Dom Pérignon (monk) at the Abbey of Hautvillers, Dom Groussard, who in 1821 gave an account of Dom Pérignon "inventing" Champagne among other exaggerated tales about the Abbey in order to garner historical importance and prestige for the church. Groussard’s myth achieved more than prestige for the church, it helped commercialize champagne at the turn of the twentieth century. The Syndicat du commerce used the myth to promote champagne and the Champagne region, producing a pamphlet called "Le Vin de Champagne" in 1896 that celebrated Perignon as the inventor of champagne by following "ancient traditions." The myth served to protect champagne made in
Cosmas the Monk Cosmas the Monk Cosmas the Monk was a 7th-century clergyman who features in Chalcedonian traditions. Any knowledge of Cosmas comes from the notably unreliable 10th-century hagiography of John of Damascus. He was a Saracen scholar who became the teacher to John of Damascus and his foster brother. To the Chalcedonians he is known as Cosmas the Sicilian ("fl." late 7th century). a Saracen slave rescued from execution in 664AD in Sicily by a judge from Damascus called Ibn Mansur, the Father of John of Damascus who employed him as the tutor of John and his orphan foster brother Cosmas of