The Seigneurs of Old Canada-A Chronicle of New World Feudalism is a classic Canadian history text by William Bennett Munro. It was Samuel Champlain, a seaman of Brouage, who first secured for France and for Frenchmen a sure foothold in North America, and thus became the herald of Bourbon imperialism. After a youth spent at sea, Champlain engaged for some years in the armed conflicts with the Huguenots; then he returned to his old marine life once more.