Post by Bownarrow on Apr 8, 2023 6:07:21 GMT -5
In their book "The Treasure of Rennes-Le-Chateau- A Mystery Solved"(2003), authors Bill Putnam and John Edwin Wood claim that the source of the Latin text of the 'Shepherdess' parchment is the version of John 12: 1-11 that appears in Nouum testamentum Domini nostri Jesu Christi Latine secundum editionem Sancti Hieronymi(1899) by John Wordsworth and Henry White. They further claim that the publication date of this book 'conclusively eliminates' Antoine Bigou as a candidate for the parchment's author. This conclusion is then used as the basis for deriving the conclusion that the parchments are a hoax.
The claim that the source of the Latin text of the parchment is the version that appears in Wordsworth & White 'begs the question'. This expression is often misused to mean 'raises the question' but in fact means 'assumes that which is to be proven'. Begging the question occurs when an argument adds no supporting evidence, and merely restates the starting premise in different words. It begs the question therefore to say that the source of the Latin text of the parchment is the version of Wordsworth & White because the Latin text of the parchment matches the text of Wordsworth & White. This argument, expressed in different words is the same as saying that because the text of Wordsworth & White can be matched precisely with some of the letters of the parchment, the letters of the parchment which can be matched with the Latin text of Wordsworth & White are those which comprise the Latin text of the parchment. The argument is circular and thus 'begs the question'. What in fact is at issue is the question of which letters of the parchment constitute the Latin text and which letters are extra letters that have been inserted into the Latin text.
If the time is taken to study the various extant versions of the passage from John 12:1-11, it will be found that another version can be found that precisely matches the text of the parchment. This version is the version found in St. Cuthbert's Gospel(MS89000) currently housed at the British Library. A digitized version the Gospel can be found at:
www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_ms_89000_fs001r
The passage in question is found on pages 54-55.
An examination of the passage here reveals that it differs from the version in the parchment by just two letters. Instead of "caenam" in has "cenam" and instead of "diem" it has "die". The scribal abbreviations used for the name of Jesus etc should not be considered as being variants as Wordworth & White have not done so in Nouum testamentum Domini nostri Jesu Christi Latine secundum editionem Sancti Hieronymi. (St. Cuthberts Gospel was one of the versions referred to by Wordsworth & White to create their version of the passage - it is referred to by the notation S is their work).
Although the spellings of 'caenam' and 'diem' do match the text of Wordsworth & White, by treating the letter 'a' in 'caenam' and the 'm' in 'diem' as extra letters that have been inserted into the Latin text rather than as part of the Latin text itself it can be seen that the version found in St. Cuthbert's Gospel also matches the text in the parchment precisely. St. Cuthbert's Gospel is therefore just as likely a candidate for the source of the text in the parchment as Wordsworth & White.
A conclusion that can be derived from finding the Latin text found in the parchment can also be precisely matched with the version of the passage from John 12:1-11 in St. Cuthbert's Gospel is that Antoine Bigou is reinstated as a potential candidate for the author of the parchment. At the time when Antoine Bigou was the Abbe at Rennes -le- Chateau St. Cuthbert's Gospel was held by the English Jesuit College at Liege in what was then the Austrian Netherlands. It had been presented to the college by it's former owner the Jesuit priest Rev. Thomas Phillips, canon of the nearby town of Tongeren/Tongres, in 1769. An inscription at the back of St. Cuthbert's Gospel attests to this fact.
Knowledge of the whereabouts of St. Cuthbert's Gospel would have been available to Antoine Bigou (who was the priest at Rennes-le-Chateau from 1774- 1792) as mention of the Gospel being in possession of the Rev. Thomas Philips is found under the date of March 20 ( the feast day of St. Cuthbert) in Tome III of 'Vies des peres'( 1764) by Abbe Godescard. This was a French translation of Alban Butler's The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints which was first published in 1756-59. This book was very popular in France and Bigou being a priest would very likely have been familiar with it.
There are many different routes by which Bigou could have gained access to the text from St. Cuthbert's Gospel, the most obvious being to have simply written to Rev. Thomas Philips. There are however many other ways but all of these would be merely speculation and no firm proof can be provided that Abbe Bigou did use St. Cuthbert's Gospel as the source for the parchment's text. It is however a very real possibility and should not be dismissed.
The idea that St. Cuthert's Gospel was the source of the Latin text of the 'Shepherdess' parchment makes more sense to my way of thinking than does the idea that it was Wordsworth & White. The complexity and the brilliance of the cipher used in the shepherdess parchment suggests that the creator of the parchment was very intelligent and had invested a great deal of time and effort in creating the cipher. Why would such a person use as a source for the Latin text of the parchment a modern, easily accessible version that would immediately expose the parchment as a fake? It simply does not make sense. It makes much more sense to have used as a source what was at that time an obscure version of the passage which would have been unknown to most people at the time. This methodology also seems to be consistent with what was done with the other short parchment whose text was taken from the Codex Bezae. The fact that both the Codex Bezae and St. Cuthbert's Gospel date from a vaguely similar time period suggests that they go together.
