!? 'Bishop Christianos of
Ageda' (Agreda) (1172-1204)
Actually spelled 'Christianus' in the original text.
STATUS: HOAX / FORGERY
apparently originating from London in the 1790s.
It has taken quite some
'internet digging' to finally discover where this prophecy came from,
but at last I discovered it is not authentic at all. The earliest
source I can discover for this 'prophecy' dates from 1793.
This early source is quite
dubious. The prophecy appears to have first circulated in a magazine
entitled “The Conjuror's Magazine – Magical and Pysiognomical
Mirror, Vol. 2' in London in April 1793. It is a magazine of
astrological horoscopes, numerology calculations, alchemical
nonsense, dream divination plus other occultish and other-worldly
'gobbledegook'. Not a very credible source at all for a Great
Catholic Monarch prophecy. (1)
The piece was quickly
picked up and printed in a chapbook by a the printer in Scotland
giving his source as the 'The Conjuror's Magazine'. The chapbook
bears the following title and subtitle: “Copy of a Remarkable
Prophecy, Relative to the Present Times”, that was “Printed for
and sold by G. Miller at whose shop may be had, a variety of small
histories, sermons &c. Catechisms, ballads, children's books and
pictures. Whole sale and retail.”
The next available source
I found for the 'Christianus Ageda' prophecy is a reprint of it in
the 'Bendigo Advertiser' of Australia, Sat. Sept. 12, 1871.
In all, the prophecy
started as a fabricated piece of chapbook fodder in 1793, a pulpbook
fiction purposely fabricated to profit from the general public's
horror of the upheavals in France during the Revolution at the time.
It then was rediscovered and passed on again as a real prophecy.
The copy from Scotland is
rather comical indeed as no one in their right mind today could take
the prophecies in them seriously after reading the 'Lacy prophecy'
that the printer also lifted from the 'Conjuror's Magazine'. The author gives an
account of a mysterious voice taking over a man named John Lacy circa
the 1650s, possibly an attempt to link the prophecy to the London
merchant and justice of the peace with the same name who lived circa
the late 1600s and who was sympathetic to the Protestant Camisards in
France and their rebellion. Lionel Laborie writes:
“The Camisards were a radical
Calvinist minority within the wider Huguenot community (in southern
France). They were distinctively poorer than their co-religionists
and consisted for the most part of illiterate peasants and shepherds.
Unlike mainstream Huguenots, they believed in prophecy and miracles,
and claimed to be inhabited by the Holy Spirit. Refusing to abjure,
they took up arms in 1702 against the religious persecution
instigated by Louis XIV. Within two years, hundreds had been
imprisoned or killed, including most of their leaders, even though
sporadic fights continued until 1710.” (**)
Returning to the
'prophecy' in the chapbook, it is either an old anti-Louis XIV
Camisard prophetic tract resurrected for the pulp market, or, a hoax
fabricated around the Camisard 'French Prophet' movement.
John Lacy apparently hears a Voice from God, which comes in the midst of 'ecstatic agitations' that are described as anything but authentic ecstasies and more like a demonic possession. The 'Voice of God' gives Lacy an unhinged diatribe against King Louis XIV and how Heaven will seek vengeance against France, promising to send the king to hell for all his extravagances, calling the king a 'poltroon' with an added order that the word 'poltroon' must be left exactly as is. The Voice had spoken! Then Lacy gives a lengthy, waffling account of himself and why he should be believed, which is several pages longer than the prophecy itself. In internet terms 'Lacy's prophecy' is worth only a few hearty “LOL”s.
However, the 'Bishop Christianus
Ageda' prophecy that was printed with it was a well crafted hoax – of course, it
had to be a well crafted illusion to fool the public if it was to be
printed in a 'Magician's Magazine'.
Here is the full
original text with the understanding this is for textual analysis and
not to perpetuate a fake prophecy:
:::::
COPY OF A PROPHECY
FOUND IN THE YEAR 1667
IN THE SEPULCHRE OF BISHOP
CHRISTIANUS AGEDA
WHO DIED in 1204.
PREDICTING THE PRESENT
CALAMTIES IN FRANCE.
