The Secret of Rennes Le Chateau

Abbe Berenger Sauniere, the parish Priest, was intent on improving his small church at the hilltop village of Rennes le Chateau. His community was poor and there was little money to pay for the basic necessities, never mind paint and ornaments. He knew he would have to carry out the work himself and set about the task in the summer of 1891. He removed the altar stone and dislodged from a secret hiding place two tubes containing some items plus four parchments. The documents were in code and no one knew what they meant. However they set the Priest on a fabulous trail, an odyssey of mystery and adventure. Suddenly his church was filled with glittering ornaments and the village became rich beyond the wildest dreams of its inhabitants.

The Priest’s pay was the equivalent of £6 a year, yet he spent millions of pounds on his church, on the village, on missionary work and on himself. A modern road was built up to the village, water was piped in and craftsmen from all over France were hired to redecorate the church in a gaudy style with over elaborate statues and Stations of the Cross. A lavish villa was constructed with a wood panelled study and a pretty orangery. The villa was filled with precious china, fabrics, marble and a magnificent library. There were banquets for villagers and cash handouts. He funded convents and monasteries.

Today the village stands huddled at the top of its hilltop in the Pyrenees with its bizarre church at its centre, the close knit community of farm workers living in neat stone cottages. The ever-growing number of visitors bears reference to the strange events.

So what wonderful or dreadful secret did Sauniere uncover in his church more than a century ago? Was it the Holy Grail, the cup Christ drank from at the Last Supper. Or was it a secret so terrible that the Pope himself paid a fortune to keep it hidden forever? So far no one has ever unravelled the secret and as time goes on it becomes more difficult than ever to sift fact from fantasy. However some of the facts are these. Sauniere died in 1917 never having revealed the source of the villagers’ sudden wealth. The only person who has shared his secret, his housekeeper, Marie, died in 1953 taking the secret to the grave with her. Another fact was the constant flow of important visitors to the village from politicians to high up Catholic officials. One of the most frequent visitors was Archduke Johann Von Hapsburg, cousin of the Emperor of Austria. It was rumoured that Hapsburg and Sauniere had opened consecutively numbered bank accounts and that considerable sums were transferred to the Priest. Sauniere refused promotion or transfer and remained in the village all his life.

On his deathbed in 1917 another priest was called to hear his final confession but he was so shocked by what Sauniere told him that he is believed to have even refused absolution. Sauniere’s will gave no clue as he died penniless having transferred all his wealth to his housekeeper who continued to live in comfort until after the Second World War.

In 1946 the French Government issued new currency and before the banks would undertake the exchange everyone had to declare what they had and how they had come by it. Marie could not and she was seen in her garden burning sackfuls of money rather than reveal her secret. She had promised the new owner of a villa in the village that she would reveal the secret on her deathbed but in 1953 she suffered a stroke and was unable to communicate.

And that is the strange tale of Abbe Sauniere. Many theories have been aired on the matter and we ourselves have visited the strange little hamlet perched on its dusty hilltop. On the occasion of our first visit, the air was still and hot, the village was quiet except for the sound of a dog wailing somewhere in the distance. The church was locked but opening at 2pm. We stopped for our picnic with our young children. As we ate I recounted the strange story. Mysteriously, as I spoke, the sky grew black and flashes of lightning and thunder in the distant Pyrenees could be seen and heard. The children were impressed though a little frightened. We went into the church at 2pm and found it to be a strange eerie place. One station of the cross had a Scotsman in a kilt at the foot of the cross. There was a picture of a lady resembling the Virgin Mary cradling twins.

One theory was that Sauniere had found evidence of the Templars treasures described in earlier copies of this magazine. Another that he discovered evidence that Jesus was one of twins or that he married Mary Magdalene and they had children and came to France to live in peace and obscurity. No one will ever know as all evidence has been destroyed and no first hand accounts now exist. However many people try to follow the convoluted trail to try and discover the secret of Rennes le Chateau.

Tony Rice-Oxley