Hello All
Luc and Idaho Jones There is a old saying never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
We have to be also suspicious of the intentions Noël Corbu, a local man who had opened a restaurant in Saunière's former estate (called L'Hotel de la Tour) during the mid-1950s, to turn the village into a household name. He perhaps did the marketing ploy of the century?
Corbu began circulating stories that Father Saunière had discovered "parchments" while renovating his church in 1892. And claimed Saunière had only found one part of it, so it was necessary to continue his investigations.
Corbu also claimed that Rennes-le-Château was the capital of the Visigoths called Rhedae, but this was another exaggeration: it was Narbonne that held that position. His claim can be traced back to a book by Louis Fédié entitled Le comté de Razès et le diocèse d'Alet (1880), that contained a chapter on the history of Rennes-le-Château?
Nöel Corbu incorporated this story into his essay L'histoire de Rennes-le-Château that was deposited at the Departmental Archives at Carcassonne on 14 June 1962. Fédié's assertions concerning the population and importance of Rennes-le-Château have since been contradicted by archaeology and the work of more recent historians.
Corbu's story inspired author Robert Charroux to develop an active interest, and in 1958 with his wife Yvette and other members of The Treasure Seekers' Club (that he founded in 1951), scanned the village and its church looking for treasure using a metal detector.
Corbu's story was published in the book by Robert Charroux Trésors du monde in 1962, that caught the attention of Pierre Plantard, who decided to use and adapt Corbu's story for his own gain involving the mythological history of the Priory of Sion, that inspired the 1967 book L'Or de Rennes by author Gérard de Sède. De Sède's book contained reproductions of "parchments" allegedly discovered by the priest Bérenger Saunière alluding to the survival of the line of Dagobert II and Plantard claimed to be directly descended from that monarch. Plantard and de Sède fell out over book royalties and Philippe de Chérisey, Plantard's friend, claimed to have forged the parchments as part of the plot. At the same time, Plantard and de Chérisey were also involved in planting fabricated documents in France's Bibliothèque Nationale that dealt with the secret history of the Priory of Sion.
This is where Henry Lincon was sucked in. Henry Lincoln read de Sède's book while on holiday in the Cévennes in 1969 that led him to inspire three BBC Two Chronicle documentaries between 1972-1979, working some of its material into the 1982 bestseller Holy Blood, Holy Grail, that he co-wrote with Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. The book claimed Bérenger Saunière discovered proof (possibly the Marriage Certificate) that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were married and their descendants became the Merovingian dynasty. It was possible that this was the secret of the Priory of Sion and that Pierre Plantard could have been the descendant of Jesus Christ. The source of Saunière's wealth could have involved the blackmailing of the Vatican?
As you see by now the Yama Syndrome has well and truly kicked in. Different people with different ulterior motives cashed in on the notoriety created by Noel Corbu who in some respects to get customers saved the little village from dying into obsucurity.
However in all of this smoke and mirrors there is one small unsatisfactory answered question in all of this. The Academics claim sanuires wealth was from selling prayers. I have not seen enough evidence to convince me that he earned enough money from that to pay for all the work he did the church , villa gardens and town.
So the question and mystery for me still lingers what was the source of his wealth?
Hardluck
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