Bérenger Saunière

Bérenger Saunière ( born April 11, 1852 in Montazels; † January 22, 1917 in Rennes -le- Château ) was a French priest at Rennes- le -Château, which was brought speculative with the Priory of Sion in conjunction.

Life

Bérenger Saunière was the eldest son of Marguerite and Joseph Saunière, according to him three more sons and three daughters were born. His father was mayor of Montazels, head of a mill operation and administrator of the castle of the Marquis de Cazermajou and then Monsieur de Bourzès. The brother Alfred became a priest, brother Joseph died at 25 while studying medicine. Bérenger spent his school years in school St. Louis in Limoux.

1874 Saunière entered the seminary of Carcassonne. Three years later he was ordained a priest and began his ministry as a curate in Alet -les- Bains. In 1882 he was transferred to La Clat and appointed professor at the seminary of Narbonne. Because of disciplinary incidents Saunière was however transferred to Rennes- le -Château, where he took over the parish office on 1 June 1885.

Saunière was openly anti-republican and was therefore forced by the prefecture to leave his community from December 1885 to July 1886, after which he taught again at the seminar. Under pressure from the city council, however, the prefect recanted his decision. 1890 Saunière was now also assigned in addition to the very small Rennes- le -Château Antugnac as a parish.

Saunière advertised in many religious magazines (including Semaine Religieuse, La Croix, L' éclair, L' Express du Midi ) to get Mass stipends. He got out numerous letters with money orders - from his notes can be inferred that he received 1896-1915 payments for at least a hundred thousand fairs, of which he could only read a few hundred a year. He became a wealthy man by this revenue.

Saunière renovated the small village church Sainte Marie- Madeleine and her newly designed together with Henri Boudet. 1902 was the pastor a glass eye. He lived with the family Dénarnaud in the rectory; However, he understood only very poorly with Marie Dénarnauds mother. He preferred, therefore, can be built in the building that he had next to the cemetery to stop. A year later, it came to a dispute between Saunière and Boudet, who had his friend accused of an " unseemly for a priest of life ."

In a visitation urged the new bishop of Carcassonne, Monseigneur Paul -Félix Beuvain de Beauséjour, an account of the sources and uses of funds Saunières. The pastor tried to prevent disclosure statement by repeatedly reported sick. It was followed by several defense experiments, where Saunière is said to have declared, among other things, he had found a treasure, what the bishop but saw through. Saunière finally explained everything belonged to his housekeeper Marie Dénarnaud. 1911 then Saunière was removed from office ( " suspensus a divinis "). He remained at Rennes- le -Château. His successor Abbé Marty had no success: the inhabitants of Rennes- le -Château to the Saunière had years earlier taken care of financially, had not forgotten him, and came to this Saunières fairs in the winter garden of his villa Bethania. However, the cash flow remained from now. The priest had to sell much of his private property.

Saunière appealed to Rome, and was again used as a parish priest of Rennes- le -Château by performing a Bußwallfahrt to Lourdes.

Later embellishments

Noël Corbu (1912-1968), a former detective novel author, 1953 owner of the property of Saunière, was the first who told of his fabulous wealth and to an embellished story of a treasure supposedly found invented.

In the early sixties of the 20th century Corbu met with Pierre Plantard, who adapted the Sauniérelegende for his own purposes, and established a relationship with the Priory of Sion. After his release have Saunières treasure consisted primarily of documents that Plantard auswiesen than actual heirs of the Merovingians. Saunière had discovered these documents during the restoration works, previously Abbé Bigou have hidden in the wooden altar pillar of a century.

The stories were based on the several editions book The Holy Grail and his heirs of the authors Lincoln / Baigent / Leigh, who made the Holy Grail of the treasure. Dan Brown wrote in his novel The Da Vinci Code the story.