The timeline of Montreal history is a chronology of significant events in the history of Montreal, Canada's second-most populated city, with about 3.5 million residents in 2018, and the fourth-largest French-speaking city in the world.
Pre-Colonization
The area known today as Montreal had been inhabited by Algonquin, Huron, and Iroquois for some 2,000 years, while the oldest known artifact found in Montreal proper is about 2,000 years old. In the earliest oral history, the Algonquin migrated from the Atlantic coast, arriving, together with other Anicinàpek, at the "First Stopping Place" (Montréal). There, the nation found a "turtle-shaped island" marked by miigis (cowrie) shells. The Iroquois, or Haudenosaunee, were centred, from at least 1000 CE, in northern New York, and their influence extended into what is now southern Ontario and the Montreal area of modern Quebec. 1142 – The Iroquois Confederacy is, from oral tradition, said to have been formed in 1142 CE. In the modern Iroquois language, Montréal is called Tiohtià:ke. Other native languages, such as Algonquin, refer to it as Moniang. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians established the village of Hochelaga at the foot of Mount Royal.
16th century
1535 – Jacques Cartier names the St. Lawrence River in honour of Saint Lawrence on August 10, the feast day of the Roman martyr. Prior to this, the river had been known by other names, including Hochelaga River and Canada River; Cartier penetrates far into the interior for the first time, via the river. 1535 – September 19, Cartier starts his journey from Quebec City to Montreal, while in search of a passage to Asia. 1535 – Cartier visits Hochelaga on October 2, claiming the St. Lawrence Valley for France. He becomes the first European to reach the area now known as Montréal. Cartier estimates the population to be "over a thousand". 1535 – October 3, Cartier climbs the mountain on the Île de Montréal and names it Mont Royal; the name Montréal is generally thought to be derived from "Mont Royal". 1556 – On his map of Hochelega, Italian geographer Giovanni Battista Ramusio writes "Monte Real" to designate Mont Royal. 1580 – The St. Lawrence Iroquoians appear to have vacated the Saint Lawrence River Valley sometime prior to 1580.
17th century
1601 – On his map, Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan writes Hochelaga for the inhabited area, and calls the hill Mont Royal. 1603 – Samuel de Champlain reaches the Island of Montreal (Île de Montréal) and Île Perrot, and describes Mont Royal, Lake Saint-Louis and the Lachine Rapids. 1608 – Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.
1610–1629
1611 – Samuel de Champlain, in the company of a young Huron, whom he had taken to and brought back from France on a previous voyage, visits the Île de Montréal. 1611 – Champlain decides to establish a fur trading post at present-day Pointe-à-Callière. 1611 – A young man named Louis drowns, thus giving his name to both the Sault-Saint-Louis and Lake Saint-Louis. 1611 – Saint Helen's Island is named by Samuel de Champlain, in honour of his wife. 1613–20 – The Compagnie des Marchands operates in New France but, in 1621, loses its rights in to the Compagnie de Montmorency, due to a breach of their contract. 1615 – Denis Jamet and Joseph Le Caron say the first Catholic Mass on the island of Montréal. 1615 – Samuel de Champlain, expected at the Saint-Louis Rapids in late June, does not arrive by July 8, prompting the Aboriginals, angry, to leave, taking with them Joseph Le Caron and twelve Frenchmen. 1615 – Les Franciscains des Recollets, an order of French missionaries, are the first to settle Canada. A century later, a faubourg of Montréal adjacent to their residence in that city was called Faubourg des Récollets, a name still in use today. 1627 – Cardinal Richelieu replaces the Compagnie de Montmorency with the Company of One Hundred Associates (presided over by Jean de Lauzon). The French Crown grants the new Company a monopoly on the fur trade, and directs it to colonize the St. Lawrence Valley. 1627 – the King of France introduces the seigneurial system to New France, and forbids settlement by anyone other than Roman Catholics.