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Priory of Sion
The Prieur de Sion, translated from French as Priory of Sion, is a name given to multiple groups, both real and
fictitious. The most controversial is a fringe fraternal organisation, founded and dissolved in France in 1956
(abiding by the 1901 French Law of Associations) by Pierre Plantard. In the 1960s, Plantard created a fictitious
history for that organization, describing it as a secret society founded by Godfrey of Bouillon on Mount Zion in the
Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1099, conflating it with a genuine historical monastic order, the Abbey of Our Lady of
Mount Zion. In Plantard's version, the priory was devoted to installing a secret bloodline of the Merovingian
dynasty on the thrones of France and the rest of Europe.[2] This myth was expanded upon and popularised by the
1982 pseudohistorical book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail [1] and later claimed as factual in the preface of the
2003 novel The Da Vinci Code.[3]
After becoming a cause clbre from the late 1960s to the 1980s, the mythical Priory of Sion was exposed as a
ludibrium created by Plantard as a framework for his claim of being the Great Monarch prophesied by
Nostradamus.[4] Evidence presented in support of its historical existence and activities before 1956 was
discovered to have been forged and then planted in various locations around France by Plantard and his
accomplices. Nevertheless, many conspiracy theorists still persist in believing that the Priory of Sion is an age-old
cabal that conceals a subversive secret.[5]
The Priory of Sion myth has been exhaustively debunked by journalists and scholars as one of the great hoaxes
of the 20th century.[6] Some skeptics have expressed concern that the proliferation and popularity of books,
websites and films inspired by this hoax have contributed to the problem of conspiracy theories, pseudohistory
and other confusions becoming more mainstream.[7] Others are troubled by the romantic reactionary ideology
unwittingly promoted in these works.[8]

Contents
[hide]

History[edit]
The fraternal organisation was founded in the town of Annemasse, Haute-Savoie in eastern France in 1956. [9][10]
The 1901 French law of Associations required that the Priory of Sion be registered with the government; although
the statutes and the registration Documents are dated 7 May 1956, the registration took place at the
subprefecture of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois on 25 June 1956 and this was announced in the Journal Officiel de la
Rpublique Franaise on 20 July 1956. [11] The Headquarters of the Priory of Sion and its journal Circuit were
based in the apartment of Plantard, in a social housing block known as Sous-Cassan newly constructed in
1956.[12][13] The founders and signatories inscribed with their real names and aliases were Pierre Plantard, also
known as "Chyren", and Andr Bonhomme, also known as "Stanis Bellas". Bonhomme was the President while
Plantard was the Secretary General. The registration documents also included the names of Jean Deleaval as the
Vice-President and Armand Defago as the Treasurer. The offices of the Priory of Sion and its journal Circuit were
located at Plantard's apartment. The choice of the name "Sion" was based on a popular local feature, a hill south
of Annemasse in France, known as Mont Sion, where the founders intended to establish a retreat center.[14] The
accompanying title to the name was "Chevalerie d'Institutions et Rgles Catholiques d'Union Indpendante et
Traditionaliste": this subtitle forms the acronym CIRCUIT and translates in English as Chivalry of Catholic Rules
and Institutions of Independent and Traditionalist Union".
The statutes of the Priory of Sion indicate its purpose was to allow and encourage members to engage in studies
and mutual aid. The articles of the association expressed the goal of creating a Traditionalist Catholic chivalric
order.[15] Article 7 of the statutes of the Priory of Sion stated that its members were expected "to carry out good

deeds, to help the Roman Catholic Church, teach the truth, defend the weak and the oppressed". Towards the end
of 1956 the association had planned to forge partnerships with the local Catholic Church of the area which would
have involved a school bus service run by both the Priory of Sion and the church of Saint-Joseph in
Annemasse.[16] Plantard is described as the President of the Tenants' Association of Annemasse in the issues of
Circuit.
The bulk of the activities of the Priory of Sion, however, bore no resemblance to the objectives as outlined in its
statutes: Circuit, the official journal of the Priory of Sion, was indicated as a news bulletin of an "organisation for
the defence of the rights and the freedom of affordable housing" rather than for the promotion of chivalry-inspired
charitable work. The first issue of the journal is dated 27 May 1956, and, in total, twelve issues appeared. Some of
the articles took a political position in the local council elections. Others criticised and even attacked real-estate
developers of Annemasse.[15]
According to a letter written by Lon Guersillon the Mayor of Annemasse in 1956, contained in the folder holding
the 1956 Statutes of the Priory of Sion in the subprefecture of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, Plantard was given a sixmonth sentence in 1953 for fraud.[17]
The formally registered association was dissolved some time after October 1956 but intermittently revived for
different reasons by Plantard between 1961 and 1993, though in name and on paper only. The Priory of Sion is
considered dormant by the subprefecture because it has indicated no activities since 1956. According to French
law, subsequent references to the Priory bear no legal relation to that of 1956 and no one, other than the original
signatories, is entitled to use its name in an official capacity. Andr Bonhomme played no part in the association
after 1956. He officially resigned in 1973 when he heard that Plantard was linking his name with the association.
In light of Plantard's death in 2000, there is no one who is currently alive who has official permission to use the
name.[18]
In 2002, Gino Sandri (former secretary to Pierre Plantard) announced the revival of Priory of Sion. [19]

