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mysteries |
Rennes le Chateau |
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It all started with Berenger Sauniere, the poor 33 year old priest of Rennes-le-Chateau, in south western France. He was restoring the village’s little church one day when he noticed that the alter stone was loose, on pulling it back to see what was wrong he found a number of old parchments. Two of the parchments were written using ciphers and codes, that Sauniere could not readily transcribe, so he journeyed to Paris so that he could get clerical scholars to decode them for him. The translation of the parchments appeared to make very little sense, but what they did say, made Sauniere very rich, almost over night. For the next 32 years before he died in 1917, he spent immensely. He restored and redecorated the church of St Mary Magdalene, and had himself built a luxurious villa complete with orangeries, and ornamental gardens, he also spent much of his time entertaining, which he did extravagantly. He is even said to have had an affair with the French opera singer Emma calve, during this time. During this time of high spending, Sauniere had one friend who he trusted, it was his housekeeper , Marie Denarnaud. He later signed everything he had over to her, and when he died, he died penniless, just as he had begun. Like his life, his death was a complete mystery, shortly before he died, he had a visit from a strange man, and it has been discovered that just before his fatal and sudden stroke, Marie had placed an order for his coffin. Before he died , Sauniere almost definitely gave to Marie the secret of his wealth. In her old age Marie befriended Noel Corbu, who had just purchased the Sauniere estate from her. In return when she knew herself to be dying, she promised, she would tell Corbu ‘a secret that would make him rich and powerful...’ But shortly before she died, she herself has a stroke which paralysed both of her hands and robbed her of her speech. She tried to still keep her promise, but Corbu maintained that he did not hear the muttered words of Marie. Corbu later died in a car crash, and if he did know the secret it died with him. So, what was the secret? The original parchments were never seen again, but in the late 1960's a group calling itself, the Priory of Sion, claimed to have them in its possession. This mysterious group that had a history spanning hundreds of years, published two of the parchments. And this is when the story caught the media’s attention. Many researchers doubt that the parchments that Sauniere found has ever existed. Had builders not witnessed Sauniere finding the parchments under the alter stone in 1887, the story would have been written off as a great hoax. But one of the undeniable facts of this case is, Sauniere spent an extravagant amount of money, the thing is though, where did he get it from? There are many possibilities, many of them are far-fetched, but there are a number of possibilities that stand up to serious scrutiny. Theory 1, The best known of these theories is that of the ‘sacred bloodline’. It was originally proposed in a BBC documentary film, by Henry Lincoln, the theory is based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross, but was administered a drug while on the cross to make it appear as if he had died. Jesus was then taken down from the cross, by his followers, and taken to a safe place. (Simon of Cyrene, is a popular candidate, that takes Jesus’ place on the cross, in another version of the theory.) According to this theory, Jesus married Mary Magdalene, had a son, and left Palestine, for the relative safety of south-west France. His decedents were said to have married into the Merovingian dynasty. The mysterious royal family that was accredited with magical powers. When Jesus died in AD 74, he was buried in the south of France, and his remains were eventually hidden in the Rennes area. In the book, The Tomb of God, Richard Andrews and Paul Schellenbeger, name the burial place of Jesus as the west side of Mount Cardou, which is just to the south of Rennes. If Berenger Sauniere did discover the whereabouts of and existence of Jesus’s remains, then he would have had a powerful bargaining tool, with which to blackmail to church with. While the Merovingian king, Dagobert II, is mentioned in one of the parchments, there is no other evidence that is convincing enough to persuade the church that the resurrection did not happen, and this is the reason why the theory the that Sauniere was blackmailing the church falls apart, he would have had very little bargaining power with which to use to against the church. Theory 2, Another theory suggests that the wealth came from blackmailing the wealthy parishioners. The evidence for this theory comes from their attitudes towards him and their characters, in particular two bishops of Carcassonne. One of them, bishop Billard, had a laissez-faire approach to the happenings at Rennes, and he did not mind Sauniere. But Billard was replaced in 1902 by bishop Beasejour, he wanted to know where Sauniere had got the money from, and he demanded an answer of Sauniere. The answer came back as ‘I have wealthy penitents!’ The problem with this theory is that Sauniere would have needed a great deal of penitents, that had a large amount of money, because Sauniere spent such a large amount continuously, it is more likely that the reply was meant to mean mind your own business. Theory 3, Another theory for Sauniere’s riches was that the parchments contained the location of a secret horde of treasure. Many researches agree that they could have been treasure maps, but the dissension comes from what was the treasure, and who hid it? The main contender of the treasure’s original owner is the Cathars, a religious sect that flourished in and around the Rennes area until the late 13th Century. The Cathars were also known as the Albigensians, and they believed that the world was the creation of the Devil. They were persecuted and nearly wiped out by the Catholic Church during this time (13th Century) and they made a last stand in a mountaintop fortress on the slopes of Montsegur, that was located in southwest France. Just before the Catholics overwhelmed them, four mountaineers escaped from the stronghold by night, they were carrying what they later called ‘the treasures of their faith, pecuniam infinitam’ which translates as unlimited money. One question that is now asked is ‘did Sauniere discover the secret hiding place of the lost Cathar treasure?’ and if so, what was it? Dr Arthur Guirdham, who is a leading authority on Catharism, thinks that the treasure was some sort of esoteric knowledge, and that the mountaineers had hidden books about the area of Rennes. If this was the case, what did the books contain? Could the Cathars unlimited money have been the philosophers stone - the knowledge of how to make ordinary metals into gold? There is a little evidence that Sauniere had an interest in alchemy, the forerunner of chemistry. Just inside the church there are a strange group of statues, they were placed there by Sauniere during the restoration. At the base of the statues is the demon Asmodeus, the guardian of forbidden treasure, above his head is a bowl of holy water, and above this are carvings of two salamanders, creature that are myth and lived in fire. Above the salamanders are four angels, that are beings of air or spirit. They are making the sign of the cross. Earth, Water, Fire and Air are also symbols of alchemical theory. Could these all be hints that Sauniere’s wealth was the result of alchemy? We will never know for sure. |
Sources: The X Factor, The Tomb of God. By: Richard Andrews |