L'abbé Jean-Jacques-Henri Boudet (16 November 1837 – 30 March 1915), is best known for being the French Catholic parish priest of Rennes-les-Bains between 1872 and 1914 and for being the author of the book ''La Vraie langue celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'', first published in 1886 (since 1967, when he became associated with the alleged mystery of

Rennes-le-Château Rennes-le-Château (; oc, Rènnas del Castèl) is a commune approximately 5 km (3 miles) south of Couiza, in the Aude department in the Occitanie region in Southern France. In 2018, it had a population of 91. This hilltop village is k ...

Biography

Boudet was born on 16 November 1837 in the house of Mrs Zoé (Angélique-Zoé-Caroline née Saurel) Pinet-Laval (Boudet's neighbour), a widow in

Quillan Quillan (; Languedocien: ''Quilhan'') is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of Brenac was merged into Quillan.department of Aude and died on 30 March 1915 in

Axat Axat (; ''Atsat'' in Occitan) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Axatois'' or ''Axatoises''. Geography Axat is located in Cathar country at the door ...

. He was the third of four children, the second of three sons, of Pierre-Auguste Boudet (died on 10 February 1841 and Jeanne-Adélaide-Elizabeth Huillet. Boudet's father was the manager of the forges of Quillan who had been authorized (1837) by François-Denis-Henry-Albert,

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

de La Rochefoucauld-Bayers (1799–1854), a member of a prominent French aristocratic family, the De la Rochefoucault to act as his sole representative to constitute a joint venture, ''la societé des forges et fonderies d'Axat'', a Forge and

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...

plant, the partnership was also composed of controlling shareholder, Ange-Jean-Michel-Bonaventure (1767–1847), 4th Marquess of Dax d'Axat, once Mayor of Montpellier and his son Barthélémy-Léon-François-Xavîer de Dax. Nothing is known about Boudet's early years following his father death and how his family managed to survive financially is not documented either;

Gérard de Sède Géraud-Marie de Sède, baron de Liéoux (5 June 1921 – 29 May 2004) was a French author, writing under the Pen name, nom-de-plume of Gérard de Sède, and a member of various surrealist organizations. He was born into an aristocratic family ...

claimed – without citing any evidence – that Boudet entered holy orders through the patronage of Abbé Emile-Francois-Henri Géraud de Cayron (1807–1897). After completing his

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

studies in

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the Au ...

, where he also earned his degree in English language and literature, Boudet was ordained to the priesthood on Christmas Day 1861, he spent the first year of his priesthood in Durban-Corbières until 16 June 1862 when he was assigned to Caunes-Minervois up to 30 October 1866. On 1 November 1866, Boudet was appointed parish priest of Festes-et-Saint-André, next to the town of

Limoux Limoux (; oc, Limós ) is a commune and subprefecture in the Aude department, a part of the ancient Languedoc province and the present-day Occitanie region in southern France. Its vineyards are famous for being first to produce sparkling w ...

. In 1872, Boudet was transferred to Rennes-les-Bains (succeeding L'abbé Jean Vié who had died a short time earlier) until 1914 when he was discharged from his duty by the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of Carcassonne, Mgr Paul-Félix Beuvain de Beauséjour (1839–1930), due to serious illness. Boudet lived in Rennes-les-Bains with his mother and sister Jeanne, both died the same year in 1896. Henri Boudet spent the rest of his days in Axat, where his younger brother Edmond (Jean-Baptiste-Edmond), who died on 5 May 1907, once worked as a notary. The two Boudet brothers are buried in the same grave. It features two

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

inscriptions, engraved horizontally and on the lower part of the

gravestone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

, a small rectangular shaped figure on its surface, engraved vertically with the following inscription '' ΙΧΟΥΣ'' which stand for ''Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour''. The name of Henri Boudet's successor was published in the regional Catholic periodical ''Semaine Religieuse de Carcassonne'' of 2 May 1914. Abbé Joseph Rescanières died suddenly at the age of 37 on 1 February 1915 from a suspected heart attack. A final tribute to Boudet's character was published in the same periodical mentioned above on 10 April 1915.

