so rebellious, that it cannot be described by any other name; and designate "defense", the resistance that an animal puts up, more or less forcefully (persistently), against any action originating from a will other than his own."

I wrote to Christian DIAT who made a study of legends and traditions of the Bourbonnais and asked him what he thought the origin of the name Lafantaisie might be. He had this to say:

« Une analyse contemporaine (du nom La Fantaisie) pourrait par exemple faire penser à un lieu en rapport avec les chevaux.»

Translation:

"A contemporary analysis (of the name La Fantaisie) would bring to mind a place that has to do with horses."

There is at least one modern day horse training ranch in Aix en Provence called Fantaisie.

La Fantaisie would be an appropriate name for a horse training farm or, if the background is military, a garrison where army horses are rested and new horses are broken and trained.

One possibility for the origin of LAFANTAISIE as a surname now presents itself. The Métis of New France were widely considered expert horsemen. LAFANTAISIE could have been adopted as surname by one or more descendants of Claude who founded a Métis family. The memory of where the name came from was still fresh and in addition to being appropriate, it distinguished their heritage.

Based on the excellent Maurice genealogy written by Francois MAURICE of Montreal, privately published in 2008, the likeliest candidate I have found is Claude-Amable MAURICE ditLafantaisie who married Marie GAUTHIER on October 7 1799 in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, county of Terrebonne.

The line of LAFANTAISIE may have begun with his children. He had nine, six of them sons.

In the notes below, the care and dressage of war horses is a tradition in the MAURICE family.  Jean MAURICE, mayor of Rehaincourt, was accorded a title of nobility as “Marechal des Logis”. As I will show, the main duties of this office is the training and care of horses.

Again, a title of nobility awarded for merit in Lorraine as well as in France at this time, could not be inherited.  

Specifically, the duties were as follows:

«Le maréchal des logis, unique de son grade, était nommé et choisi par le capitaine, parmi les brigadiers du régiment. Chargé de l’instruction militaire, du dressage des chevaux, de la conservation et de la réparation du matériel, il devait être l’homme de confiance du capitaine. Sous ses ordres, il avait 2 brigadiers ayant chacun 11 ou 16 maîtres à commander. »

Translation:

"The marechal des logis, unique in his rank, was appointed by the captain, from the brigadiers of the regiment. Charged with military instruction, dressage of horses, and the maintenance of equipement. He served as confidant to the captain. Under his order, he had 2 brigadiers, each having 11 or 16 officers under his command."

Again:

« Ils doivent sçavoir journellement l’état des armes, des équipages, des chevaux ; se trouver aux heures de les faire boire, de les faire panser, et de leur faire donner l’avoine : on sçait de quelle conséquence sont ces choses pour le service et pour le capitaine. »

Translation:

"They must be aware every day of the state of the weapons, of the equipement, the horses; responsible for their drink, their nourishment, feeding them oats: we know how important these duties are and of the consequences for the service and the captain."

Third: if we look at the distribution of the surname MAURICE in France, it appears to have originated in the Savoie Lorraine region. There is a heavy concentration of the surname in that area which increases as we recede through time . It is likely that our branch originates in that region even though Jean was married and Claude was born in Normandie.

Fourth: Jean MAURICE who was cité, (mentioned) in 1640, as per below, was in the right time frame to have fathered Jean, Claude's father.

...................

Osme MAURICE, allié à Berthe LE LIEPVRE (fille de Nicolas LE LIEPVRE et de Jeanne DUCHESNE, on connaît aussi Georges LELIEPVRE qui était procureur général au bailliage des Vosges). (ADV 1J48)

d’où (Issue) :

1. Claude MAURICE. (ADV 1J48)

2. Jean MAURICE. (ADV 1J48)

Jean MAURICE, maire de Rehaincourt, maréchal de logis de SA, cité en 1635 et 1639, anobli par lettres du 12.11.1630 , décédé avant 1641. En 1641 sont partagés à leurs héritiers les biens provenant de la succession de feu Henri COSSERAT et de Nicole GIBARD sa femme de Rehaincourt, ce qui a permis d'établir cette généalogie. (ADV 1J49)

d’où :

1. N. MAURICE. (ADV 1J49)

d’où :

1.1. Jean MAURICE, cité en 1640. (ADV 1J49)

1.2. Marie MAURICE, citée en 1640. (ADV 1J49)

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I requested clarification on how to read these notes and received this reply from the author:

« Dans le document que je vous ai envoyé, j’ai listé tous les Maurice rencontrés lors de mes recherches. Mais ils ne sont pas forcément de la même famille. Chaque fois qu’un personnage n’a pas de numéro, je ne connais pas ses parents. Il n’y a donc pas de lien connu entre Jean Maurice fils de Osme Maurice et de Berthe LELIEPVRE, et Jean Maurice maire de Rehaincourt. »

Translation:

"In the document that I have sent to you, I have listed all the MAURICE's I encountered in my researches. But they are not necessarily related. Each time a member does not have a number, I do not know his parents. Therefore, there is not necessarily a family tie between Jean MAURICE, son of Osme MAURICE and of Berthe LELIEPVRE, and Jean MAURICE of Rehaincourt.

So in the above extract, Jean Maurice, son of Osme, is not necessarily the same Jean Maurice who was mayor of Rehaincourt. There is no known link between them. The reasoning in this study seeks to provide that link.

La Fantaisie is strategically located at the exact centre of France in the Allier department, near a castle that was still occasionally used as garrison in the 17th century, Bourbon-l’Archambault.

My working hypothesis is that Jean MAURICE, left Lorraine around 1660. The duchy at this time was ravaged by war and famine and burdened with over taxation. He may have acquired the place called La Fantaisie in the Bourbonnais which he managed for the French army. The name of the post as well as parts of the buildings have survived since the 17th century.

When the garrison was no longer needed by the army, he moved to the Rouen area and began a family. He took the sobriquet LAFANTAISIE to differentiate his family from others bearing the MAURICE name already in the region and passed it on as nom-de-guerre to his son who came to Canada as a soldier.

The following is the genealogical information generously provided by French genealogist Stephane Louis.