“Sir, OBSERVING in your
last number Mr. Lacy's singular prophecy, which is accounted to be
the most exact prediction of the late singular event in France, and
having one in my possession which I think more to the purpose, as it
is for past, present, and to come, and thinking it may not be
unentertaining to your readers, I shall give you and exact copy
thereof, which is as follows:
“When these my
prophecies shall be found, the Sun shall shine upon my native kingdom
of France, who at that time she shall be united to the Lion, viz. The
King of England, and shall pluck many feathers out of the Eagle's
wing, which shall then be to her glory, but will be of no duration,
for in the century following it will prove to her utter destruction;
for there will be great shedding of blood by the people of the
kingdom; there will be wars and fury, which will last long: provinces
divested of their people, and kingdoms in combustion; many strong
holds, and noble houses shall be ruinated, and their cities and towns
shall be forsaken by their inhabitants, and in divers places their
ground shall lay untilled, and there shall be great slaughter of
their nobility; their Sun shall be darkened, and never shine forth
more; for France shall be desolate, and her head person destroyed;
and there shall be much deceit and fraud among her inhabitants, for
they shall judge, and kill, one another, whereupon shall ensue the
aforesaid great confusion among the kingdoms: and near this time
there shall be great mutations and changes of kings and rulers; for
the right hand of the world shall fear the left, and the north shall
prevail upon the north. A great part of Italy shall be desolate, but
Venice shall be preserved: Rome shall be burned, and the Popedom
destroyed, and Britain shall rule that empire. In those times, a
mercurial hero, a son of the Lion, shall inherit the crown of the
Fleur de lis by means of the kingdom of England. He shall be a lover
of peace and justice, and not swerve from the same, and by his mean
the nations' religions and laws shall have an admirable change. When
those things come to pass, there shall be a firm alliance between the
Lion and the Eagle, and they shall have lived in peace between
themselves a long time. In those times, mortals, wearied with wars,
shall desire peace. And all these, my prophecies, shall be fulfilled
before the end of the nineteenth century from the time of our Blessed
Saviour Christ.”
This prophecy was found in
the year 1667, on the 8th of August, in the sepulchre of
the bishop, Christianus Ageda, who died in the year 1204, on the
second of September. He was born at Paris, anno 1172, on the tenth
of May. He was of the family of the Lothaires, afterwards kings of
France: and as this prophecy was never fully in print before, I
think it a fit time to bring it forth to the world. This pious man
was buried in a sepulchre in the chapel of the Holy Ghost, from
whence it was exactly translated by a near relation of your
correspondent's, who is now living, and will vouch the truth thereof.
It will not be improper to
remark, that in the year 1672, or thereabout, France and England was
united in a war with Germany, who in this prophecy was alluded to by
the Eagle, which is the first part of those predictions at which time
France was in a flourishing state: the middle part is now fulfilling,
and the latter part is yet to come.
No. 62, Compton Street,
Clerkenwell.”
::::::::::::::::::::::::
Least anyone attempt to
argue or prove the 'Bishop Christianus Prophecy' is real, I have looked into
the details, and yes, it is obviously fake.
A: CONTRADICTIONS IN
THE TEXT WHEN COMPARED WITH AUTHENTIC PROPHECIES:
- The text says the head of France will be destroyed and their Sun shall shine no more, aka the French monarchy will be completely destroyed and never restored. The 'Lion' is declared to be the king of England – then says the 'son of the Lion' will inherit the crown with the aid of England. France will be taken over by England and an English prince is the destined 'Great Monarch' according to this text. FALSE: we know from authentic prophecies the French monarchy will indeed by restored by the last king of France from the house of the Bourbons who will be the Great Monarch.
- No Roman Catholic bishop from the 12th or 13th centuries would describe the papacy as 'Popedom', that is an English Protestant term. The text also says says 'Popedom' will be 'completely destroyed', and, then Rome / Italy will be taken over by England, aka, basically turned Protestant, or become part of the Protestant church or empire (especially if a Protestant prince takes France!) THIS IS ALL FALSE and completely contradicts authentic Catholic prophecies.
B: HISTORICAL HINTS IN
THE TEXT ITSELF SHOWING IT TO BE A HOAX:
The anonymous author of
the 'Bishop Christianus Text' leaves a few clues this is indeed a
hoax. First of all, we see his nod to the 'Lacy Prophecy', and how
he had a 'better one' to share to the readers of the 'Conjurors
Magazine' and hopefully entertain them. Basically, it sounds like
the Lacy Prophecy gave him the idea to come up with his own.