Boudet's interests and ''La Vraie langue celtique''

Beside his priestly responsibilities, Boudet's interests extended to the fields of local history, archaeology, toponymy, linguistics and photography. He was made a member of the following

learned societies A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership may ...

, the ''Société des Arts et des Sciences de Carcassonne'' (1888) and of the ''

Société de Linguistique de Paris The Société de Linguistique de Paris (established 1864) is the editing body of the ''BSL'' (''Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique'') journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a met ...

'' (1897). In the preface to his 1886 book, ''La Vraie langue celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'', Boudet stated that his "cromleck" was "intimately linked to the resurrection" (''trouve intimement lié à la résurrection'') and in turn cognate to the revival of the Celtic language (''ou, si l'on veut, au réveil inattendu de la langue celtique'') and therefore to his

etymological Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words a ...

arguments. The first five of the eight chapters in Boudet's 1886 book consists of an argument that ancient languages such as

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

, Celtic,

Punic The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of t ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are derived from a more ancient

mother language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

that was identical to Modern English. For example, when Boudet referred to the location known as ''The Realsès'' (today called "la Realsesse") he claimed it was derived from two English words: ''real'' (i.e., effective), and ''cess'' (tax), when commenting how "The Realsès runs in a valley whose fertile earth enables the inhabitants to pay their taxes and where the Celts till their ground for easy produce". The search for a mother language from which all other languages were derived was nothing new and Henri Boudet was not the first author to make such a proposition. Philippe Schrauben, in his introduction to the 1984 re-published edition of Boudet's book, commented: "...we notice that ''La Vraie langue celtique''... is a huge mosaic of extracts of 19th-century works carefully chosen to make them more or less coherent. There are not only detailed quotations but whole pages transcribed word for word and put end to end." Schrauben considered that to understand Boudet's book one would have to research his sources and read them in the context of their time. Boudet also made historical claims, like for example that the

Tectosages The Tectosages or Tectosagii (Gaulish: *''Textosagioi'', 'Dwelling-Seekers', or 'Possessions-Seekers') were one of the three ancient Gallic tribes of Galatia in central Asia Minor, together with the Tolistobogii and Trocmii.Livy, xxxviii. 16 ...

(mainly known about from Strabo, that he called "Volkes Tectosages"), were early inhabitants of the Aude and the ancestors of the

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

and the Franks, therefore of the English and the French. Chapters six to eight of Boudet's book consisted of an analysis and mapping of the

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...

structures surrounding Rennes-les-Bains, whereby he confused isolated large

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

blocks, put in place by nature (some marked with naturally-formed Greek crosses, caused by water erosion, as testified by Gibert and Rancoule in 1969 and by others), with

menhir A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found ...

s and listed them as part of his vast

cromlech A cromlech (sometimes also spelled "cromleh" or "cromlêh"; cf Welsh ''crom'', "bent"; ''llech'', "slate") is a megalithic construction made of large stone blocks. The word applies to two different megalithic forms in English, the first being an ...

(Boudet intended to call his tour of the mountain ridges in the area of Rennes-les-Bains with this word), with the inclusion of a secondary stone circle, that was ridiculed by scholars.

Boudet's 'cromleck': a tour

Boudet described his "cromleck" in chapter seven of his book, which in essence was a circular tour of the mountain ridges around Rennes-les-Bains: the area in question is illustrated by a map that was drawn by his brother, Edmond (who also did the drawings in the book). It was claimed that this tour, the ''cromleck'', marked out a ''drunemeton'', a central meeting point of the Tectosages. According to Boudet, the word ''dru-neme-ton'' was derived from the now obsolete English word ''trow'' (meaning to think or believe), and ''name''. Boudet claimed this represented the place in society where ancient sages gathered together (that Boudet called the ''Neimheid'') to think up names for the places they lived in, "to carry out their scientific functions and make up the particular or general nomenclature". Bill Putnam summarized Boudet's central argument: the ''drunemeton'' was a "special place where the tribal dignitaries came together to invent these incredible names based on words from a language that had not yet come into existence."

