The History

In the year 70 AD, the Roman emperor Titus took the city of Jerusalem. Its entire wealth was plundered as well as that of the Temple of Herod, known also as the third temple. This was the creation of Herod the great who ruled from 37 to 4 BC. He was a prodigious builder and ordered the construction of innumerable fortresses and temples throughout his lands.  He also rebuilt Strato's tower which was renamed Caesarea and of course no King can be without his royal palace which was duly constructed in the year 24BC. The temple in Jerusalem was started around 19 or 20BC and finished in a bout 63AD. A huge amount of time which certainly hints at its size and complexity. The records of the day show that some 10,000 workers took part in the building of the temple of which around 1,000 were priests who had been specially trained as carpenters and possibly also in other crafts. Although historians are unanimous in declaring that this temple was not to be compared to that of Solomon there is little doubt that it was a spectacular building. For the times, it outranked anything in the known world and it is unlikely that even the Romans would not have failed to marvel at such a structure. Titus himself dearly wanted to preserve the building which he felt would have made a splendid addition to the Roman empire and an excellent base from which to work. Although we have a few clues as to what was contained within the temple we can be fairly sure it was not as spectacular as the treasures found within the Temple of Solomon. An idea of its wealth is contained in Josephus' account, paragraph 7 and this seems to suggest quite considerable opulence, monetary as well as artistic. Flavius Josephus who actually witnessed the entire event recorded the account in his War of the Jews, books 6,  chapter 4 which you can read by clicking on the button:-

As the attack against the Temple itself and the Jews who were guarding it, intensified, the building was seen to be burning. Some of the Roman soldiers spurred on by this ran in to the temple and began to set more fires. Titus by now had arrived on the scene and despite making strenuous efforts to get his troops to quench the fires,  the flames spread rapidly throughout the entire building. By now his soldiers were consumed with hate and greed and even though they could clearly hear Titus calling to them at the top of his voice, they paid no attention. In the end the entire temple was burned to the ground. One story tells of the Roman soldiers returning to the ruins when the fires had died out and actually pulling apart the blocks of masonry which had made up the walls and foundations in order to get the gold that had run in between the stonework. As well as the contents of the city of Jerusalem undoubtedly everything within the temple was also looted. It should not be overlooked that this was an exceptionally bloody episode by any historical standard. Accounts speak of over one million people being mercilessly slaughtered. 

The treasure of Jerusalem was taken back to Rome in triumph where initially at least, the greater part of it would have been stored. Items of great artistic value may well have been preserved as part of the state treasure. As a commemoration of Titus and his conquest of Jerusalem an arch was built in Rome following his death. On one of the panels can be seen his troops carrying off the plunder from the temple. Clearly visible is the giant Menorah. The relief does not give a particularly good idea of the size of the Menorah but as can be seen there are a great many people required to transport it. It therefore seems likely that it was a substantial piece weighing several hundred kilos.

Some 300 years later, in the year 394,  Alaric the 1st was proclaimed king of the Visigoths. Originally a Germanic tribe, the Visigoths lived for the most part in eastern Europe. In those days they served the Romans as mercenaries. However upon the death of Theodosius I, Alaric renounced his allegiance to Rome. As their new king,  Alaric led his troops into Greece where he conquered Sparta, Argos and Corinth. He would also have taken Athens itself but for a substantial ransom paid by the Greeks.  Not long after this impressive victory his army came into conflict with the Romans and he suffered a defeat at the hands of the Roman General Flavius Stilicho. He made off with his plunder and later, with some diplomacy, managed to secure from the Romans the position of Prefect of the Roman province of Illyricum. Obviously obsessed by the wealth of Rome, Alaric again tried to invade Italy and was once again beaten by Stilicho. Upon the death of Arcadius in 408 AD the Roman empire abandoned its plans to invade the eastern empire which presumably would have rid them of the Visigoths once and for all. Unfortunately for the Romans Alaric took this as a sign of weakness and asked for almost 2000 Kilos of gold as a tribute upon payment of which he would renounce his plans to invade Rome.  Stilicho convinced the government that paying such a sum would be a wise move. Unfortunately not everyone in Rome agreed with Stilicho and Honorius had him executed and, in addition, reneged on the agreement with Alaric. As you may imagine Alaric was not amused and immediately invaded Italy, laying siege to Rome. A huge sum of money was paid as ransom but in 410 Alaric captured Rome anyway and sacked it. It is said that his troops took six days to empty the city of its wealth. Not only did the Visigoths remove everything of value that the Romans possessed but it is believed they also got hold of a large portion (if not all) of the fabulous treasure of Jerusalem which had lain untouched in the vaults of the city.  Now it was the turn of another conquering army to return home with the spoils of war held aloft in triumph. At this point you must try to comprehend the sheer quantity of treasure the Visigoths must have had in their possession. First there was all the treasure they obtained from their expedition to Greece which included a huge ransom paid by the Athenians. Next there was the entire wealth of the city of Rome and finally there was a large portion of the treasure of Jerusalem.

The Visigoths spread out from Italy capturing various regions throughout Spain, Portugal and France. In these early days they made Toulouse their capital.

The location of this vast treasure remains hidden until the end of the century when Alaric II finds himself under attack by Clovis. Not wishing his fortune to fall into enemy hands he moves it to his stronghold at Carcassonne. From this point on, not one single reference to the treasure appears anywhere in the annals of history. Speculation has offered one possible resting place for this fortune, namely the fortress of Rheddae, an ancient Visigothic stronghold and capital of the district known as the Razés. Today Rheddae is more commonly known as Rennes-le-Château, a sleepy little village in the backwoods of the Languedoc.

