Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat
Encyclopedia
Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat (29 May, 1773 – 18 February, 1838), founded a self-styled neo-Templar order called l'Ordre du Temple
in 1804 and the Johannite Church
in 1812, and proclaimed himself Grand Master
of the Templars and Sovereign Pontiff of the Primitive Christian Catholic religion, opposing the Church of Saint Peter
.
and was ordained a priest. Leaving the priesthood, he studied medicine in Montpellier and Caen, where he received his medical degree in April 1798. Moving to Paris the same year, he obtained another medical degree in September 1803, and became the director general of the Société médico-philanthropy.
(or "Charter of Transmission"). Knights of the Order were always addressed as "Sir Knights". The Grand Master of the Order was addressed as "Most Eminent Highness, Very Great, Powerful, and Excellent Prince, and Most Serene Lord."
The Larmenius Charter, allegedly written in Latin in 1324, listed 22 successive Grand Masters of the Knights Templar
from 1324 to 1804, Fabré-Palaprat's name appearing last on the list. The Charter is named after Johannes Marcus Larmenius, who allegedly wrote the document and was allegedly appointed Grand Master by Jacques de Molay
while imprisoned, also having the power to appoint his successor (Thomas Theobaldus Alexandrinus in 1324; the first name on the list). The list of Grand Masters in the Larmenius Charter differs from the list of 'Scottish' Grand Masters given by the German Strict Observance
, and the Larmenius Charter also anathematized the 'Scottish' Templars, who were excommunicated by Johannes Marcus Larmenius in 1324, who declared them "Deserters of The Temple".
Fabré-Palaprat's Order of the Temple claimed to possess significant relic
s: the sword of Jacques de Molay, the helmet of Guy Dauphin d'Auvergne, the Beausant, and four fragments of burnt bones taken from the funeral pyre where Jacques de Molay had been executed . These relics, described as "The Sacred Treasure of The Order of The Temple" in the Manual of the order (and described within an Inventory in the Statutes of the order), were displayed in March 1808 on the anniversary of Jacques de Molay's death, when members of the Order celebrated a public requiem for the 'martyred' Grand Master in the Church of St. Paul in Paris.
, as Primate of the Johannite church, on 4 May 1831. Châtel established his new French Catholic Church (Eglise Catholique Française) in former shop premises in Montmartre
, decorating it with the bust of Louis Philippe I placed under the Tricolour
flag. The Johannite church was located in a former bottle shop in the Cour des miracles
, dubbed the "Apostolic Court of the Temple". The Order dated its documents from 'Magistropolis', a mystical calendar commencing from the foundation of the Knights Templar in 1118.
In 1831, following the July Revolution, Fabré-Palaprat published the Evangelikon, a Gnostic
version of the Gospel of John
that left out the miracles and the Resurrection, preceded by an introduction and a commentary allegedly written by Nicephorus, a Greek monk of Athens, that carries the name Lévitikon. The Lévitikon contains an esoteric lineage from Jesus
to the Knights Templar
, and claims Jesus was an initiate of the mysteries of Osiris
, which were passed on to John the Beloved. Fabré-Palaprat claimed to have bought this vellum manuscript (allegedly dating from the 15th century), from a Paris second-hand bookstall on New Year's Day in 1814. It was translated into English for the first time in 2010. Neo-Templar orders that claim descent from the Larmenius Charter support the assertions of the Lévitikon.
Fabré-Palaprat introduced a Johannite Mass in 1834. The title "Christ" was reserved not just for Jesus but used for all leaders of the Johannite tradition who had attained Gnosis
.
In 1836 a schism, led by the Duc de Choiseul
resulted out of dissatisfaction with the new Johannite church that had replaced the previous chivalric-style order. Fabré-Palaprat responded by admitting Sir Sidney Smith to the Johannite church.
The Duc de Choiseul was later elected Grand Master of the Order of the Temple in 1838, dying the same year.
Sir Sidney Smith was invited to take over as Grand Master of the Order, an offer he declined, but consented to preside over as Regent
until a successor to Fabré-Palaprat had been chosen (which did not happen during his lifetime).
in 1814, and received the July Medal for his actions during the Three Glorious Days
of the Revolution of 1830.
"Memoir of the Late M. Bernard Raymond Fabré-Palaprat, Grand Master of the Order of the Temple" was published by Robert Bigsby the Younger, in The Miscellaneous Poems and Essays of Robert Bigsby (London: Whittaker And Co., 1842).
, later becoming amalgamated among other occult groups headed by Papus
, finally becoming legally incorporated by a Belgian group known as the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem
(SMOTJ), as well as the Sovereign Order of the Initiatory Temple (OSTI), and its outer order known as International Circle for Cultural and Scientific Research (CIRCES International), with CIRCES being created by Raymond Bernard in 1988. Raymond Bernard describes his initiation into the OSTI in 1955, and the mission he was charged with for bringing OSTI public, in his 1966 book entitled A Secret Meeting In Rome. Raymond Bernard created CIRCES International as an outward Templar vehicle to eventually prepare people for initiation into the inner Order of the OSTI. CIRCES International also continues to protect and perpetuate L'Ordre Martiniste of Papus, which Joseph Péladan had been initiated into.
Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem
The Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani , also known as Knights Templar International, is a self-styled order founded in 1945 by Antonio Campello Pinto de Sousa Fontes , claiming to be a continuation of the self-styled l'Ordre du Temple founded in 1804 by Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat...
in 1804 and the Johannite Church
Johannite Church
The Johannite Church, properly known by its full name, l'Église Johannites des Chretiens Primitif , is a Gnostic Christian denomination founded by the French priest Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat in 1804...
in 1812, and proclaimed himself Grand Master
Grand Master (order)
Grand Master is the typical title of the supreme head of various orders of knighthood, including various military orders, religious orders and civil orders such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Orange Order...
of the Templars and Sovereign Pontiff of the Primitive Christian Catholic religion, opposing the Church of Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
.
Early life
Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat was the son of a surgeon and nephew of a priest in the diocese of Cahors. He studied at the diocesian seminarySeminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
and was ordained a priest. Leaving the priesthood, he studied medicine in Montpellier and Caen, where he received his medical degree in April 1798. Moving to Paris the same year, he obtained another medical degree in September 1803, and became the director general of the Société médico-philanthropy.
Order of the Temple
On 4 November 1804 Fabré-Palaprat founded the Order of the Temple and revealed the existence of the Larmenius CharterLarmenius Charter
The Larmenius Charter or Carta Transmissionis is a manuscript purportedly created by Johannes Marcus Larmenius in February 1324, giving in Latin a list of 22 successive Grand Masters of the Knights Templar after Jacques de Molay, ending in 1804, the name of Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat...
(or "Charter of Transmission"). Knights of the Order were always addressed as "Sir Knights". The Grand Master of the Order was addressed as "Most Eminent Highness, Very Great, Powerful, and Excellent Prince, and Most Serene Lord."
The Larmenius Charter, allegedly written in Latin in 1324, listed 22 successive Grand Masters of the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
from 1324 to 1804, Fabré-Palaprat's name appearing last on the list. The Charter is named after Johannes Marcus Larmenius, who allegedly wrote the document and was allegedly appointed Grand Master by Jacques de Molay
Jacques de Molay
Jacques de Molay was the 23rd and last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, leading the Order from 20 April 1292 until it was dissolved by order of Pope Clement V in 1312...
while imprisoned, also having the power to appoint his successor (Thomas Theobaldus Alexandrinus in 1324; the first name on the list). The list of Grand Masters in the Larmenius Charter differs from the list of 'Scottish' Grand Masters given by the German Strict Observance
Rite of Strict Observance
The Rite of Strict Observance was a Rite of Freemasonry, a series of progressive degrees that were conferred by the Order of Strict Observance, a Masonic body of the 18th century....
, and the Larmenius Charter also anathematized the 'Scottish' Templars, who were excommunicated by Johannes Marcus Larmenius in 1324, who declared them "Deserters of The Temple".
Fabré-Palaprat's Order of the Temple claimed to possess significant relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
s: the sword of Jacques de Molay, the helmet of Guy Dauphin d'Auvergne, the Beausant, and four fragments of burnt bones taken from the funeral pyre where Jacques de Molay had been executed . These relics, described as "The Sacred Treasure of The Order of The Temple" in the Manual of the order (and described within an Inventory in the Statutes of the order), were displayed in March 1808 on the anniversary of Jacques de Molay's death, when members of the Order celebrated a public requiem for the 'martyred' Grand Master in the Church of St. Paul in Paris.
Johannite Church
In 1812 Fabré-Palaprat formed the Johannite Church, introducing faith-based elements into his order. He later ordained Ferdinand-François Châtel, a radical clergyman who left the priesthood following the July RevolutionJuly Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
, as Primate of the Johannite church, on 4 May 1831. Châtel established his new French Catholic Church (Eglise Catholique Française) in former shop premises in Montmartre
Montmartre
Montmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...
, decorating it with the bust of Louis Philippe I placed under the Tricolour
Flag of France
The national flag of France is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured royal blue , white, and red...
flag. The Johannite church was located in a former bottle shop in the Cour des miracles
Cour des miracles
Cour des miracles was a French term which referred to slum districts of Paris, France where the unemployed migrants from rural areas resided...
, dubbed the "Apostolic Court of the Temple". The Order dated its documents from 'Magistropolis', a mystical calendar commencing from the foundation of the Knights Templar in 1118.
In 1831, following the July Revolution, Fabré-Palaprat published the Evangelikon, a Gnostic
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
version of the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
that left out the miracles and the Resurrection, preceded by an introduction and a commentary allegedly written by Nicephorus, a Greek monk of Athens, that carries the name Lévitikon. The Lévitikon contains an esoteric lineage from Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
to the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, and claims Jesus was an initiate of the mysteries of Osiris
Osiris
Osiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
, which were passed on to John the Beloved. Fabré-Palaprat claimed to have bought this vellum manuscript (allegedly dating from the 15th century), from a Paris second-hand bookstall on New Year's Day in 1814. It was translated into English for the first time in 2010. Neo-Templar orders that claim descent from the Larmenius Charter support the assertions of the Lévitikon.