Reactions to ''La Vraie langue celtique''

The book, written with

Apologetics Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics an ...

intention, didn't go unnoticed at the time of its first publication. An enthusiastic article on his book was published in the French regional

Newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

''Le Courrier de l'Aude'' of 18 December 1866, praising his ''pioneer work'', followed shortly afterwards by a severely negative review, given by lawyer and historian Gaston Jourdanne (1858–1905), published in the French Newspaper ''Le Radical du Midi'' of 26 May 1887 that questioned the seriousness of Boudet's self-satisfied book. The same year, Boudet's book was among the ten works selected for the ''prix Gobert'', a prestigious prize (awarded to the most learning and detailed research concerning French history), distributed by the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...

but the prize was awarded to French historian and essayist Alphonse de Ruble (1834-1898) for his works entitled ''Le Mariage de Jeanne d'Albret'' and ''Antoine de Bourbon et Jeanne d'Albret''. Boudet made an unsuccessful attempt to have his book honoured by the award of the ''médaille d'or'', a prize (the awardee received a sum of money) distributed by the ''Académie des sciences, inscriptions et belles-lettres de Toulouse''. M. Eugène Lapierre (1834-1923), speaking on behalf of the ''l'Académie des Sciences'', commented about Boudet's book on 5 June 1887: "We cannot enter into a detailed criticism of this book in order to discuss all its whimsical assumptions and assertions, which are as gratuitous as they are audacious, and which seem to suggest that the author has a very fertile imagination. Adopting an exclusively religious viewpoint, the author has made unceasing use of authorities which have nothing to do with linguistics as it is nowadays constituted, such as the Bible, Latin authors, de Maistre, Chateaubriand, Figuier etc. We were not unsurprised to learn that the

Punic language The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language, a Canaanite language of the Northwest Semitic branch of the Semitic languages. An offshoot of the Phoenician language of coastal W ...

, which was spoken before Babel, was actually modern English, and was preserved by the Tectosages. This is what Monsieur Boudet has tried to prove to us by extraordinarily ingenious etymological feats. The Academy, while recognizing that an amount of work has gone into this volume which does deserve some respect, does not believe that it has a duty to set its seal of approval, by awarding a prize, on a system of historical reconstruction that is as bold as it is novel'." A brief notice on Boudet's book, written by French prehistorian specialist

Émile Cartailhac Émile Cartailhac (15 February 1845 – 26 November 1921) was a French prehistorian, one of the founding fathers of the studies of the cave art. He is perhaps best remembered because of his involvement with the Altamira paintings. Cartailhac was ...

, a member of the ''Société d'Etudes Scientifiques de l'Aude'' and of the ''Société archéologique du Midi de la France'' was published in 1892 in the ''Revue des Pyrenées''. Unsympathetic to Boudet's works, Cartailhac asked the local archeologists to be cautious about the claims of a gullible priest, author he said of the ridiculous book ''La Vrai langue celtique''. In 1893, Cartailhac's notice was used by Gaston Jourdanne for his introduction of Boudet's book to the ''Société d'Etudes Scientifiques de l'Aude''. Citing various renowned authorities, including a work by his friend, a well known Celtic expert,

Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville (; 5 December 1827 – 26 February 1910) was a French historian, philologist and Celtic scholar. Career He qualified as a lawyer in 1850, and entered a seminary with the intention of becoming a Catholic priest, ...

