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  • tlefranc10
    May 2
    View Source
    I have recently discovered two nineteenth century authors who also questioned the authenticity of some "ancient books": the Frenchman Polydore Hochart and the Englishman John Wilson Ross. The latter focused on the writings attributed to "Tacitus" and questioned their origins (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ross,_John_Wilson_(DNB00) ; http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/9098/pg9098.html), while the former not only questioned "Tacitus"' writings but also the history of early Christianity (http://archive.org/details/delauthenticitd00hochgoog ; http://archive.org/details/tudesausujetdel00hochgoog). He argued that the story of the persecution of the early Christians had been largely made up in later times.

    It is needless to say that most historians have dismissed their writings as "hypercritical", while they actually are very well researched. I have only read the beginning of Hochart's book so far and have found several answers to questions that people such as Fomenko and Johnson asked. For example, it appears that most monks copied books both as a pastime and as a way to earn money from the sale of the books. Hochart also questioned the fact that monks, such "rough" individuals, had preserved ancient literature in their so-called "libraries" which most of them, it appears, were nothing more than a small collection of Christian books.


    --- In evola_as_he_is@yahoogroups.com, "tlefranc10" <tlefranc10@...> wrote:
    >
    > Hello,
    >
    > First of all, I would like to say that I have read nearly all the postings on this list and many were very interesting. Thanks to those who have written them.
    >
    > I would like to address a topic which has not been discussed so far on this list I believe, that of the falsification of ancient history (antiquity, middle ages and renaissance). It is directly related to Evola in so far his writings are largely based on various historical accounts and I do not think he ever discussed the topic of systematic falsification of ancient history. I believe it may be strongly related to the struggle between the ghibelline faction and the guelph faction, as you will see as you read my post.
    >
    > It seems that the topic of the falsification of ancient history has become more « mainstream » over the last few decades as several authors have started investigating and publishing articles and books. It should be noted that there is not one school of thought, though. However, as early as the seventeeth century there were people who claimed that history had been largely falsified.
    >
    > For example, Isaac Newton (1642-1727) wrote a lot about it, which was published against his will in a book in French called « Abrégé de la chronologie » (1725), published in its full version in 1729 (both are available online in google books). Basing himself on astronomical calculations and the dates of the Greek olympiads, Newton's theory is that about 300 years had to be removed from the chronology. He then rewrote and reinterpreted each event of the antiquity.
    >
    > Jean Hardouin (1646-1729), a French Jesuit opposed Newton's theory but agreed that history had been largely falsified. A man of considerable learning, Hardouin was librarian at the Collège de Paris. He also worked during 5 years on publishing an excellent edition of Pliny's Natural History, which is still regarded today as the reference edition. He also published an edition of the Catholic councils. It is said that his numerous and lengthy notes in these works contain his revisionist ideas.
    >
    > Hardouin said that he started scenting fraud in Augustine and his contemporaries in August 1690 and that he discovered the whole extent of the fraud only in May 1692 as he was writing down long extracts from ancient authors. According to him, a gang of forgers (the « impious cabal » as he calls them) started writing most of Christian patristic literature as well as most Greek and Roman books in the thirteenth century. This « impious design », whose utlimate goal was to falsify and « utterly ruin » the Christian religion, was carried out until around the end of the fifteenth century. The first leader of the forgers was Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (who was nicknamed « Severus Archontius ») and Benedictines were heavily involved in the forgery, still according to him. Basing himself on his examination of old coins, Hardouin argued that the Church did not any temporal power before the tenth century. He also argued that pretty much the whole history, as told by Christian sources, of the late and decadent Roman empire was an invention.
