Born at Paris c.1612, he was the son of René-Pierre Chartier de Lotbiniere (1572-1654), Counsellor in the French Parliament, Royal Professor of Medicine and Premier Medicin du Roi to Louis XIII of France.
As a young man, Louis-Théandre Chartier de Lotbinière lived as the seigneur of Saint-Étienne de Monays, but soon made over this living to his brother, René (d.1655), who had lived in Canada between 1643 and 1647 as chaplain to the Ursulines of Quebec.