, Jourdanne demonstrated the errors of Boudet's researches and conclusions. Jourdanne's harsh criticism went so far as to say that Boudet's study was worthy at most of publication in the British satirical magazine

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

. Jourdanne's criticism of Boudet's book represented only one out of many. Boudet's ''Celtic theory'' was utilized on at least one occasion. One of his colleagues, Abbé Raymond Ancé of Greffeil, Aude, who was also interested in archaeology and who was unhappy with the etymology of "Greffeil" derived from the Latin word, ''Agrifolium'' (meaning

Holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

), asked Boudet for his personal view on the matter. Boudet claimed that the etymology of "Greffeil" was derived from ''Grev-fill'', meaning ''Full'' (plenty) and ''Grev'' (grave) translated as a place full of graves. Abbé Ancé then conducted an excavation in a part of his town and discovered some ancient graves possibly dating back to

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

times, as well as some artifacts (that were donated to the Museum of Carcassonne). Ancé's archeological discoveries were published in the French newspaper, ''Le Courrier de l'Aude'' and drew the attention of none other than Charles Dat de St-Foulc, the Honorary President of the ''Société d'Études Scientifiques de l'Aude''. St-Foulc with the archaeologist Germain Sicard went to Greffeil to see Ancé's discoveries for themselves. A report about Abbé Ancé's archaeological discoveries by Charles Dat de St-Foulc entitled ''Une excursion à Greffeil dans les Corbières'' was published in 1891 in the ''Bulletin de la Société d'Études Scientifiques de l'Aude''. In 1875 one of Greffeil's inhabitants, Mr Barthe, unearthed an old tomb dating back to either

Celtic Gaul Gallia Celtica, meaning "Celtic Gaul" in Latin, was a cultural region of Gaul inhabited by Celts, located in what is now France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the west bank of the Rhine in Germany. According to the Roman ethnography and Julius C ...

Roman Gaul Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacient parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century ...

periods; whether Boudet was aware of this discovery and used it to pen the etymology of "Greffeil" is open to debate. Boudet autographed a copy of his book to the French doctor, author and politician Jacques-Auguste Bordes-Pagès (1815–1897). Bordes-Pagès made some additions of his own to Boudets's ''La Vraie langue celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains''. Other recipients of Boudet's book included

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

and Pedro II of Brazil. The acknowledging letters, respectively dated March 20, 1889 and September 8, 1891 have survived. The first letter sent from Biarritz and written by Sir

Henry Ponsonby Major-General Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby (10 December 182521 November 1895) was a British soldier and royal court official who served as Queen Victoria's Private Secretary. Biography Born in Corfu, he was the son of Major-General Sir Frede ...

reads as follows: "Sir Henry Ponsonby presents his compliments to Monsieur Cailhol and is commanded by The Queen Victoria to request him to thank the Reverend Pere Boudet for the interesting book on Languedoc and English which he has had the kindness to present to Her Majesty." The second letter with similar sentiments was sent from

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...

and written by the Count of Aljezur,

Chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

to the Emperor. It reads as follows: "His Majesty the Emperor Don Pedro d'Alcantara instructs me to thank you most cordially for the compliment and gift that you have kindly sent to His Majesty of your scientific work that He has just received along with your letter. My noble lord is very interested in linguistic and ethnographic studies and highly appreciates the information that you have sent him, and will be happy to know the outcome of your future researches and discoveries". One of Boudet's copies of ''La Vraie langue celtique'' bears a signed dedication to the Bishop of Carcassonne, Mgr Paul-Félix Arsène Billard, that reads "A sa grandeur Monseigneur L'Évêque de Carcassonne. Hommage respectueux et filial de l'auteur. H. Boudet" (''To his eminence, Monseigneur the Bishop of Carcassonne. Respectul and filial reverence from the author. H. Boudet''). Another of Boudet's copies of ''La Vraie langue celtique'' bears a signed dedication to the French esoterist Grasset d'Orcet, that reads "À G. d'Orcet, mon indéfectible amitié. H. Boudet" (''To G. d'Orcet, my constant friend''). Abbé Joseph-Théodore Lasserre's historical study of the pilgrimage to the basilica church of Notre-Dame-Marceille, by

(''Histoire du pèlerinage de Notre-Dame de Marceille près de Limoux sur Aude'') published in 1891, contains references to Boudet's book. French officer Claude Dervieu, a member of the ''Académie des Arts, Sciences et Belles-lettres de

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as ...