The Arrival of Bérenger Saunière

Now we must move forward to the late nineteenth century when a new hero or perhaps anti-hero enters the frame. The time is the 1st of June 1885. The young Bérenger Saunière has just been ordained as a priest  and has arrived to take office in the village of Rennes-le-Château in France. A vibrant man with a passion for life and a burning ambition to succeed, his first glimpse of his future was not what he expected. He approached his church for the first time only to discover it was almost a complete ruin. The roof was all but missing and when it rained, water would pour through the gaping holes, much of it falling squarely upon the altar itself. The windows were boarded up to prevent even more damage occurring to the stained glass from the violent storms. The presbytery that was to be his home, was literally uninhabitable. To add insult to injury, his salary had been set at a meagre 75F per month; Even in those days this was barely sufficient to live on. It was not the start he had hoped for and it is clear to imagine why he must have felt that the religious establishment seemed to be looking  down on him with some degree of contempt.

In October of 1885 the State elections were taking place and to the astonishment of everyone in Rennes-le-Château, Bérenger Saunière,   began overtly campaigning for the people to cast their votes against the Republican party. This, from a man who had barely set foot in his own church. Unfortunately for Saunière the Republicans won the elections and obviously bitter at a priest who had actively encouraged the electorate to vote against them, went out of their way to seek  retribution. He was promptly denounced to the authorities of the region for inciting public disorder and trying to influence the electoral system. As a result the authorities ordered that his salary should be withheld and this edict took effect  on 1st December 1885.   Saunière approached his Bishop, Monsignor Billard who on seeing the difficulty he was in, immediately gave him 200 Francs and appointed him as professor of the 'Petit Seminaire de Narbonne' where he remained until July 1886, the date on which his suspension was lifted. He returned to Rennes-le-Château and took up where he had left off apparently completely unruffled by this seemingly insignificant episode.

In the time between his suspension and returning to his church, Saunière had somehow managed to form an acquaintance with the Countess of Chambord, an exceedingly illustrious and important person.  She in turn had advanced him the princely sum of 3000 Francs which equated to almost three and a half year's salary. A veritable fortune in those days. The amount was not coincidental. Saunière had obtained an estimate for  repairs to the church which came to exactly 2797.97 Francs. This is certainly close enough to the gift he received to make us believe that he actually requested it. As to how he managed to obtain such a donation, we can only guess. The most plausible theory is that he simply asked for it and the countess being perhaps a generous person, advanced him the money. It may also be possible that she  shared his political views and was sympathetic. Whatever the reason was, we can only speculate about it today.  One very interesting point worth mentioning is that the architect appointed to evaluate the building, a gentleman by the name of Cals,  gave two quotations to Bérenger Saunière. One for the restoration work and another for the construction of a completely new church. The cost for the new church (lock, stock and barrel) was placed at 4,500 F. Since Saunière already had 3,000 F and finding the remaining 1,500 F would certainly not have been a problem, one wonders why he elected to have the church rebuilt. Particularly as it was in such a poor state of repair. Possibly he recognized the historical value of the building or perhaps, as sometimes happens, he simply fell in love with the architecture or maybe, even at this early stage, he recognized that there was more to the crumbling building than met the eye.

Discovery of the parchments and Early Restoration Work

With immediate effect he began the restoration of the church. The altar, being the most important object,  required his immediate attention having been severely damaged by the elements. The heavy stone lintel stood on two ancient Visigothic carved pillars.

With the aid of some local masons Saunière removed the heavy altar stone and then to the distress of all concerned the pillar cracked and fell apart. It was hollow and stuffed full of dry bracken. When Saunière investigated, he found three wooden tubes sealed tight with wax. He opened them and found inside a number of parchments. In later years he had the Visigothic pillar moved to the back of the church where he used it as as a plinth for a statue. For whatever reason, he placed the pillar upside down. A short while later while repairing a large flagstone in front of the altar, the workmen discovered a clay pot stuffed full of ancient gold coins, a very fine Visigothic necklace and bracelet and a 13th Century gold chalice. An unexpected gift from heaven which no doubt was  gratefully received by the impoverished Saunière. An ancient carving was revealed on the underside of the stone. Experts have since confirmed that the stone dates to the Visigothic or Carolingian period. It has two carved panels one of which is very worn. The panel on the left depicts a man with sword drawn about to mount a horse while the one on the right appears to show a man with sword drawn on horseback with possibly a child on the horse with him. In addition to the gold a number of skeletons were discovered interred under the stone and one skull in particular showed signs that it had a ritualistic hole drilled into it. At some later date, presumably after a certain amount of restoration had taken place, the bell-ringer while descending from the belfry noticed something glinting in the wooden pillar supporting the pulpit at the foot of the stairs. On closer examination it turned out to be a small glass phial inside which was a tightly rolled scrap of paper. He quickly took his find to Saunière and almost immediately Saunière began excavations within the church. He dug holes in the Aisle, Nave and the Transept. It is believed he also dug secretly in the cemetery of the church aided by his housekeeper Marie Denarnaud. An activity which was conducted secretly in the middle of the night, hoping no doubt to the avoid the watchful gaze of the villagers. In his personal diary he records for the date September 21, 1891 "Excavated a grave. Found a tomb". It is impossible to say which grave it was but the most obvious candidate would be that of Marie de Blanchefort.