POMPEIVS QVARTVS

Part of an article found on this site. 

All these artefacts and pieces of statues and buildings and even the cippe dedicated to POMPEIVS QVARTVS were, for Gourdon, found in a Temple associated with the area of houses south of the village, in the vicinity of Maison Chalaleau [which is near the Church at Rennes-les-Bains]. 

For the historian Cumenge he saw these foundations in 1862 writing:

"The temple of Rennes, of which I recognised the traces, the paving stones, the walls and various votive altars, still lay under a layer of plant soil at a depth of one meter and 50 centimetres. The pavement of the temple is made up of large slabs of 50 cent. thick, 25 wide by 35 long."

This testimony is fascinating because Cumenge calls these Roman remains the Temple of Rennes. He sees paving stones, walls and 'various' votive altars. Beneath our very own feet, when we visit Rennes-les-Bains approximately one meter down, these remains are still there! Cumenge could see votive altars associated with the Temple. He continues; "It was while digging foundations and clearing the ground that we found the arm of a woman, holding an egg in her hand [my emphasis] which she appears to be presenting to those present. It was the symbol of the divinity of these places dedicated to fertility, a belief which has continued to this day and which still makes people ask Rennes every year for the fulfilment of the dearest wish of a woman.... Aesculapius was still the God that people came to implore in Rennes. Certainly, if excavations were carried out in this place rich in archaeological treasures, we would find the body of this statue [my emphasis]. We would see to which foot a big toe in white marble, which was broken by an unskilled workman, belonged. We would find the rest of this inscription. For which altars did these marble mouldings serve as ornaments and bases? I promised myself that one day I would see again this land which is not yet invaded by the habitations."

Gourdon writes about other finds associated with this arm holding an egg " ..... several sizeable fragments of capitals, columns, etc., of remarkable work, in which it is easy to recognise the debris of a temple, dedicated either to Aesculapius or Hygeia. 

Cumenge unfortunately does not explicitly state where 'digging of these foundations' took place and whereabouts in the village of Rennes-les-Bains he exactly saw the Temple of Rennes. But he is an eyewitness to the finding of the 'arm of a woman, holding an egg in her hand'. We know Gourdon sited the finding of an arm holding an egg [and supplying a drawing] on the site of a house that actually forms the last house of the village of Bains, to the South. And we know that Dr Courrent described the finding in the hotel CHALULEAÛ.

They surely must be referring to the same thing?

Artefacts were not 'scattered' but found in one particular area - under this house. Boudet would appear to be protecting the artefacts instead, not gathering them from around the countryside! It is not difficult to see this must be the origin of the legendary underground Temple in Rennes-les-Bains and is probably the same ideas that Boudet refers to in his book La Vrai Langue Celtique. For Boudet indeed was associated with Maison CHALULEAÛ.

Boudet's book mapped an invented structure surrounding Rennes-les-Bains, his vast cromleck, with the inclusion of a secondary circle in its centre housing a dolmen [which is a tomb].  An interesting aside may illustrate this better. 

"A dolmen or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000–3000 BCE) and were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus (burial mound). The word dolmen entered archaeology when Théophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne used it to describe megalithic tombs in his Origines gauloises (1796) using the spelling dolmin (the current spelling was introduced about a decade later and had become standard in French by about 1885). The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) does not mention dolmin in English and gives its first citation for dolmen from a book on Brittany in 1859, describing the word as "The French term, used by some English authors, for a cromlech ...". The name was supposedly derived from a Breton language term meaning 'stone table' but doubt has been cast on this, and the OED describes its origin as "Modern French". A book on Cornish antiquities from 1754 said that the current term in the Cornish language for a cromlech was tolmen ('hole of stone') and the OED says that "There is reason to think that this was the term inexactly reproduced by Latour d'Auvergne [sic] as dolmen, and misapplied by him and succeeding French archaeologists to the cromlech". Nonetheless it has now replaced cromlech as the usual English term in archaeology, when the more technical and descriptive alternatives are not used. The later Cornish term was quoit – an English-language word for an object with a hole through the middle preserving the original Cornish language term of tolmen – the name of another dolmen-like monument is in fact Mên-an-Tol 'stone with hole'. A cromlech (sometimes also spelled "cromleh" or "cromlêh") is a megalithic construction made of large stone blocks. The word applies to two different megalithic forms in English, the first being an altar tomb (frequently called a "dolmen"), as William Borlase first denoted in 1769. The second meaning of the name "cromlech" in English refers to large stone circles such as those found among the Carnac stones in Brittany, France. Unlike in English, the word "cromlech" in many other languages exclusively denotes a megalithic stone circle, whereas the word "dolmen" is used to refer to the type of megalithic altar tomb sometimes indicated by the English "cromlech". Also, more recently in English, scholars such as Aubrey Burl use "cromlech" as a synonym for "megalithic stone circle".[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromlech].

