Although Mother Marie viewed them as saviors, modern day scholars like Jack Verney argue that their mission, contrary to what she states, was "a secular rather than sacred one" [REF].Jean-Baptiste Colbert wanted to develop the colony's economic potential.
In Verney's view, this is a much more realistic account of how the men had "marked their progress along the road to La Rochelle with outbreaks of disorder and indiscipline" [REF].