'' used Boudet's book as one of his sources when he compiled his study on Gallo-Celtic France (''Les Origines gallo-celtiques de la Nation Française'', 1907). In 1909, Dervieu's study was favourably reviewed by the committee of the ''Société historique et archéologique de

Château-Thierry Château-Thierry () is a French commune situated in the department of the Aisne, in the administrative region of Hauts-de-France, and in the historic Province of Champagne. The origin of the name of the town is unknown. The local tradition at ...

''. Boudet donated a copy of ''La vraie langue celtique'' to the

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...

, the book is still in the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

's possession as late as 2015, in a letter written and signed by Boudet to the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the University of Cambridge, established the date of the donation on 11 December 1886. The

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

of ''La vraie langue celtique'' was deposited in 1887 in the Manuscript Division of the ''Archives départementales, communales et hospitalières de l'Aude''. Boudet donated another copy of his book to the ''Bibliothèque de la Société des Arts et des Sciences de Carcassonne'' in 1894. A Joseph Bonnafous was recorded to have done the same in 1907, this time to the ''Société d'Études Scientifiques de l'Aude'' which he was also a member and possibly the same Bonnafous who was printer in Carcassonne, rue de la Mairie and blood relative of Victor Bonnafous who printed Boudet's book. The Bibliothèque nationale de France once held an original copy of the ''La Vraie langue celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'' but it went missing at some unknown date, its disappearance was reported during an inventor

The ''Bibliothèque de Narbonne'' had also received a copy of Boudet's book in 1889. In 1914, Boudet's ''La Vraie langue celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'' and ''Remarques sur la phonétique du Dialecte Languedocien'' were listed in the Literature (generalities) and in the Provençal dialect (Aude dialects) sections of the Aude bibliography edited by the ''Bulletin de la Commission archéologique de Narbonne''.

Boudet's discoveries

Boudet was credited with the discovery of a water-container embossed with a Christian cross in around 1886 and of a statue of the goddess

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

in around 1900 in the maison Chaluleau in Rennes-les-Bains (the statue was sold in America).

Commemorative plaque

A commemorative plaque marking the centenary of Henri Boudet's death was placed in the church porch in Rennes-les-Bains on 6 June 2015. It was unveiled by the village mayor André Authier in the presence of the deputy mayor Marcelle Delmas.

Association with Saunière and Rennes-le-Château

There are no first-hand accounts available of Boudet and Saunière being close acquaintances, nor did Boudet ever undertake any historical researches in the village of Rennes-le-Château. The only connection that is certain is Boudet and Saunière were assigned to the same

Diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

and their respective towns who lies at a short distance from each other, shared the same name. Some Rennes-le-Château researchers are inclined to identify the ''BS'' monogram inscribed on the statue of the Devil supporting the Holy Water Stoup, located at the entrance to the church of Rennes-le-Château, with the surname initials of Boudet and Saunière or the names of two local rivers, the Blanque and the Sals (as first envisaged by

in 1967), but there is no concrete evidence as to what the inscription actually means and remains undeciphered. Saunière referred to himself as ''B.S.'' in an early draft of his

Will and testament A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person ( executor) is to manage the property until its final distributi ...

written a short time after the death of his brother Alfred.