One clue comes from the
era in which the 'Lacy Prophecy' is also set in, aka the mid to late
1600s. We see the 'Christianus Prophecy' is set around in the same
time as well – it was allegedly discovered in France in the late
1600s, and, that it 'predicted' it would be unearthed from the tomb
during a Franco-German war, obviously alluding to the Frank-Dutch War
of 1672-1678. The timeline cannot be a coincidence. In England
the mid to late 1600s was a time of strange religious fanaticism
obsessed with prophecies about the end of the world. Many believed
the end was nigh. There were plenty of prognostications and fake
'prophecies' put into circulation about the coming of the end and the
'Millennium Kingdom', especially with predictions about the Jews
returning to the Holy Land. The word 'AGEDA' gives us the rest of
the hint to the hoax. It appears to be a tag word to the readers to either
remind them or to link the 'Bishop Christianus Prophecy' to one of
the greatest hoaxes of the time which got started with an April Fools
prank printed in the London Post in the 1650s. We note in the
'Bishop Christianus Prophecy' was published in the April edition of
the "Conjurors Magazine" after all.
In order to understand
what the hoaxer was alluding to, here is the background to the
'Ageda Hoax' of the middle 1600s (Source of info, see fn. 3):
English Millenarian
radicals in England from the 1550s up to the 1650s were convinced the
end was coming, but that before it could happen, it was predicted tht the Jews would all
return to Palestine. As a result, many odd stories and beliefs
spread. The Jews there needed to be converted! One example, followers of the 'prophets' Richard Franham and
John Bull were convinced that their beloved leaders didn't die in
1642 but had sailed in bulrush boats to Palestine where they were
busy attempting to convert the Jews. Other religious fanatics
believed since the end was near that it was their religious duty to
lead the Jews back to Palestine – the Ranter John Robins was one of
them, his associate Thomas Tay claimed he was the 'King of the Jews'
in 1650 and issued a proclamation announcing the 'return of his
people'. In 1668, it was said he disappeared in a small boat he had
made with the hope of getting to Palestine.
Intense interest in the
'return of the Jews' prophecies gained momentum, and, stories with no
basis in fact began to circulate. It is obvious one was meant to be
a huge hoax when one April Fools the London Post printed a story
'reporting' the Jews in England had written letters to each other
preparing for 'the return to Palestine' in one great exodus. However,
people believed this was true and thus began a new wave of 'prophetic
pamphlets' warning that the dreaded day of the return of the Jews was
now happening and that the end must be upon them. One pamphlet was
issued in 1647 entitled: “Doomes-Day, or the Great Day of the
Lord's Judgement proved by Scripture' declared the Jews were now
assembling in Asia Minor and that the final overthrow of Antichrist
was at the door!
In 1651 someone named
George Foster announced the Jews were indeed meeting, this time in
Italy, while the Great Turk was expected to convert in 1656, and the
pope would die before that in 1654.
However, one final hoax
pamphlet that came out regarding a 'Great Gathering of the Jews' was
entitled “A Narrative of the Proceedings of a Great Council of Jews
Assembled in the Plain of Ageda in Hungary on 12 October 1650”
(published 1655), the author expressing his hope this was a great
sign of the Jew's conversion while lambasting the Catholic Church of
Rome, showing the Jews were more favourable towards the English
Church!
Of interest, there is no
such thing as the 'Plain of Ageda' in Hungary, it was a complete
fabrication. (One also find the variant spelling 'Ajayday', no doubt
to keep the hoax going for those who knew about 'Ageda'.)
Basically, it was a pro-Protestant text written with the aim to
convert Jews to the Protestant form of Christianity before the end
and encouraging them to avoid the Church of Rome. Also, it was
intended to encourage the English to continue supporting the various
missionary causes to Palestine.
Today people are still
taken in by the pamphlet about the 'Meeting in Ageda' and assume it
is a historical report, even the online Jewish Encyclopedia has an
entry detailing how it is fake and notes there isn't even a place in
Hungary called “Ageda”.(4)
However, these details in
the 'Bishop Ageda Prophecy' pointing to the “Ageda Hoax” as a textual
wink and a nod were obviously lost on the readers, especially as the
text was once again perpetuated in a paper in Australia in the 1870s!
