frŏnˈtĭnăk, Fr. lwē də büädˈ koNt də pälüōˈ ā də frôNtənäkˈ, 1620–98, French governor of New France. His early military career was spent in service in the Low Countries, Italy, and Germany. Appointed in 1672 to the post in New France, he entered with vigor upon a course that would have resulted in considerable political independence for Canada. His policy was not acceptable to Louis XIV and to his minister Jean Colbert, and, adding to the power of the council in New France, they reduced that of the governor. Frontenac was embroiled in quarrels with the Jesuits, with the intendant, and with the governor of Montreal, but he tried to develop new policies toward the indigenous peoples, forwarded explorations by Louis Jolliet, Jacques Marquette, and the sieur de La Salle, and aided in the establishment of forts and posts in the new French territory. When disagreements among the heads of the colony caused division and confusion, Frontenac was recalled (1682) to France. During the following years, however, the Iroquois became increasingly aggressive, and his successors, Joseph de La Barre and the marquis de Denonville, failed to resolve New France's problems; Frontenac was therefore returned to Canada as governor in 1689. He energetically warred against the Iroquois until they were subdued in 1696, and he held Quebec against the British in the first of the French and Indian Wars. Under him, French forces drove Sir William Phips's fleet from Quebec, Boston was attacked, and raids were made on the British coast as far south as New Jersey. His leadership during the war with the British enabled the French to maintain the status quo in New France until the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) ended the war.

See biography by W. D. Le Sueur (1926, repr. 1964); study by F. Parkman (1902, repr. 1969).

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