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13 July 2023 — Votive Ships

During my travels last month, I had the opportunity to visit the church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in the old town of Québec City. Built on the site of Champlain’s settlement and completed in 1723, the church is one of the oldest in North America. It underwent several name changes, from the original l’Enfant Jésus church to Notre-Dame-de-la-Victoire following the Battle of Québec of 1690, when an English invasion was repulsed, and then Notre Dame des Victoires after another British fleet was sunk by bad weather. After British bombardment preceding the Battle of the Plains of Abraham mostly destroyed the original church in 1759, it was completely restored, under the guidance of architect François Baillairgé, a project that was completed in 1816. Today, the church is listed as a National Historic Site of Canada. What piqued my interest in this church was the model of the ship Brézé, suspended from the ceiling.

The ship model was commissioned by the Marquis de Tracy, who sailed from France to New France to lead the Carignan-Salières regiment against the Iroquois peoples, to give thanks for safely crossing the Atlantic in 1665. The ship was originally installed in the basilica cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-Québec, but was heavily damaged when that church was burned in 1759. The model was restored in 1954 by Clovis Plamondon and installed in its current location in 1955.

The model of the ship Brézé has hung in the Notre Dame des Victories church since its restoration in 1955. It measures about 51 inches in height and 108 inches in length. Photo: Shelley Reid.

The model is an example of an ex-voto, or votive ship, a ship donated to the church to fulfill a vow. In gratitude for divine intervention providing safe passage on a dangerous voyage, or particularly for surviving a harrowing incident, wealthy people would commission ship models, to be installed in their houses of worship. The custom was known in the Middle Ages in Europe; the oldest preserved ship model was installed in a Spanish church in the mid-1400s. While it began in Catholic regions, the practice of “church ships” spread to other seafaring parts of Europe following the Reformation. In contrast to the votive ships, commissioned after a specific incident, the newer church ships were inspired by gratitude for the general safety of the seafaring flock. In his article about Danish church ships, author Henning Norhøj points out that the models rarely feature lifeboats. 

The Brézé model, hanging in the Notre Dame des Victoires church, Quebec City. Photo: Shelley Reid

The accuracy of votive ship models depended upon the skill and intent of the model maker. In this video about a model of the Stockholm Galleon, the narrator points out that the proportions of the ship were altered in the model, to take into account the parishioners’ perspective standing or sitting underneath the suspended model.

While it is not as common, the practice of creating church ships is still observed today; Brooklyn’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Church recently installed a model to inspire hope and to honor those who were lost during the Covid pandemic. The model is inspired by Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, both from the name itself, and the fact that, despite the loss of the ship in ice, the expedition’s entire crew survived their ordeal and returned to England. Parishioner Michael Miller crafted the model; while it isn’t an exact replica of Shackleton’s ship, it does feature tiny figures of a cat and a dog on the deck, commemorating the expedition’s sled dogs and ship’s cat, Mrs. Chippy. Just months after the model was blessed and dedicated in November of 2021, news was released in spring of 2022 of the discovery of the original Endurance in the Weddle Sea. 

Extra Credit

“Prayer Sailing to God Through the Centuries in Votive Ships”

YouTube: Votive Ship Models

The votive ship “Susan” from 1725

Sea History Today is written by Shelley Reid, NMHS senior staff writer. Past issues can be read online by clicking here.