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Abbé Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg ( 8 September , 1814 – 8 January , 1874 ) was a noted French Writer , Ethnographer , Historian and Archaeologist . He became a specialist in Mesoamerica n studies, travelling extensively in the region. His writings, publications, and recovery of historical documents contributed much to the later understanding of the region's languages, writing, history and culture (in particular, that of the Maya and Aztec ). EARLY LIFE AND WRITINGS He was born at Bourbourg , a small town with many Flemish influences near Dunkirk, France , just as the First French Empire was drawing to a close. As a youth he went to Ghent in the newly-independent Belgian state to study Theology and Philosophy . He became interested in writing during his studies there, and in 1837 aged 23 he began contributing essays to a Paris ian journal. He wrote several historical accounts (using a pseudonym), including one on Jerusalem. He also had several novels published, written in a Romantic vein which was then very much in vogue. One of these, ''Le Sérapéon'', received reviews which implied it bore a very close resemblance to François-René De Chateaubriand 's 1809 novel, '' Les Martyrs ''. Such near-allegations of plagiarism and inaccuracies in his works were to be made several times throughout his career. Despite such criticisms, his reputation as a notable young writer and intellectual continued to develop. He transferred his studies and residence to Rome , where in 1845 he was ordained into the Roman Catholic priesthood, at the age of 30. DISPATCHED TO QUEBEC A year previously he had come to the attention of the Canadian Abbé, Léon Gingras, whom he had met (and apparently impressed) in Rome. Abbé Gingras made entreaties to his friend and colleague the vicar-general of Quebec , Abbé Charles-Félix Cazeau, to have Brasseur de Bourbourg assigned to a position in the Seminary there. Correspondence began in late 1844 , with Abbé Gingras pressing his claims that the seminary ''"...move heaven and earth to ensure that such a splendid bird does not escape us and fly to Montreal, where it would be so highly thought of"''. A year later after having obtained his ordination, Brasseur de Bourbourg's post came through with approval from the Archbishop Joseph Signay , and in the autumn of 1845 he left Europe bound for the British colony of the Province Of Canada , stopping over briefly in Boston on the way. Upon his arrival in Quebec City he took up a position as a professor of ecclesiastical history at the seminary (the Séminaire de Québec, founded in 1663 ). After only a short time however, his series of lectures was to be discontinued, for some unspecified reason. Perhaps finding himself with time on his hands, Brasseur de Bourbourg embarked upon a programme of research into the history of the Quebec Archdiocese , and in particular of its 17th Century founder, François De Laval , the first Roman Catholic Bishop Of Quebec (after whom the seminary's later transformation into a University, the Université Laval , is named). The results of his archival investigations were published in early 1846 as a biography of Laval. This contents or approach of this pamphlet seemed to displease somewhat his Canadian colleagues, for a dispute arose which made his position there uncertain, or at least uncomfortable. Also, the harsh winter climate did not seem to be agreeing with him (to judge by some comments he made in the dedication of his later History of Canada), and may also have been a factor in his departure which was soon to follow. He left the seminary later in that year, returning to Boston where he found a position within the Diocese Of Boston . The current Bishop , John Bernard Fitzpatrick with whom he evidently came to be on better terms than in his previous engagement, made him vicar-general of the diocese. Towards the end of the year Brasseur de Bourbourg returned to Europe, to spend some time conducting research in the archives of Rome and Madrid, in preparation for a new tangent he was about to embark on - travels to Central America. TRAVELS AND EXPEDITIONS TO CENTRAL AMERICA original 1857 work, ''"Histoire du Mexique"'']] From 1848 to 1863 he travelled extensively as a Missionary throughout many parts of Mexico and Central America . On these journeys he gave great attention to Mesoamerica n antiquities, and became well-versed in the then-current theories and knowledge about the history of the region, and the Pre-Colombian civilizations whose sites and monuments remained, yet were little understood. Using information he had collected during his time spent travelling there, as well as that compiled by other scholars of his time, he published in 1857 - 1859 a history of the Aztec civilization, containing what was then known or speculated about the former empire, which had been overrun and defeated some three hundred years previously by the Spanish Conquistador es in alliance with local enemies of the Aztecs. He also conducted research into the local languages and their transliteration into Latin Orthography . Between 1861 and 1864 he edited and published a collection of documents in the indigenous languages. In 1864 he was Archaeologist to the French military expedition in Mexico, and his resulting work ''Monuments anciens du Mexique'' was published by the French Government in 1866 . 