At the beginning
of the fourth century, a well-educated woman named Catherine was sentenced to
die on a spiked wheel, which miraculously destroyed itself and then was later
beheaded for refusing to marry a pagan Emperor and for converting many of his
advisors, soldiers and even his wife to Christianity. She was sainted in the
tenth century and by the twelfth century there were statues of Saint Catherine
(of the Wheel) in many of the churches in Paris. On November 25th, young, unmarried
women would visit the statues, and the oldest unmarried woman would place a
"coiffe" or bonnet on Saint Catherine's head. Similarly, all other
unmarried women would also coiffe themselves in paper bonnets. Once unmarried
women reached the age of 25 they were considered "veille filles" or
old maids and were called "Catherinettes".
During the beginning of the colonization of Quebec, without many churches and
statues of the Patron Saint of unmarried women to dress, the custom was lost.
As churches were built and statues erected, young unmarried women in the colonies
would instead drop flowers at the base of Saint Catherine's statue and praying
to Saint Catherine for an eligible husband. In 1653, a nun named Marguerite
Bourgeoys arrived to the colonies and five years later opened Ville-Marie's
first school in an old stone stable. To entice Native American children to join
their white counterparts in school, Marguerite made taffy from molasses, more
famously known as "la tire".
Question: Name the year,
the location and the type of building that Marguerite Bourgeoys opened the first
school in Ville-Marie, and how did she entice Native American children to come
to school ?
Réponse: In 1658, in a stone stable in Ville-Marie, Marguerite Bourgeoys
opened the first school and was then able to entice Native American children
to school with candy known as pull taffy, or la tire.