Fort Saint-Louis and other 17th-century fortification works discovered recently in Québec City

SUMMARY: Recent excavations in Québec City have greatly enriched our knowledge of the location, character and likely ordnance of its sequence of 17th-century fortifications. Champlain’s first simple defence of the Habitation in Lower Town (1608–24) was intended primarily to protect the population against the Iroquois. The increasing scale and sophistication of his two successive Forts Saint-Louis on the cliff top above it (1620–26 and 1626–35), followed by the third (1636–90) and fourth (1691–94) Forts Saint-Louis, reflect the development of defences capable of engaging in European siege warfare, notably with France’s eternal enemy, England.