Conspiracy theories

Because Henri Boudet was Abbé of Rennes-les-Bains at the same period of time that Bérenger Saunière was incumbent at Rennes-le-Château, also for being the author of ''La Vraie langue celtique'', he has become a central character in modern conspiracy theories. Gérard de Sède, in collaboration with

Pierre Plantard Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair (born Pierre Athanase Marie Plantard, 18 March 1920 – 3 February 2000) was a French technical drawer, best known for being the principal fabricator of the Priory of Sion hoax, by which he claimed from the 1960 ...

, offered a romantic interpretation of ''La Vraie Langue Celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'' in his 1967 book ''L’Or de Rennes'', claiming that Boudet wrote his book in a cryptic style that represented a code. De Sède interpreted the Church of Rennes-les-Bains and its churchyard also as part of a secret code, that led to and involved Rennes-le-Château. As de Sède’s 1967 book became an immediate success, renewed interest increased in ''La Vraie Langue Celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'', a book that only a few people had heard about previously. Boudet’s book was re-edited in two different editions in 1978: a facsimile edition by ''Pierre Belfond'', Paris, part of ''les classiques de l’occultisme'', containing a foreword by Pierre Plantard and the second one, in a limited edition of 1,000 copies by ''La demeure Philosophale'', Paris, with a foreword by Gérard de Sède (this edition did not respect the original pagination of Boudet's book). Pierre Plantard, without providing any reliable sources in his 1978 foreword to Boudet's ''La Vraie langue celtique'', claimed the book was published as a

limited-edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

of 500 copies that cost 5,382 francs: consisting of 98 copies sold in 28 years between 1886 and 1914; 100 free copies given to Public libraries, embassies and charities; 200 free copies available to visitors and patients who took the waters at the

spa resort A destination spa or health resort is a resort centered on a spa, such as a mineral spa. Historically, many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or mineral springs; in the era before modern biochemical knowledge and ...

at Rennes-les-Bains interested in linguistics (or to any priests likely to be interested) – and the remaining 102 copies, according to Plantard, destroyed in 1914. In fact, Boudet's book ''La Vraie Langue Celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'' was available directly from the printer, Victor Bonnafous in Carcassonne, at the retail price of 3,50 francs and by mail order at the price of 3,75 francs, or 3,90 francs, as advertised in ''Le Courrier de l'Aude'' of 27 January 1887 (page 3). If the 3,50 francs is applied to the 500 copies said to have been printed as Plantard claimed, this totalled 1,750 francs, well below the said sum of 5,382 francs the book is reputed to have cost. In his preface, Plantard also claimed that "someone from Axat" found Boudet's account books on a rubbish tip and these revealed that between 1887 and 1891 Boudet gave 3,679,431 francs to Marie Denarnaud (Saunière's housekeeper); and that between 1894 and 1903 had given her 837,260 francs (in the same period, Boudet had given 7,665,250 francs to the Bishop of Carcassonne, Mgr Billard). Plantard's claims attracted the following criticisms: There is no evidence that Boudet was wealthy enough to give donations involving tens of millions of francs; Boudet's account books have never been seen and Plantard did not disclose the name of the person who had found them; there is no evidence in Saunière's papers that Boudet was involved with the refurbishment of the church of Rennes-le-Château. But some of Saunière's account books are available, spanning from July, 1895 to November 1915 showing that Saunière received small amounts of money from Boudet on an irregular basis, dating from March 1896, March and October 1897, January and November 1898, March 1899 and March 1900, amounting to a grand total of 290 francs

In his 1988 book entitled, ''Rennes-le-Château; Le dossier, les impostures, les phantasmes, les hypothèses'', de Sède affirmed once again that Boudet wrote ''La Vraie langue celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'' in a cryptic fashion, adding to his 1967 analysis that Boudet used

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

's ''A Discourse to Prove the Antiquity of the English Tongue, Showing from various instances, that Hebrew, Greek, and Latin were derived from the English'' (1712) and his ''Ars Punica, sive flos lingarum; The Art of Punning or the flower of languages in 79 rules'' (1719) as a method of encryption. De Sède also added that "la Vraie langue celtique" and its associated subject matter, "le cromlech de Rennes-les-Bains" are not the real theme of Boudet's book but in fact, a treatise on secret geography.