    >
    > Hardouin was ridiculed and persecuted by the temporal power, the Church and the various religious orders including the Jesuits. Most said that he was a madman. His books were banned and he had to find a publisher in Holland. His « Prolegomena to the censorship of ancient authors » were published in the end of his life. A short book of around 180 pages, it sums up his whole theory and contains insightful remarks. I have read it in English and I have translated it into French. I do not know yet if I will simply put it online or publish it. In any case, I will be glad to provide further information on it. A lengthy biography in French written by a fellow Jesuit, Father Marteret, can be found in « Eloges de quelques auteurs françois » (1742) (Available on gallica.fr). Hardouin wrote also on Dante and said that his book « The Divine Comedy » could not have been written in the fourteenth century (available on http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Doutes_propos%C3%A9s_sur_l_age_du_Dante_par.html?id=shtLAAAAcAAJ). An exhaustive bibliography can be found in Sommervogel's book, « Bibliothèque des écrivains de la Compagne de Jésus » (available on google books). Academic papers were recently written by scholar Anthony Grafton on Hardouin, who also wrote an interesting book on forgery called « Forgers and critics creativity duplicity in Western scholarship ». Interesting documents on Hardouin can be found on www.persee.fr also. Finally, I know that Hardouin disseminated his revisionist ideas in all his works even if they were out of topic. Unfortunately, most of his works are in Latin, including his big book on chronology, and I cannot read them. Other priests (the Benedictine Jean Mabillon and his excellent book on diplomatics, the Fathers Henschen, Paperbroch, etc.) wrote also in Latin and participated in the controversy. From what I understand they went not as far as Hardouin but acknowledged that many documents had been falsified. As far as I know, nobody wrote a detailed study of this controversy which lasted for years. More information on Hardouin here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Hardouin
    >
    > It was English historian Edwin Johnson (1842-1901) who translated Hardouin's prolegomena into English. Johnson wrote a lot also on the falsification of history. I have read his books and according to him the history of Christianity as we know it is entirely made up. He claimed that Christianity sprung up in Italy and that the Bible texts of the New Testament were written first in Latin. He also claimed that English history was entirely fictional (see his book « The Rise of English Culture »). His books can be found online : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Johnson_(historian). Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, an English orientalist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forster_Fitzgerald_Arbuthnot), who was a a friend of Johnson, published in 1900 a book on English chronology in the same vein as Johnson's. It is called « Mysteries of chronology » and can be downloaded online (http://archive.org/details/mysteriesofchron00arbuiala).
    >
    > Wilhelm Kammeier (1889-1959) was a German law official who wrote several books including « Die Fälschung der deutschen Geschichte », « Neue Beweise für die Fälschung der deutschen Geschichte », « Die Warheit über die Geschichte des Spätmittelalters » and « Die Fälschung der Geschichte des Urchistentums ». The first book can be found online but I could not read it because I do not speak German. It would be great if someone untertook the translation of this book. Kammeier's theory is that the Church launched and coordinated a vast and systematic rewriting of world history in the late middle ages. According to him, documents related to the ancient Germanic peoples were destroyed and/or corrupted by the Church. That is why little is known on ancient Germanic peoples today. Germanic peoples, "barbarians", were given a lesser role in history, contrary to Rome, which was given the limelight. I have read, in Fomenko's books I believe, that it was only in national-socialist Germany, in 1934, that he managed to have his books published. He was a soldier in the war and became a teacher in East Germany, after 1945. He thought his findings would be of interest to the East German communist authorities but to no avail, interestingly (because his findings undermined the Catholic Church and communists did not like the Catholic Church to say the least). He was actually persecuted and died in 1959 in misery, ill and with little to eat.
    >
    > Many more authors, more or less contemporary, have written on the falsification of ancient history. Here is a list : http://www.ilya.it/chrono/pages/framautorfr.htm
    > Several works from these authors can be accessed online, so I suggest that you look for their works on the internet. The whole website should be browsed as it contains interesting articles.
    >
    > Hermann Detering, a contemporary German pastor who is not mentioned on the website given above, maintains a site which contains many resources in several languages : http://www.radikalkritik.de/
    > As far as I know, he concentrates his studies on early christianism and has read Johnson's books.
    >
    > François de Sarre, a French zoologist, also has a website : http://initial.bipedalism.pagesperso-orange.fr/. He has written a very interesting book called « Où est donc passé le Moyen-Âge ? » in which he develops his own theory using the findings of other researchers. Also of interest, Pierre Dortiguier, a French professor of philosophy, has given a conference this month on the falsification of ancient history : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqw2aa_pierre-dortiguier-le-recentisme_news?start=1
    >
    > A personal note on Anatoly Fomenko, perhaps the most « extremist » theoretician of the falsification of ancient history. I think that he may have interesting thoughts but his theory is too far-fetched and eccentric. Also, it is important to understand that authors may be partial. For example, they may be influenced by nationalist thought and seek to favour their country when doing their critique of history.
    >
    > Overall, I think it is impossible to have definite certainties on the matter given how vast and complicated it is. However, I have become convinced that ancient history has been falsified, but it is difficult to ascertain to what extent, and that the Catholic Church was involved in the falsification. I am also sure that history needs to be shortened and that the Catholic Church is not as old as it is commonly regarded.
    >
    > More generally, I find it extremely pretentious of historians to assign very precise dates to old events given the actual intricacy of chronology and the extent of falsified documents.
    >
    > It is important to keep in mind that saying that a text may be falsified does not eliminate its potential metaphysical value. To be more specific, Guénon, Evola and others recognized metaphysical contents in certain ancient texts. It is doubtful that these texts may have been composed by simple forgers. However, they may come from a different time period to what is generally assumed, among other things.
    >
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