Although his occasionally empirical methodology was not universally accepted and his conclusions were sometimes contested, his contributions were recognized with his appointment as a Knight in the National Order of the Legion of Honour in 1896.

Camille de La Croix was born on July 21, 1831, at the family estate of Château du Rinval in Mont-Saint-Aubert, a village that is now part of the city of Tournai in Belgium.

There, he met Father Magloire Tournesac, a musician and architect from Sarthe, an inspector of historical monuments, under whom he learned to master the art of drawing and architecture.

[4] He was ordained a priest in 1864 and subsequently appointed to the recently constructed Saint Joseph College in Poitiers, where he performed the same duties he had done previously in Metz.

[4] During this period, he established relationships with several composers, including Auber, Félicien David, Charles Gounod, and Louis Lambillotte, with whom he collaborated on editing their works.

[9] He bequeathed his archives, collections, library, and the land of the Hypogeum of the Dunes, which he had acquired to safeguard the site, to the Société des Antiquaires de l'Ouest.

[10] Despite occasional visits to Paris to deliver lectures or instruct at the École du Louvre,[13] his primary objective was to return to Poitiers to resume his excavations, as documented by Octave Mirbeau,[14] a former student at the Vannes College with whom he shared a similar academic background.

[15] He was willing to initiate archaeological excavations without assistance and to finance them with his funds (renting or even purchasing land, buying equipment, paying the workers).

[22] In 1884, the General Council of Vienne requested that he create an archaeological map of the department, spanning from the Iron Age to the Merovingian period.

[23] In Poitiers, Father de La Croix undertook comprehensive research on the Saint-Jean Baptistery, commencing in 1890 and concluding between 1898 and 1902.

[24] He was able to discern the edifice's true purpose and corroborate the findings initially documented by Étienne-Marie Siauve [fr] at the beginning of the century.

In 1895, he researched the pillar of Yzeures-sur-Creuse (Indre-et-Loire), where he made significant advancements beyond the scope of the Société Archéologique de Touraine, which was also involved in investigating these remains.

However, following a campaign in which his characteristics, status as a Jesuit, and his Belgian nationality were subjected to greater scrutiny than the merits of his work, he was removed from this organization in May 1902.

[27][33] Nevertheless, other archaeologists, such as Émile Espérandieu[34] and Jules Quicherat, enjoyed excellent relations with de La Croix, with whom they corresponded regularly.