Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et Palluau (1622-1698), was a controversial governor general of New France, architect of French westward expansion, and commander of French forces against the Iroquois and the English colonies during King William's War.

The Comte de Frontenac was born on May 22, 1622, at Saint-Germain. His grandfather was equerry to Henry IV; his father was colonel of the Regiment of Navarre and an aide to Louis XIII; and his mother, Anne Phélypeaux de Pont-chartrain, was the daughter of an influential secretary of state. Louis XIII was his godfather.

Entering the army in his teens, Frontenac campaigned during the Thirty Years War and at the age of 21 was colonel of the Regiment of Normandy. He was also a courtier, lived extravagantly, and ran up huge debts. In 1669 he obtained a lucrative appointment with the Venetian forces defending Crete against the Turks, but within 3 months...