Fabré-Palaprat introduced a Johannite Mass in 1834. The title "Christ" was reserved not just for Jesus but used for all leaders of the Johannite tradition who had attained Gnosis
Gnosis
Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge . In the context of the English language gnosis generally refers to the word's meaning within the spheres of Christian mysticism, Mystery religions and Gnosticism where it signifies 'spiritual knowledge' in the sense of mystical enlightenment.-Related...
.
In 1836 a schism, led by the Duc de Choiseul
Claude Antoine Gabriel, duc de Choiseul-Stainville
Claude Antoine Gabriel, duc de Choiseul-Stainville was a French soldier and émigré Royalist.-Biography:...
resulted out of dissatisfaction with the new Johannite church that had replaced the previous chivalric-style order. Fabré-Palaprat responded by admitting Sir Sidney Smith to the Johannite church.
The Duc de Choiseul was later elected Grand Master of the Order of the Temple in 1838, dying the same year.
Sir Sidney Smith was invited to take over as Grand Master of the Order, an offer he declined, but consented to preside over as Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
until a successor to Fabré-Palaprat had been chosen (which did not happen during his lifetime).
Distinctions
Fabré-Palaprat was awarded the Legion of Honour for his defence of ParisBattle of Paris (1814)
The Battle of Paris was fought during the Napoleonic Wars in 1814. The French defeat led directly to the abdication of Napoleon I.-Background:...
in 1814, and received the July Medal for his actions during the Three Glorious Days
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
of the Revolution of 1830.
"Memoir of the Late M. Bernard Raymond Fabré-Palaprat, Grand Master of the Order of the Temple" was published by Robert Bigsby the Younger, in The Miscellaneous Poems and Essays of Robert Bigsby (London: Whittaker And Co., 1842).
Aftermath
The Regency of the Order of the Temple was at one stage passed on to Joséphin PéladanJoséphin Péladan
Joséphin Péladan was a French novelist and Martinist. His father was a journalist who had written on prophecies, and professed a philosophic-occult Catholicism.-Biography:...
, later becoming amalgamated among other occult groups headed by Papus
Gerard Encausse
thumb|Papus in a Martinist Lodge from la [[Belle époque]]Gerard Encausse , whose esoteric pseudonym was Papus, was the Spanish-born French physician, hypnotist, and popularizer of occultism, who founded the modern Martinist Order.- Overview :Gerard Encausse was born at Corunna in Spain on July 13,...
, finally becoming legally incorporated by a Belgian group known as the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem
Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem
The Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani , also known as Knights Templar International, is a self-styled order founded in 1945 by Antonio Campello Pinto de Sousa Fontes , claiming to be a continuation of the self-styled l'Ordre du Temple founded in 1804 by Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat...
(SMOTJ), as well as the Sovereign Order of the Initiatory Temple (OSTI), and its outer order known as International Circle for Cultural and Scientific Research (CIRCES International), with CIRCES being created by Raymond Bernard in 1988. Raymond Bernard describes his initiation into the OSTI in 1955, and the mission he was charged with for bringing OSTI public, in his 1966 book entitled A Secret Meeting In Rome. Raymond Bernard created CIRCES International as an outward Templar vehicle to eventually prepare people for initiation into the inner Order of the OSTI. CIRCES International also continues to protect and perpetuate L'Ordre Martiniste of Papus, which Joseph Péladan had been initiated into.
Selected works
- Lévitikon: ou Exposé des principes fondamentaux de la doctrine des chrétiens-catholiques-primitifs: suivi de leurs évangiles, d'un extrait de la Table d'or... et précédé du statut sur le gouvernement de l'Eglise et la hiérarchie lévitique (Paris: Librairie des Chrétiens-primitifs: J. Machault, 1831).
- Épître du souverain pontife et patriarche de la religion chrétienne catholique primitive (Paris: Ladvocat, 1831).
- De l'Église chrétienne-primitive et du catholicisme romain de nos jours, par une réunion d'ecclésiastiques (Paris: Houdaille, 1833).
- Jérusalem et Rome, débats entre les journalistes protecteurs du catholicisme romain de nos jours et les conservateurs du christianisme de l'Église primitive, pour faire suite au livre "De l'Église chrétienne-primitive" (Paris: Bureau central d'imprimerie et de librairie, 1834).
- Recherches historiques sur les Templiers et sur leurs croyances religieuses (Paris: Dentu, 1835).
Further reading
- Manual of The Knights of the Order of The Temple, Translated by Henry Lucas (Liverpool: David Marples, 1830)
- Alec Mellor, Les Mythes Maçonniques (Paris: Payot, 1974). ISBN 2-228-17190-5
- Manuel des Chevaliers de l'Ordre du Temple (Paris: J.-B. Poulet et Ch.-A. Poulet, 1817-1818), French language version available from Google books http://books.google.fr/books?id=jS0iAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Manuel+des+Chevaliers+de+l'Ordre+du+Temple&hl=fr&ei=IYw-TsLmNcG08QPW9vn-Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false