Published works

*''La Vraie langue celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'' (1886), imprimeur, Victor Bonnafous, successor of François Pomiès, Carcassonne, 310 pages with illustrated map and drawings ex-librīs, printed In-duodecimo forma

*''Remarques sur la phonétique du Dialecte Languedocien'' (Mémoires de la Société des Arts et Sciences de Carcassonne, tome VII, pages 42–65, 1894; original manuscript lodged in Archives Départementales de l'Aude, cote 16PER7). Reprinted in ''Les Cahiers de Rennes-le-Château'', tome IV, 1985. *''Le livre d'Axat'', a follow-up to ''Remarques sur la phonétique du Dialecte Languedocien'' (Reviewed by Louis Fédié, Mémoires de la Société des Arts et Sciences de Carcassonne, tome VIII, pages 74–78, 1896), manuscript and transcript published in Chaumeil and Rivière's ''L'Alphabet Solaire'', Éditions du Borrego, pages 111-233

*''Du Nom de Narbonne et exemples d'interpretation des mots gaulois par les racinnes saxonnes et l'anglais'' (1880), manuscript of 19 pages, facsimile published in the appendix of Urbain de Larouanne's ''La voie de Dieu et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'' , Éditions Bélisane, (1987

Spurious writings attributed to Boudet

*''Lazare Véni Foras!'' (1891 and 1914 editions). This imaginary book was first mentioned in the spurious document attributed to Madeleine Blancasall, ''Les Descendants mérovingiens ou l'Énigme du Razès wisigoth'' that was deposited in the Bibliothèque nationale in 1965 (claiming as its source, Genève: Alpina).Pierre Jarnac, ''Les Archives de Rennes-le-Château'', tome 1, pages 178–186 (Éditions Belisane, 1987)

