Fraucois Xavier De Laval-Montmorecy, the first Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec, born in Laval, France, March 23,1622, died in Quebec, May 26, 1708. He was ordained priest in Paris, Sept. 23,1645, was nominated missionary bishop of Cochin China in 1651, but did not accept the office, and became archdeacon of Evreux in 1653. He was chiefly known as the abbe de Montigny, one of his family titles. In 1658 he was appointed vicar apostolic of New France, and bishop of Petraea in partibus, in opposition to the archbishop of Rouen, who claimed exclusive jurisdiction in Canada. He was consecrated privately, arrived in Quebec June 16, 1659, displayed equal firmness and moderation in overcoming the pretensions of the vicar general of the archbishop of Rouen, and returned to France in 1662 in order to obtain missionaries, nuns, and pecuniary aid for his flock. He founded while there the seminary of Quebec, March 26, 1663, connecting it by name with the seminary of foreign missions in Paris; the deed of foundation was confirmed by letters patent of Louis XIV. in April, 1664. In the following September he arrived in Quebec, and on July 11, 1666, consecrated the church of Notre Dame. Besides his efficient measures for the organization of a parochial clergy, he enacted the most stringent regulations against the sale of intoxicating liquors to the Indians. This brought him into conflict with the colonial authorities, but he triumphed over all opposition.

During a second stay in France, in October, 1674, he obtained his appointment as titular bishop of Quebec. This office enabled him to protect the Indians from the injurious intercourse with the whites, and to define the mutual relations of the regular and secular clergy. Having secured sufficient revenues for the support of the seminary and his episcopal establishment, he made a third voyage to France, obtained the nomination of a coadjutor bishop, into whose hands he resigned the administration of his see in January, 1688, and came back to Quebec to reside in the seminary, without taking further part in public affairs. To the seminary he made over his entire estate, and saw it twice burned to the ground. He was distinguished by unblemished purity of life, ardent zeal for religion, and a firmness which bore down all opposition. The Laval university in Quebec is named after him. His life was written by Louis Bertrand de la Tour (Cologne, 1751), and by an anonymous author (Quebec, 1845).