C: CONVINCING “HISTORICAL
DETAILS” IN THE TEXT THAT ARE NOT TRUE OR DO NOT ADD UP
The general readers of the late
1700s and early 1800s would not have had access
to historical records to verify the authentic-sounding details, but
we now have the benefit of the Internet and Digital Archives to show
the 'history' of 'Bishop Christianus' is a very inventive
fabrication.
The biography of 'Christianus' makes it clear he was born in Paris,
died and was buried near Paris, and therefore hints he must have been
a bishop of Paris or thereabout 1172 to 1204 AD. Contrary to what
many might think of record keeping from the Medieval Era, records
about Church officials are not as sketchy today as one might think.
A list of bishops and archbishops stretching back centuries is
available at Catholic-Heirarcy.org. There is no 'Bishop Christianus'
of Paris or from there in the later 12th or early 13th
centuries, or any bishop or archbishop named that for Paris
whatsoever for any time period. I did find a 'Christianus' on
another database also known as “Christianus”, who is described as
a prelate of the High Middle Ages and the thirteenth known bishop of
Nîmes, from 808 to 850 AD, but that places him well past the dates
of the prophecy and also the location.
'Bishop Christianus' in
the prophecy is described as a bishop of Paris from French royalty
who is buried in the 'Chapel of the Holy Ghost'. That detail is
important as it is declared he was exhumed in the 1670s which is how
his prophecy was 'rediscovered' and put on display. Note, the red
flag with this – if a prophecy from a bishop's grave was
rediscovered and put on display, why is it we have not been flooded
with copies dating from the later 1600s? Since there are none, we
have another indication of a fake.
Also, if his 'exhumation'
was real, there would have to be a chapel of the 'Holy Ghost' or
'Holy Spirit' somewhere in Paris dating from the medieval period to
the mid to late 1600s for this to be true. 'Researchers Logic'
dictates a building that lasted that long should be mentioned at
least once in a historical record somewhere!
There are several
candidates and leads, but several don't add up. There is the Church
of the Saint-Esprit in the
12th arrondissement of Paris, but it is a modern building that was
built in 1928–35, so that's not it. It could be the chapel of a
holy order, such as the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, also known
as the Spiritans, but the dates do not add up there either as the
congregation was founded in 1703. It is possible the 'bishop' if he
existed was buried in the chapel attached to a chivalric order if he
was from the French nobility, but the Order of the Holy Spirit was
founded by Henry III of France in 1578, so that date does not compute
as well.
We
do have an intriguing possibility if the 'bishop' was a member of
the the
Hospitaler Order of the Holy Ghost founded by Guy de Montpellier who
is known as a knight Templar from the Montpellier family of the
counts of Guillaume. He built in his native town an Hospital House
and founded a regular order of Hospitallers Friars c. 1170 to to give
assistance to the poor, the infirm, and abandoned children.
Documents dating back to the decade 1180-90 prove that the Hospital
of Montpellier already rose to great importance. France had six
major Hospital Houses run by this order, but this where the trail
goes cold again. There was an orphanage hospital founded at the Place
de
Grève
in 1362 or 1363 by the confraternity of St.
Esprit,
but this does not line up with the dates given to our prophet-bishop,
which are 1172 to 1204.
Also, if 'Bishop Christianus' was a bishop of Paris, he would have
been responsible for another and completely separate hospital, the
'Hotel Dieu' of Paris, which is one of the oldest hospitals in
existence, founded in the 800s and still operating today. It is
unlikely he would have been buried at or associated with another
hospital or hospitaler order.
From this information
we can detect a host of true but very loosely connecting details that
make up no historical truth, which lend great credibility to the
story yet also shows the inventive hoaxing process of the author, if
we may try and recreate his line of thinking.