The letters 'a' and 'm' in the words 'caenam’and 'diem' in the text of the parchment have been interpreted above as being extra letters inserted into the Latin text rather than part of the Latin gospel text. If the text of the parchment is compared to the text of St. Cuthbert's Gospel it will be found the ''a' and 'm' are the only two letters that are needed to be added to the text to make it match the text in the parchment. They therefore could be included among the set of extra letters that have been inserted into the text. They are not however part of the 140 extra letters that have been inserted into the text. The obvious conclusion that can be derived from this is that they constitute another code in the parchment.
The two words created by the addition of the two letters are 'caenam' and 'diem'. When these these two words are taken together the phrase 'caenam diem' is created which can be translated as 'feast day' . Since the whole passage is about the feast at the house of Martha this might supply the reason why the particular passage was chosen. Since the source of the Latin text has been identified as possibly being St. Cuthbert's Gospel it is possible that the words Feast day refer to the feast day of St. Cuthbert - March 20th. March 20th can be expressed in French as 'Vingt trois' (like in English we could refer to it as 20/3 or Twenty Three.) It should also be remembered that the passage in question is from the Gospel of St. John. Since St. Cuthbert's Gospel comprises only the Gospel of St John the two extra letters 'a' and 'm' and the words ‘caenam diem’ could be a reference to John twenty three. These words are alleged to to have been the last words spoken by Abbe Berenger Sauniere before he died. Could he have been referring to the Shepherdess parchment when he uttered these last words?
By accepting the hypothesis that the source of the Latin text of the shepherdess parchment was the version found in St. Cuthbert's Gospel rather than Wordsworth & White a number of difficulties that are encountered when accepting the Wordsworth & White hypothesis disappear. Although nothing asserted above rises to the level of proof that the St. Cuthbert's gospel was the source of the parchments's text, it does at the very least cast grave doubt about the validity of Putnam & Wood's claim that Antoine Bigou is conclusively eliminated as the author of the parchment and that the parchments are a hoax.
Another factor which points to Wordsworth & White not being the source of the parchment’s text, is the lack of any mention of it in any of Philippe de Cherisey’s “confessions”. If he had conclusively wanted to prove that he had authored the parchments why did he not simply say that the source of the text of the shepherdess parchment was Wordsworth & White? This would have constituted good proof. Instead he says ridiculously that the mysterious phrase ‘horse of God’ refers to himself through an explanation more far fetched than many of the theories that have been advanced as solutions to the mystery!
De Cherisey’s ‘confessions’ about being the author of the parchments also seem very similar to Constantine Simonides claims of being the author of the Codex Sinaiaticus. Perhaps one was the inspiration for the other.
Any feedback about these ideas would be welcome.
The claim that the source of the Latin text of the parchment is the version that appears in Wordsworth & White 'begs the question'. This expression is often misused to mean 'raises the question' but in fact means 'assumes that which is to be proven'. Begging the question occurs when an argument adds no supporting evidence, and merely restates the starting premise in different words. It begs the question therefore to say that the source of the Latin text of the parchment is the version of Wordsworth & White because the Latin text of the parchment matches the text of Wordsworth & White. This argument, expressed in different words is the same as saying that because the text of Wordsworth & White can be matched precisely with some of the letters of the parchment, the letters of the parchment which can be matched with the Latin text of Wordsworth & White are those which comprise the Latin text of the parchment. The argument is circular and thus 'begs the question'. What in fact is at issue is the question of which letters of the parchment constitute the Latin text and which letters are extra letters that have been inserted into the Latin text.
If the time is taken to study the various extant versions of the passage from John 12:1-11, it will be found that another version can be found that precisely matches the text of the parchment. This version is the version found in St. Cuthbert's Gospel(MS89000) currently housed at the British Library. A digitized version the Gospel can be found at:
www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_ms_89000_fs001r
The passage in question is found on pages 54-55.
An examination of the passage here reveals that it differs from the version in the parchment by just two letters. Instead of "caenam" in has "cenam" and instead of "diem" it has "die". The scribal abbreviations used for the name of Jesus etc should not be considered as being variants as Wordworth & White have not done so in Nouum testamentum Domini nostri Jesu Christi Latine secundum editionem Sancti Hieronymi. (St. Cuthberts Gospel was one of the versions referred to by Wordsworth & White to create their version of the passage - it is referred to by the notation S is their work).
Although the spellings of 'caenam' and 'diem' do match the text of Wordsworth & White, by treating the letter 'a' in 'caenam' and the 'm' in 'diem' as extra letters that have been inserted into the Latin text rather than as part of the Latin text itself it can be seen that the version found in St. Cuthbert's Gospel also matches the text in the parchment precisely. St. Cuthbert's Gospel is therefore just as likely a candidate for the source of the text in the parchment as Wordsworth & White.