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Joseph Ageorges, ''Une famille française au XIXe siècle (les Pagès et les Bordes-Pagès): contribution à l'étude des moeurs bourgeoises'' (Tourcoing: J. Duvivier, 1920) * Patrick Berlier, Daniel Dugès, Christian Doumergue, etc. (editors), ''L'ABC de RLC: l'Encyclopédie de Rennes-le-Château'' (Arqa éditions, 2009. ). * Claude Boumendil, Gilbert Tappa, ''Les Livres: L'Alphabet Solaire'' (Les Cahiers de Rennes-le-Château, tome IV, pages 43–47, Éditions Belisane, 1985). * Émile Cartailhac, ''Bibliographie Pyrénéenne et Méridionale: Bulletin de la commission archéologique et littéraire de l'arrondissement de Narbonne'' (Revue des Pyrenées et de la France méridionale, Tome IV, premier fascicule, Toulouse, 1892). * Rémy Cazals, Daniel Fabre, Dominique Blanc, ''Les Audois Dictionnaire biographique'' (Association des Amis des Archives de l'Aude, Fédération Audoise des Oeuvres Laïques, Société d'études scientifiques de l'Aude, Carcassonne, 1990. ). * Jean-Luc Chaumeil, Jacques Rivière, ''L'Alphabet Solaire: introduction à la langue universelle avec des textes inédits de l'abbé Boudet'' (Éditions du Borrego, 1985. ). * Paul Courrent, ''Notice Historique sur les Bains de Rennes connus anciennement sous le nom de Bains de Montferrand'' (Bulletin de la Société d'études scientifiques de l'Aude, Tome XXXVIII, 1934). * Ct Dervieu, ''Les Origines Gallo-Celtiques de la Nation Française – Extrait des Annales de l'Académie de Macon (3e série-Tome XII)'' (Macon, Protat frères, Imprimeurs 1907). * Urbain Gibert, ''Notes Historiques sur les Bains de Montferrand devenues les Bains de Rennes, Actuellement Rennes-les-Bains'' (Bulletin de la Société d’Ètudes Scientifiques de l’Aude, Tome LXXIII, 1973). * Urbain Gibert, Guy Rancoule, ''Rennes-les-Bains: note sur un tête sculptée'' (Bulletin de la Société Scientifiques de l’Aude, Tome LXIX, 1969). * André Goudonnet, ''Henri Boudet, abbé de Rennes-les-Bains: 100e anniversaire'' (Arqa éditions, 2015. ) * Pierre Jarnac, ''Histoire du Trésor de Rennes-le-Château'' (L’Association pour le développement de la lecture, 1985; republished by Éditions Belisane, Cazilhac, 1998. ). * Pierre Jarnac, ''Les Archives de Rennes-le-Château'', tome 1 (Éditions Belisane, 1987. ) * Gaston Jourdanne, ''Bibliographie: La vraie langue celtique par l'abbé BOUDET'' (Le Radical du Midi, 26 May 1887). * Gaston Jourdanne, ''De quelques étymologies celtiques'' (Bulletin de la Société d'études scientifiques de l'Aude", quatriéme année, tome IV, 1893). * J.-Th. Lasserre, ''Histoire du pèlerinage de Notre-Dame de Marceille près de Limoux sur Aude'', Limoux, Talamas, (1891). * Pierre Plantard, preface in Henri Boudet, ''La Vraie langue celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'' (introduction by Jean-Pierre Deloux, Paris: Éditions Pierre Belfond, 1978. ). * Bill Putnam, John Edwin Wood, ''The Treasure of Rennes-le-Château, a Mystery Solved'' (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2003, ; Revised Paperback Edition, Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2005. ). * Philippe Schrauben, introduction in Henri Boudet, ''La Vraie langue celtique et le cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains'' (Éditions Belisane, Cazilhac, 1984; facsimile edition with colorized map. ). Philippe Schrauben previously self-published Boudet's book in 1976, that did not respect the original pagination. * Gérard de Sède, ''L'Or de Rennes ou la Vie insolite de Bérenger Saunière, curé de Rennes-le-Château'' (Paris: René Julliard, 1967). * Gérard de Sède, ''Rennes-le-Château: le dossier, les impostures, les phantasmes, les hypothèses'' (Paris: Robert Laffont, "Les Énigmes de l'univers", 1988. ). * M. Charles Dat de St-Foulc, ''Une Excursion A Greffeil Dans les Corbières'' (Bulletin de la Société d'Études Scientifiques de l'Aude, Tome II, 1891) * Germain Sicard, ''Note sur les Croix Rupestres des Corbières'' (Bulletin de la Société Scientifiques de l’Aude, Tome XXXVII, 1928). * ''Bulletin de la Commission archéologique de Narbonne'', Tome XIII (1914). * ''Mémoires de l'Académie des sciences, inscriptions et belles-lettres de Toulouse'', Huitième série-Tome IX, Imprimerie Douloudure-Privat, Toulouse, 1887 (Eugène Lapierre, page 648). * ''Le Courrier de l'Aude'' 18 decembre 1886 (33me Année, N° 3994). * ''Le Courrier de l'Aude'' 27 janvier 1887 (33me Année, N° 4025). * ''Le Courrier de l'Aude'' 13 avril 1915 (58me Année, N° 12479).

External links

* Picture of a 5th-6th century AD water container embossed with a Christian cross, discovered by Boudet (circa 1886) during one of his excavations at Rennes-les-Bains

from the article by Paul Courrent in ''Bulletin de la Société d'Études Scientifiques de l'Aude'', Tome XXXVIII, 1934, plate next to page 244. {{DEFAULTSORT:Boudet, Henri 1837 births 1915 deaths People from Aude 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests 20th-century French Roman Catholic priests 19th-century French writers French philologists Priory of Sion hoax