This is fascinating. Why? Because Boudet is saying his Cromleck surrounds a tomb. To further ensure the point Boudet has a whole chapter on the Pierre de Trou, the stone with a hole/hole stone. And on top of that one can use the word Dolmen and Cromlech interchangeably to mean a tomb! Boudet's pierre de Trou he says in his book is; 

"'La pierre polie, dite hache celtique, faite de jade, de serpentine ou de diorite, affecte diverses formes. Le dialecte Languedocien la nomme pierre de Trou. Elle représente ce qu'il faut croire, c'est-à-dire, les enseignements nécessaires inscrits dans les grandes pierres levées – to trow (trô), croire –. »

"The polished stone, called Celtic axe, made of jade, serpentine or diorite, affects various forms. The Languedocian dialect calls it pierre de trou. It represents what must be believed, that is to say, the necessary teachings inscribed in the large stones raised - to trow (trô), believe -. ”

The Pierre de Trou represents for Boudet what must be believed. But why linked to the Celtic axe, Celtique Hache?

It would seem that the second circle structure of Boudet's Cromlech does not sit far from Maison Chalaleau and the area of its ancient Temple. One could argue that Boudet and his Cromlech surround the underground Temple at Rennes-les-Bains, which may or may not have housed a tomb associated with the resurrection and to which the authors of the Beaucean text considered equivalent to the lasting resting place of a female Goddess who was exhumed and then re-buried in a 'hotel courtyard'. It is not literal when referring to the statues but do they represent something else for Beaucean?

It seems to form the basis for the descriptions of the tomb referred to in Le Serpent Rouge;

From her that I wanted to free, rose towards me the emanations of perfume which permeate the sepulchre. Once some called her: ISIS, queen of the beneficent springs, COME TO ME ALL YOU WHO SUFFER AND WHO ARE OVERWHELMED AND I WILL COMFORT YOU, otherwise: MADELEINE, with the famous vase full of healing balm. The initiates know the true name: NOTRE DAME DES CROSS.

So the buried white Queen statue is now a mysterious female associated with various Goddess's which initiates [ie the Priory?] know the real identity of - Notre Dame des Cross. And there is only one lady, associated strongly with a Cross. 

The mention by Gourdon of the POMPEIVS QVARTVS. P. A. M. SVO. stone is a case in point. He mentions comments by Catel [in his Memoires De L'Histoire Du Languedoc, 1633] referring to the stone's current location during the time of Catel, but Gourdon indicates that this stone had originally been part of the buildings in the vicinity of the temple he has identified with the last house in the village which we have seen is in the area of Maison Chaluleau. This means - if correct - that some of the Temple contents associated with the area later associated with Chaluleau were well known and discovered before 1633. As we have seen, all these different and complicated strands keep returning back to the same source as it were, and this is the foundations and area of the vicinity of Maison Chalaleu. Later Louis Fédié, erudite scholar of the local Aude area observed that this Pompeius stone was originally attached to a wall in the vicinity of the "Source de la Reine". According to Gourdon, for Catel it was associated with the church of the village but for Gourdon himself it was associated with the Temple around Maison Chalaleau. 

It is conceivable that the Pompeius 'cippe' did originally mark an important burial, associated with a Temple, consistent with its association by Gourdon with the last house in the village, Maison Chaluleau. The witnessed large block foundation under this house were, as we saw above, identified by some as the remains of a Roman Temple or palace. Our chronology may fail us here. How can this cippe, described by Gourdon as coming from the Maison Chalaleu [he wrote in 1874] be also familiar to Delmas, who wrote in 1709? And also Catel, who was aware of it in around 1633 when he published his great work on the Languedoc but must have known about it earlier. [He died in 1626]. It certainly suggests that the remains of the Temple were to be found in 1633. 

Abbé Delmas also refers to this cippe. He thought the cippe was most likely a grave inscription/marker. He rather bizarrely and out of the blue speculated that Pompey passed through the area on an expedition to Spain and one of his close friends or high ranking officers died there. For this friend Pompey built a mausoleum and a column above the grave that was marked by this cippe. The plate with the inscription would originally have been attached to this column (or to its base). All this is very odd but not as odd as what Plantard decided to then write about this Pompeius stone of Rennes-les-Bains.

