by Pants Elk » Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:26 pm
The Priory of Sion is not, whatever it is, what it is claimed to be in the "Holy Blood ..." That "Priory of Sion" has been revealed as a scam by a third-rate conman (Plantard), in many books published here in France. Old news, old hat, water under the bridge. The trouble is, nobody is interested in publishing a debunking of "Holy Blood ..." in the UK and the US, because it won't sell. People love the mystery, and don't want it touched by truth. You can find out about the whole Rennes le Chateau myth in the thorough and detailed Paul Smith web pages on the subject.<br>I loved this story since I first saw Lincoln's awesome television series, back when it was first aired. Accepting the truth of the matter was hard for me, like finding out Santa Claus isn't real. But the whole thing is an elaborate (if beautifully crafted) lie from beginning to end. Sauniere got his money through recorded and illegal transactions, all evidenced, and no mystery. The "treasure" angle was invented in the 1950's (? from memory) by the proprietor of the restaurant in Rennes, as a publicity gimmick. And Pierre Plantard was an ultra-right wing dreamer and conman. Of course, he may have been descended from the Merovingian bloodline, as may you. Don't let a genealogical quest get sidetracked by the Myth Industry of Rennes le Chateau. Or (god help us) Dan Brown.<br><br>Incidentally, I used to pass through Plantard's Sion regularly, when I lived out that way.<br><br>From <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://priory-of-sion.com/">priory-of-sion.com/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> :<br><br>THE REAL HISTORICAL ORIGIN OF<br><br>THE PRIORY OF SION<br><br> <br><br>Paul Smith<br><br> <br><br>The President of the 1956 Priory of Sion was André Bonhomme.<br><br>André Bonhomme was one of the four founding members of the Priory of Sion in Annemasse in 1956, along with Pierre Plantard. He is tired of being harassed by inquiries about the nature of the association and doesn't want any publicity – he refuses to be interviewed on television or on radio. He doesn't understand where people get the idea that the Priory was anything other than what it was – just a small club of friends.<br><br>This was the statement he made to the BBC in 1996:<br><br>"The Priory of Sion doesn't exist anymore. We were never involved in any activities of a political nature. It was four friends who came together to have fun. We called ourselves the Priory of Sion because there was a mountain by the same name close-by. I haven't seen Pierre Plantard in over 20 years and I don't know what he's up to but he always had a great imagination. I don't know why people try to make such a big thing out of nothing."<br><br> <br><br>And to quote French Researcher Jean-Luc Chaumeil from his 1994 book ‘The Table Of Isis, Part 2, The Templars Of The Apocalypse: The Message Of A Sacred Enigma - Tales, Legends And Myths Of Rennes-le-Chateau’:<br><br>"Finally, the Priory of Sion was created in 1956. We were able to contact former members of this office, who all burst out laughing when we mentioned Rennes-le-Château. According to its former President, the association was at the time a "club for boy scouts" and NOTHING MORE….!"<br><br> <br><br>And from the BBC 2 Timewatch documentary The History of a Mystery (1996):<br><br>"There's no evidence for a Priory of Sion until the 1950s; to find it, you go to the little town of St-Julien. Under French Law every new club or association must register itself with the Authorities, and that's why there's a dossier here showing that a Priory of Sion filed the proper forms in 1956. According to a founding member, this eccentric association took its name not from Jerusalem, but from a nearby mountain (Col du Mont Sion Alt. 786 m). The dossier also notes that the Priory's self-styled Grand Master Pierre Plantard, who is central to this story, has done time in jail."<br><br> <br><br>Pierre Plantard was sentenced on 17 December 1953 by the court of St Julien-en-Genevois to 6 months in prison for breaking the French Law relating to "Abus de Confiance" (fraud and embezzlement).<br><br>The evidence for this is found in a letter written by the Mayor of Annemasse in 1956 to the Sub-Prefect of St Julien-en-Genevois, which can be found in the File that contains the 1956 Statutes of the Priory of Sion and the 1956 Registration Documents of the Priory of Sion.<br><br>"...in our archives we have a note from the I.N.S.S.E dated 15 December 1954 advising us that Monsieur Pierre Plantard was sentenced on 17 December 1953 by the court in St. Julien-en-Genevois to six months imprisonment for a ‘breach of trust’ under articles 406 and 408 of the Penal Code."<br><br>Articles 406 and 408 of the old-style Penal Code correspond to Articles 314-1, 314-2 and 314-3 of the present Penal Code. These articles are classified in Book III of the Code, ‘Crimes and offences against property’ – theft, extortion, blackmail, fraud, and embezzlement.<br><br>The Official Judicial Archives relating to Pierre Plantard’s criminal convictions and prison sentences are to be found in the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Thonon-les-Bains (this being the information as provided by Le Directeur des Archives départementales de la Haute-Savoie in the town of Annecy).<br><br> <br><br>(... and there is no Santa Claus) <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=pantselk>Pants Elk</A> at: 10/25/05 11:48 am<br></i>