De Grandpré company
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I wanted to ask you something. Which is... what's your name? This article title is conjecture. Although the article subject is canon, no official name for it has been given. |
The de Grandpré company was a 18th century shipping company headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. First established by Philippe de Grandpré, the son of a rich merchant family, the shipping company operated in the North Atlantic supplying both the Americas and Europe with products. Starting in 1768, Philippe's daughter, the Assassin Aveline de Grandpré, also became involved with the company, administering a number of ships and trade routes by herself.[1]
History
Under Phillipe
The de Grandpré company was established by Philippe as a young man, after he left his home country of France for the colony of Louisiana, where he sought better business opportunities.[2] His trading business originally focused on shipping goods from the new world across the Atlantic.[3] In 1744, while on a trade mission to Saint-Domingue, he purchased an enslaved woman named Jeanne[3] and brought her back to New Orleans,[2] an action that would eventually gather the attention of Templar Madeleine de L'Isle.[4]
In 1748, Madeleine, the daughter of a businessman that ran a rival company to de Grandpré,[5] requested that Grand Master Reginald Birch use his influence to dampen Philippe's financial prospects, allowing her to secure a marriage with him alongside the promise of renewed stability.[4] Jeanne noted in her personal diary Philippe's success in trading in an entry dated 9 November 1749,[6] followed by mentions of "recent troubles with P—'s business" dated to 12 August 1750. In that same entry, she documents that Monsieur de L'Isle had already become an investor in the company.[7] The marriage between Philippe and Madeleine was arranged in 1751[8] and took place in 1752,[3][2] a move that benefitted both families' businesses.[9]
In 1755, Gérald Blanc arrived in New Orleans at the age of ten and became first an errand boy for the company, though by 1765 he was already working as clerk and accountant to Philippe.[10] That year, the company was once again encountering issues, with strained customer relations and disappearing shipments.[11] On 29 January,[12] after the second cargo theft in the month, Gérald went to meet with supplier Gilbert-Antoine de Saint Maxent to investigate the matter further. Aveline, having overheard the matter, decided to help with the investigation,[11] uncovering the location of the crates, to which Saint-Maxent promised to give Philippe a considerable discount as thanks.[13][14]
In 1776, Philippe uncovered evidence of Templar intereference in the company and was poisoned by Madeleine over time for his meddling, leading to his death.[3]
Under Aveline
Though Louisiana law prohibited Aveline from inheriting his estate, Philippe had his daughter educated in business to ensure she would grow into an independent woman.[3] In 1768, Aveline began to manage the company from the de Grandpré warehouse, after Agaté and Gérald agreed that she needed a base of operations as an Assassin.[15] She would eventually expand the company, not only in the amount of ships used, but also in number of trade routes and products sold[1]
That same year, Monsieur Bouché began a smear campaign about the coffee sold by the de Grandpré company, having both erected a stall to distribute handbills claiming the coffee eroded the nerves of those who drank it[16][15] and having paid town criers to rant about the product and to push East India tea instead.[17] With the impact on sales and financial issues, Gérald asked Aveline to intervene.[15]
She confronted Bouché in his warehouse and demanded a public apology, which he claimed would comply with, having been intimidated by her. Some short time later, his dire finantial prospects prompted him to sell off his shops, which led to Aveline buying him out, wishing to pay his slaves a proper wage and "set them on the path to freedom".[18][17]
While managing the company, Aveline also eliminated other business rivals who sought to control New Orleans economically, including some with outright Templar ties, such as Monsieur de Vandal,[19] Monsieur Marcantell[20] and Monsieur Chapperon,[21] and others with more indirect ties to the enemy, being aligned with the corrupt Spanish government and military, such as Monsieur Salmon[22] and Monsieur Reynaud.[23] She would later purchase and incorporate their shops into the company, as she had done with Bouché's shops.[24]
In 1768, Aveline recruited Captain Carlos Dominguez[25] who would remain productive until being reported missing at sea in 1803.[26] Another improvement to the company's fleet came in 1771 when, after receiving a tip from Gérald, Aveline infiltrated a Spanish controlled fort in New Orleans and retrieved blueprints for a new cannon, which helped safeguard the ships against pirate attacks.[27]
After Philippe's death in 1776, the company was left to Gérald, though he considered it to rightfully belong to Aveline,[28] remarking that the law had no place between them.[29]
Known ports of trade
This list compiles trade ports that were known to trade with the de Grandpré company during Aveline's administration of the business, noting their usual product demands and offerings.[1]
| Port | Provides | Demands |
|---|---|---|
| New Orleans (Headquarters) |
Cotton (270) Sugar (230) Molasses (290) |
Tobacco (500) Pitch (160) Fabric (1040) Ice (900) |
| Veracruz | Fruit (130) Pitch (50) |
Tobacco (530) Steel (1410) Coffee (470) Rum (840) |
| Havana | Rum (650) Tobacco (430) Coffee (310) |
Cotton (370) Fruit (260) Sugar (710) Furs (700) |
| Campeche | Sugar (240) Spices (900) |
Cotton (400) Guns (1450) |
| Natchez | Tobacco (460) Furs (580) |
Rum (800) Steel (1520) Fabric (1250) Guns (1440) |
| Port-au-Prince | Spices (1000) Fruit (170) |
Tobacco (500) Fabric (960) Steel (1160) Ice (800) |
| New York | Tobacco (490) | Spices (1500) Guns (1260) Fruit (1070) Coffee (550) |
| Boston | Furs (440) Ice (470) |
Steel (1300) Sugar (560) Molasses (700) |
| Bridgetown | Cotton (210) Coffee (290) |
Fruit (290) Pitch (260) Molasses (570) |
| Seville | Steel (500) | Rum (1400) Spices (1900) Tobacco (1220) Cotton (800) |
| Bordeaux | Fabric (230) Pitch (25) Guns (340) |
Sugar (1350) Cotton (930) Coffee (1150) Furs (1140) |
| Liverpool | Guns (400) Fabric (240) Ice (50) |
Rum (1300) Furs (1090) Fruit (920) |
Known employees
Known investors
- Monsieur de L'Isle
- Gilbert-Antoine de Saint Maxent
Behind the scenes
Disregarding trip time and hazards, the single most profitable voyage is to send Sugar from New Orleans to Bordeaux, which gives 1120 profit per cargo space, just 10 écu over sencond place, which involves sending Guns from Bordeaux to Campeche.
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
- Assassin's Creed: Initiates (mentioned in Database entry only)
- Assassin's Creed: Rogue (mentioned only)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Trade system
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Database: An Enlightened Merchant
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Database: Philippe Olivier de Grandpré
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Assassin's Creed: Rogue – War Letters: Arranged Marriage
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Rogue – War Letters: Audition
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Jeanne's diary pages: Page 15
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Jeanne's diary pages: Page 16
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Jeanne's diary pages: Page 20
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Database: Madeleine de L'Isle
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Database: Gérald Blanc
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Taking Care of Business
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Database: Aveline de Grandpré: Taking Care of Business
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Database: Aveline de Grandpré: Her Father's Troubles
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Father's Troubles
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Prelude to Rebellion
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Database: Aveline de Grandpré: Prelude to Rebellion
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Elegant and Deadly
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Database: Aveline de Grandpré: Elegant and Deadly
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – M. de Vandal's Harbor
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – M. Marcantell's Materials
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – M. Chapperon's Textiles
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – M. Salmon's Ships
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – M. Reynaud's Bypass
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Mistress and Commander
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Database: Carlos Dominguez
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – The Cannon
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Database: Aveline de Grandpré: The Loss of a Father
- ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – The Last Dance
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