A letter from Plantard sent to a researcher, reported; ".....I have not undertaken any researches in the Caves de la Reine (in the Rennes district), nor in the Souterrains du Roi ("underground chambers of the King"), so there have not been any researches or investigations on my own property... This property ...has the following boundaries: to the South – chemin de Farres; to the North – Roc Pointu; to the East – the main road to Rennes-les-Bains; to the West – the mountain top. On my property are two mines: a copper mine and a gold mine... , the gold mine dates from the Roman era, from about 70BC. This piece of land is called Roc Nègre. You refer to the tombstone of Coumesourde. I'm sorry to have to disappoint you, but it simply never existed. On the other hand there IS a text dated 1880 or 1890 written by the engineer Ernest Cros based on the Zero Meridian of Paris and the English equivalent in Greenwich (the latter being situated at 9 metres 20.9 seconds west of the Paris Meridian). The triangulation for this study was based at Pontils, between Peyrolles/Serres, at the location of a tomb. The "secret location" to which you refer is the Roman tomb (50-48 BC) called the Tomb of Gnaius Pompey, which is located in Fangalots at a distance of 1 kilometre 500 metres from my property. It is located between two belfries – those of Rennes-les-Bains and Rennes-le-Château, at 500 metres’ distance from the belfry of Rennes-les-Bains. With all good wishes, and please do keep me informed of your researches." [my emphasis].

So for Plantard this Roman Tomb called the Tomb of the Grand Roman was near his property and he thought, like Delmas, that it was somehow associated with Pompey.  I find it interesting that he talks of a gold mine from 70BC - why so precise? [Here you can see what happed in 70BC].

In a diagram by Cherisey we find the following;

You can see here that Cherisey is describing a cippe found at the foot of Roc Negre marking the entrance to the necropolis of the grand Romain Lucius Cesar Pompous Quartus, and then further back in to Cardou is the actual tomb of the Grand Romain. 

Plantard, in his letter to a researcher [it was the French researcher Raymond Sagarzazu] then talks about another tomb at Pontils! And then another 'secret location' of another tomb, a Roman Tomb [he dates it to 50-48BC, probably because this was the date the real and famous Pompey died] located at Fangllaots [1.5km away from my property], and further he locates this between the belfries of Rennes-les-Chateau and Rennes-les-Bains, to be exact 500m away from the belfry of the church at Rennes-les-Bains. This must be what the above diagram is showing. 

To my astonishment though, while perusing the Secret Dossiers, i came across a statement in the text as follows;"The decoration (to) the setting to the tomb referred to [i.e. the 14th station of the Cross at Rennes-le-Chateau] is ...of the necropolis of Fangalots at Rennes-les-Bains'

This strange Secret Dossiers quote was placed next to a picture of Sauniere's 14th station of the Cross so as to presumably remove all doubt [the 14th station represents the taking of the body of the historical Jesus, to his tomb.] 

What was being intimated here? That the tomb of Jesus as depicted in Saunieres's 14th Station of the Cross [i.e the burial of Jesus] represents a necropolis to be found at Fangallots! 

Delmas' tomb of the Grand Roman then, has via Plantard, morphed into a tomb at Fangallots of possibly Jesus Christ! Fangallots itself is just above the house of Chalaleau - out in the landscape - a large forest and canopy overhanging Rennes-les-Bains. It affords panoramic views of the village from its elevated plateau. Boudet himself has much to say about Fangallots, viz page 303 of La Vrai Langue Celtique;

The Celts, endowed with a generous nature, were not inclined to theft and banditry, and there were few who were guilty of such misdeeds. Moreover, justice was prompt and severe, and the Fangallots of the Redones - to faint (fent) disappear, - Gallows (Galleuce ), gallows, gallows, - reminded the inhabitants of the region, that hanging was the just punishment of criminals.

And on page 254-255 we read;

The ordinary torture reserved for criminals, is written on Celtic soil, and we find it in the term Fangallots, designating a land located in Rennes-les-Bains, on the steep slope at the bottom of which is built the Bain Doux spa establishment. Fangallots, means, disappear by the gallows, - to faint (fent), disappear, - gallows (galleuce), gallows, gi¬ bet. - The descendants of the Tectosages, preserving the Gallic customs, have always used the gallows against criminals, and even today, the hanging is, among the Anglo-Saxons, the only mode practiced for the punishment of criminals sentenced by the courts to the death penalty.

Couple this with Boudet's mysterious burial at the heart of his imaginary Cromleck which he associates with a resurrection, with a small 'r', we have some very strange assertions being made for this village! 

One can wonder if the central tomb of importance for Boudet, if it is not the Resurrection with a capital 'R' , is the resurrection with a little 'r' signifying perhaps that of Lazarus? This biblical character has legends of being buried in the locality. Or indeed as all the Priory literature indicates, that of the biblical Mary Magdalene, also associated with a resurrection.