There was a bishop named
named 'Christianus' from Nimes who lived during the 800s. Maybe the
author of the hoax knew of this. Nimes has only recently be made a
part of the Montpellier Archdiocese, evidence that shows it is close
enough to make a geographical connection to Montpellier. Since the
'Bishop Christianos Prophecy' foretells the horrors of the French
Revolution and capitalises on it, possibly, the author was aware of
the vigorous suppression of the 'Holy Ghost' aka the Spiritan
Congregation during revolutionary upheaval and it made him think of
Guy de Montpellier's Holy Spirit order and their hospitals. The
author of the 'Bishop Christianus' prophecy, if he knew of the real
'Christianus', must have noticed the 800 AD time frame and it along with
the notion of 'hospitals' also reminded him of the famous hospital in
Paris, the 'Hotel Dieu' founded in the 800s. We can therefore see 'Bishop Christianus'
of Paris associated with a hospital order, or a hospital, possibly
both, especially if he is depicted as a member of the aristocracy.
Of interest, when we
follow this line of thinking, we discover there was a separate
hospital that was founded in Paris the 1600s associated with a
religious order called the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God
after they were invited to found an institution by the queen of
France, Marie de' Medici.
The order itself was founded in 1572, the construction of their
hospital in Paris, the Hôpital de
la Charité, began in 1613. Of interest, there was an old chapel on
the site called the St. Pierre. The old chapel was demolished and a
new one was constructed July 1621. It was renovated again in the
middle of the 17th century, therefore, right around the time frame
when it is claimed the 'Christianus' prophecy was “found”. The
chapel still exists to this day. However, the trail one again goes
cold. There is no evidence a prophecy was found during the various
renovations, and, the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God were
founded long after the supposed dates of Bishop Christianus, both the
real man and the man in the hoax text. It is possible the author
also found out about the 17th
century renovations of the chapel and noted it would make a great
detail to his prophecy, or, it is was a serendipitous coincidence
that would lend credibility if discovered by the reader. Hoax
predictions and revelations allegedly found preserved in tombs was a
popular theme regurgitated in pulp books and chapbooks printed for
the mass market.
::::::::::::::::::
In all, we can see the
'Bishop Christianus Prophecy' is a very elaborate hoax. We
can find many interesting details that seem vaguely related but when
connected do not make up any historical factual evidence where the
'Bishop Christianus Prophecy' is concerned.
Unfortunately Fr. Culleton
fell victim to this hoax and included it as a real prophecy in his
book “The Prophets and Our Times”, and, as a result, it has
gained new life and is continually passed on through other books and
the Internet.
The version Fr. Culleton
found or was given had been chopped and edited to cut out all the
pro-Protestant bits the contradict authentic Catholic prophecies.
Also, the detail was changed so that the events foretold would
happen in the 20th century, while the original said by the
end of 19th. Also, all the details of 'Bishop
Christianus' life were cut out, for anyone in the modern era who
could do some research would realise this was fake if the information
had been left in!
The hoax is lended
additional credibility when it is assumed 'Agreda' is meant and not
'Ageda' and people change the spelling – the name Agreda linking it
to the name of the true mystic Ven. Mary of Agreda and her visions
when in fact there is no connection whatsoever.
Hence, since this prophecy
is fake, I have removed it from the Timeline and placed it in the
'Suspect' section marked “!?”.
::::::::::::::::
Footnotes:
(1) The 'Conjuror's Magazine' copy, pp. 479-481,
available in Google Books
online:https://books.google.pt/books?id=frw6AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover
(**) Lionel Laborie: “French Prophets | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography”, (Published online May 9, 2018): https://www.academia.edu/36749297/French_Prophets_Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography
(**) Lionel Laborie: “French Prophets | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography”, (Published online May 9, 2018): https://www.academia.edu/36749297/French_Prophets_Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography
(2) Scottish Pamphlet available online from the National Library of Scotland Website: https://digital.nls.uk/chapbooks-printed-in-scotland/archive/104184223#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=11&xywh=-216%2C-129%2C1704%2C2563
(3)Information on this period of history in England from: Richard Henry Popkin, “Millenarianism and Messianism in English Literature and Thought, 1650-1800: Clark Library Lectures, 1981-1982”, (Brill Archive 1988, pp. 27-28)
(4) Entry
for the Meeting at 'Ageda', the Jewish Encyclopedia: (Source:
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/892-ageda-alleged-conference-of)
A copy of the fake proceedings of the 'meeting' can be found in “The
Evangelical Guardian and Review”, Volume 2, (J. Eastburn and
Company, 1818)
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Aug. 12, 2020