A conclusion that can be derived from finding the Latin text found in the parchment can also be precisely matched with the version of the passage from John 12:1-11 in St. Cuthbert's Gospel is that Antoine Bigou is reinstated as a potential candidate for the author of the parchment. At the time when Antoine Bigou was the Abbe at Rennes -le- Chateau St. Cuthbert's Gospel was held by the English Jesuit College at Liege in what was then the Austrian Netherlands. It had been presented to the college by it's former owner the Jesuit priest Rev. Thomas Phillips, canon of the nearby town of Tongeren/Tongres, in 1769. An inscription at the back of St. Cuthbert's Gospel attests to this fact.
Knowledge of the whereabouts of St. Cuthbert's Gospel would have been available to Antoine Bigou (who was the priest at Rennes-le-Chateau from 1774- 1792) as mention of the Gospel being in possession of the Rev. Thomas Philips is found under the date of March 20 ( the feast day of St. Cuthbert) in Tome III of 'Vies des peres'( 1764) by Abbe Godescard. This was a French translation of Alban Butler's The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints which was first published in 1756-59. This book was very popular in France and Bigou being a priest would very likely have been familiar with it.
There are many different routes by which Bigou could have gained access to the text from St. Cuthbert's Gospel, the most obvious being to have simply written to Rev. Thomas Philips. There are however many other ways but all of these would be merely speculation and no firm proof can be provided that Abbe Bigou did use St. Cuthbert's Gospel as the source for the parchment's text. It is however a very real possibility and should not be dismissed.
The idea that St. Cuthert's Gospel was the source of the Latin text of the 'Shepherdess' parchment makes more sense to my way of thinking than does the idea that it was Wordsworth & White. The complexity and the brilliance of the cipher used in the shepherdess parchment suggests that the creator of the parchment was very intelligent and had invested a great deal of time and effort in creating the cipher. Why would such a person use as a source for the Latin text of the parchment a modern, easily accessible version that would immediately expose the parchment as a fake? It simply does not make sense. It makes much more sense to have used as a source what was at that time an obscure version of the passage which would have been unknown to most people at the time. This methodology also seems to be consistent with what was done with the other short parchment whose text was taken from the Codex Bezae. The fact that both the Codex Bezae and St. Cuthbert's Gospel date from a vaguely similar time period suggests that they go together.
The letters 'a' and 'm' in the words 'caenam’and 'diem' in the text of the parchment have been interpreted above as being extra letters inserted into the Latin text rather than part of the Latin gospel text. If the text of the parchment is compared to the text of St. Cuthbert's Gospel it will be found the ''a' and 'm' are the only two letters that are needed to be added to the text to make it match the text in the parchment. They therefore could be included among the set of extra letters that have been inserted into the text. They are not however part of the 140 extra letters that have been inserted into the text. The obvious conclusion that can be derived from this is that they constitute another code in the parchment.
The two words created by the addition of the two letters are 'caenam' and 'diem'. When these these two words are taken together the phrase 'caenam diem' is created which can be translated as 'feast day' . Since the whole passage is about the feast at the house of Martha this might supply the reason why the particular passage was chosen. Since the source of the Latin text has been identified as possibly being St. Cuthbert's Gospel it is possible that the words Feast day refer to the feast day of St. Cuthbert - March 20th. March 20th can be expressed in French as 'Vingt trois' (like in English we could refer to it as 20/3 or Twenty Three.) It should also be remembered that the passage in question is from the Gospel of St. John. Since St. Cuthbert's Gospel comprises only the Gospel of St John the two extra letters 'a' and 'm' and the words ‘caenam diem’ could be a reference to John twenty three. These words are alleged to to have been the last words spoken by Abbe Berenger Sauniere before he died. Could he have been referring to the Shepherdess parchment when he uttered these last words?
By accepting the hypothesis that the source of the Latin text of the shepherdess parchment was the version found in St. Cuthbert's Gospel rather than Wordsworth & White a number of difficulties that are encountered when accepting the Wordsworth & White hypothesis disappear. Although nothing asserted above rises to the level of proof that the St. Cuthbert's gospel was the source of the parchments's text, it does at the very least cast grave doubt about the validity of Putnam & Wood's claim that Antoine Bigou is conclusively eliminated as the author of the parchment and that the parchments are a hoax.
Another factor which points to Wordsworth & White not being the source of the parchment’s text, is the lack of any mention of it in any of Philippe de Cherisey’s “confessions”. If he had conclusively wanted to prove that he had authored the parchments why did he not simply say that the source of the text of the shepherdess parchment was Wordsworth & White? This would have constituted good proof. Instead he says ridiculously that the mysterious phrase ‘horse of God’ refers to himself through an explanation more far fetched than many of the theories that have been advanced as solutions to the mystery!
De Cherisey’s ‘confessions’ about being the author of the parchments also seem very similar to Constantine Simonides claims of being the author of the Codex Sinaiaticus. Perhaps one was the inspiration for the other.
Any feedback about these ideas would be welcome.
