Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès, better known by the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Léo Taxil (; March 21, 1854 – March 31, 1907), was a French writer and journalist who became known for his strong anti-Catholic and anti-clerical views. He is also known for the

Taxil hoax The Taxil hoax was an 1890s hoax of exposure by Léo Taxil, intended to mock not only Freemasonry but also the Catholic Church's opposition to it. Taxil, the author of an anti-papal tract, pretended to convert to Catholicism (circa 1884) and w ...

, a spurious exposé of

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

's opposition to it.

Early life

Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès was born in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, and at the age of five, he was placed into a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

seminary. After spending his childhood years in the seminary, he became disillusioned with the Catholic faith and began to see the religious ideology as socially harmful. He also wrote some novels under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Prosper Manin.

''La Bible amusante''

Taxil first became known for writing

anti-Clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...

books, notably '' La Bible amusante'' (''The Amusing Bible'') and ''La Vie de Jesus'' (''The Life of Jesus''), in which Taxil satirically pointed out perceived inconsistencies, errors, and false beliefs presented in these religious works. In his other books ''Les Débauches d'un confesseur'' (''Debauchery of a Confessor'', with Karl Milo), ''Les Pornographes sacrés: la confession et les confesseurs'' (''Sacred Pornographs: confession and confessors''), and ''Les Maîtresses du Pape'' (''The Pope's Mistresses''), Taxil portrays leaders of the Catholic Church as hedonistic creatures exploring their fetishes in the manner of the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( ; ; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy and pornography ...

. In 1879, he was tried at the Seine

Assizes The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

for writing a pamphlet ''A Bas la Calotte'' ("Down with the Cloth"), which was accused of insulting a religion recognized by the state, but he was acquitted.

Taxil hoax

In 1885, he professed conversion to Catholicism, was solemnly received into the church, and renounced his earlier works. In the 1890s, he wrote a series of pamphlets and books denouncing

The History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the General Entertainment Content division of The Wa ...

, ''Mysteries of the Freemasons: America'', video documentary, August 1, 2006, written by Noah Nicholas and Molly Bedell charging their lodges with worshiping the devil and alleging that Diana Vaughan had written for him her confessions of the Satanic "

Palladist The Taxil hoax was an 1890s hoax of exposure by Léo Taxil, intended to mock not only Freemasonry but also the Catholic Church's opposition to it. Taxil, the author of an anti-papal tract, pretended to convert to Catholicism (circa 1884) and wr ...

" cult. The book had great sales among Catholics, although Diana Vaughan never appeared in public. In 1892, Taxil also began to publish a paper, ''La France chrétienne anti-maçonnique (Christian Antimasonic France)'', with his staunch anti-Masonic publishing friend, Abel Clarin de la Rive.Is It True What They Say About Freemasonry? Authors: de Hoyos, Arturo and Morris, S. Brent, 1988, 2nd edition, p. 27-36, Leo Taxil: The Hoax of Luciferian Masonry In 1887, he had an audience with

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

, who rebuked the bishop of Charleston for denouncing the anti-Masonic confessions as a fraud and, in 1896, sent his blessing to an anti-Masonic Congress of Trent. Doubts about Vaughan's veracity and even her existence began to grow, and finally, Taxil promised to produce her at a lecture to be delivered by him on 19 April 1897. To the amazement of the audience (which included a number of priests), he announced that Diana was one of a series of hoaxes. He died in Sceaux in 1907.

Selected books

*''Le Fils du Jésuite (The Jesuit's Son)'' (1879) *''La Vie de Jésus (The Life of Jesus)'' (1882) *'' La Bible amusante (The Amusing Bible)'' (1882) *''Les Débauches d'un confesseur (The Debaucheries of a Confessor)'' (1884, with Karl Milo) *''Les Pornographes sacrés: la confession et les confesseurs (The Holy Pornographers: Confession and Confessors)'' (1882) *''Les Maîtresses du Pape (The Pope's Mistresses)'' (1884) *''Le Martyre de Jeanne d'Arc'' ''(The Martyrdom of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

)'' (1890, with Paul Fesch; edition of Pierre Cauchon's manuscripts of Joan of Arc's trial) * Prosper Manin. ''Marchands de chair humaine'' Dijon : E. Bernard, 1904. Petite collection E. Bernard ; n° 20. 128 p.: ll. ; in-16

Notes

References

*''Satan Franc-Maçon: la mystification de Léo Taxil'', 1964.

External links

* A.E. Waite
''Devil-Worship in France''
complete e-text of Waite's 1896 debunking of Taxil. {{DEFAULTSORT:Taxil, Leo 1854 births 1907 deaths Writers from Marseille Critics of Freemasonry French atheists Critics of the Catholic Church French male non-fiction writers Hoaxers Pseudonymous writers 19th-century atheists 20th-century atheists Former Roman Catholics Anti-clericals French fraudsters