's ''Relación de las Cosas de Yucatán'', with the famous De Landa Alphabet .]] DISCOVERY OF DE LANDA'S WORK In 1862 whilst searching through archives at the Royal Academy of History in Madrid for New World materials, he came across an abridged copy of a manuscript which had originally been written by the Spanish cleric Diego De Landa sometime around 1566 . De Landa had been one of those charged with disseminating the Roman Catholic faith amongst the Maya Peoples in Spain's new Central American possessions in the early period following the Spanish Conquest Of Yucatán , and had lived there for several years. His manuscript (''Relación de las Cosas de Yucatán'') had been written upon his enforced return to Spain, where he faced trial for illegally or improperly conducting an Inquisition ( he was later absolved, returning to the New World as the appointed Bishop of Yucatán ). In the manuscript de Landa had recorded much information about the Maya peoples and customs, based on his own contemporary observations and discussions with Mayan informants. Brasseur de Bourbourg's main interest in the document, however, was a section in which de Landa reproduced what he called "an alphabet" of the as-yet undeciphered Maya Hieroglyphics or Writing System of the ancient Maya Civilization . In this passage de Landa had annotated the Mayan symbols (or Glyph s) which supposedly corresponded to the letters of the Spanish Alphabet , as given to him by a Maya informant who he had quizzed. Brasseur de Bourbourg realised that this could prove to be the key to unlocking the secrets of the Maya script, and he announced this discovery when republishing the manuscript (in bilingual Spanish-French edition) in late 1863 , under the title, ''Relation des choses de Yucatán de Diego de Landa''. However, upon initial analysis by Brasseur de Bourbourg and others the so-called " De Landa Alphabet " proved to be problematic and inconsistent, and these immediate attempts to use this alphabet as a kind of " Rosetta Stone " to read the glyphs failed. Nevertheless, Brasseur de Bourbourg's uncovering of this document and de Landa's alphabet would much later prove to be vital in the eventual decipherment of the Maya glyphs. His attempts, and those of others which followed, were mislead insofar as they interpreted the signs Alphabet ically, whereas it was only when they were recognised to be mainly Syllabic in nature that significant progress was made. PUBLICATION OF POPOL VUH Another significant publication owed to him was made in 1861 , when he produced a French translation of the Popol Vuh , a sacred book of the Quiché Maya people. He included in this publication a Grammar of the Quiché Language , and an essay on Central American Mythology . IDENTIFICATION OF MAYA CODEX In 1866 , Brasseur de Bourbourg had opportunity to examine an artefact in Madrid which was in the possession of a Spanish Paleography professor named Juan de Tro y Ortolano, who had purchased it some six years earlier. This artefact was an old book, or Codex , made from paper-bark in the form of a folded screen of continuous pages, several metres in length when extended. The codex contained numerous signs and drawings, which Brasseur de Bourbourg was readily able to identify as being Mayan in origin, having seen and studied many similar markings and glyphs whilst in Central America. Tro y Ortolano gave him permission to publish the codex in a reproduction, and Brasseur de Bourbourg duly gave it the name Troano Codex in his honour. His identification of the codex was significant, as it was the only third such Maya Codex to have been uncovered (the second, the Paris codex, had been discovered by the French scholar Léon De Rosny only a few years before). Brasseur de Bourbourg in particular recognised its exceeding rarity, since in de Landa's ''la Relación'' which he had earlier rediscovered, de Landa gave an account of how he had ordered the destruction of all such Maya codices he could find, and many volumes had been consigned to the flames. In 1869 - 1870 Brasseur de Bourbourg published his analyses and interpretations of the content of the Troano codex, in his work ''Manuscrit Troano, etudes sur le systme graphique et la langue des Mayas''. He put forward some proposed translations for the glyphs recorded in the codex, in part based on the associated pictures and in part on de Landa's alphabet, but his efforts were tentative and largely unsuccessful. A few years later, another Maya codex came to light in the hands of another collector, which became known as the Cortesianus codex (in the belief that it had been in the possession of Hernán Cortés . When later examined by Léon de Rosny, he determined that it was actually a part of the Troano cortex, the two parts having been separated at some indeterminate point in the past. The two parts were later rejoined, and collectively are known as the '''Madrid''' or '''Tro-Cortesianus codex''', and remain on display in Madrid. In 1871 he published his ''Bibliothque Mexico-Guatemalienne'', a compendium of literature and sources associated with Mesoamerican studies. DEATH, ASSESSMENT OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS He died at Nice at the beginning of 1874, at the age of 59. His linguistic and archaeological fieldwork, as well as his diligent collection, discovery and republication of source materials proved to be highly useful for subsequent Mesoamerican researchers and scholars. The interpretations and theories he personally advanced mostly proved to be inaccurate. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS A listing of his publications (either original works or reproductions of historical documents), by original publication date. The place of publication is annotated (in brackets), and the shorter or common name of the publication is bolded. The list is not necessarily complete.
A collection of travel accounts and reports which Brasseur de Bourbourg sent to the French Minister for Education and Religion from Mexico, Guatemala and Spain is stored at the ''Archives Nationales'' (Paris), F17, 2942. REFERENCES |