Myth[edit]
Plantard's plot[edit]
Plantard set out to have the Priory of Sion perceived as a prestigious esoteric Christian chivalric order, whose
members would be people of influence in the fields of finance, politics and philosophy, devoted to installing the
"Great Monarch", prophesied by Nostradamus, on the throne of France. Plantard's choice of the pseudonym
"Chyren" was a reference to "Chyren Selin", Nostradamus's anagram for the name for this eschatological
figure.[20]
Between 1961 and 1984, Plantard contrived a mythical pedigree for the Priory of Sion claiming that it was the
offshoot of a real Roman Catholic religious order housed in the Abbey of Our Lady of Mount Zion, which had been
founded in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the First Crusade in 1099 and later absorbed by the Jesuits in 1617.
The mistake is often made that this Abbey of Sion was a Priory of Sion, but there is a difference between an
abbey and a priory.[21] Calling his original 1956 group "Priory of Sion" presumably gave Plantard the later idea to
claim that his organisation had been historically founded by crusading knight Godfrey of Bouillon on Mount Zion
near Jerusalem during the Middle Ages.[5]
Furthermore, Plantard was inspired by a 1960 magazine Les Cahiers de l'Histoire to center his personal
genealogical claims, as found in the "Priory of Sion documents", on the Merovingian king Dagobert II, who had
been assassinated in the 7th century.[22] He also adopted "Et in Arcadia ego ...", a slightly altered version of a
Latin phrase that most famously appears as the title of two paintings by Nicolas Poussin, as the motto of both his
family and the Priory of Sion,[23] because the tomb which appears in these paintings resembled one in the Les
Pontils area near Rennes-le-Chteau. This tomb would become a symbol for his dynastic claims as the last
legacy of the Merovingians on the territory of Razs, left to remind the select few who have been initiated into
these mysteries that the "lost king", Dagobert II, would figuratively come back in the form of a hereditary

pretender.[24][25]
To give credibility to the fabricated lineage and pedigree, Plantard and his friend, Philippe de Chrisey, needed to
create "independent evidence". So during the 1960s, they created and deposited a series of false documents, the
most famous of which was entitled Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau ("The Secret Files of Henri Lobineau"), at
the Bibliothque nationale de France in Paris. During the same decade, Plantard commissioned de Chrisey to
forge two medieval parchments. These parchments contained encrypted messages that referred to the Priory of
Sion. They adapted, and used to their advantage, the earlier false claims put forward by Nol Corbu that a
Catholic priest named Brenger Saunire had supposedly discovered ancient parchments inside a pillar while
renovating his church in Rennes-le-Chteau in 1891. Inspired by the popularity of media reports and books in
France about the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls in the West Bank, they hoped this same theme would attract
attention to their parchments.[26] Their version of the parchments was intended to prove Plantard's claims about
the Priory of Sion being a medieval society that was the source of the "underground stream" of esotericism in
Europe.[5]
Plantard then enlisted the aid of author Grard de Sde to write a book based on his unpublished manuscript and
forged parchments, [26] alleging that Saunire had discovered a link to a hidden treasure. The 1967 book L'or de
Rennes, ou La vie insolite de Brenger Saunire, cur de Rennes-le-Chteau ("The Gold of Rennes, or The
Strange Life of Brenger Saunire, Priest of Rennes-le-Chteau"), which was later published in paperback under
the title Le Trsor Maudit de Rennes-le-Chteau ("The Accursed Treasure of Rennes-le-Chteau") in 1968,
became a popular read in France. It included copies of the found parchments (the originals were of course never
produced), though it did not provide the decoded hidden texts contained within them. One of the Latin texts in the
parchments was copied from the Novum Testamentum, an attempted restoration of the Vulgate by John
Wordsworth and Henry White.[27] The other text was copied from the Codex Bezae.[28] Based on the wording
used, the versions of the Latin texts found in the parchments can be shown to have been copied from books first
published in 1889 and 1895, which is problematic considering that de Sde's book was trying to make a case that
these documents were centuries old.
In 1969, English actor and science-fiction scriptwriter Henry Lincoln became intrigued after reading Le Trsor
Maudit. He discovered one of the encrypted messages, which read " Dagobert II Roi et Sion est ce trsor, et il
est l mort" ("To Dagobert II, King, and to Sion belongs this treasure and he is there dead"). This was possibly an
allusion to the tomb and shrine of Sigebert IV, a real or mythical son of Dagobert II which would not only prove that
the Merovingian dynasty did not end with the death of the king but that the Priory of Sion has been entrusted with
the duty to protect his relics like a treasure.[1] Lincoln expanded on the conspiracy theories, writing his own books
on the subject, and inspiring and presenting three BBC Two Chronicle documentaries between 1972-1979 about
the alleged mysteries of the Rennes-le-Chteau area. In response to a tip from Grard de Sde, Lincoln claims he
was also the one who discovered the Dossiers Secrets, a series of planted genealogies which appeared to further
confirm the link with the extinct Merovingian bloodline. The documents claimed that the Priory of Sion and the
Knights Templar were two fronts of one unified organisation with the same leadership until 1188. [1]
Letters in existence dating from the 1960s written by Plantard, de Chrisey and de Sde to each other confirm
that the three were engaging in an out-and-out hoax. The letters describe schemes to combat criticisms of their
various allegations and ways they would make up new allegations to try to keep the hoax alive. These letters
(totalling over 100) are in the possession of French researcher Jean-Luc Chaumeil, who has also retained the
original envelopes. A letter later discovered at the subprefecture of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois also indicated that
Plantard had a criminal conviction as a confidence trickster .[29][30]

The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail[edit]

For more details on this topic, see The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.
After reading Le Trsor Maudit, Lincoln persuaded BBC Two to devote three episodes in their Chronicle
documentary series to the topic. These became quite popular and generated thousands of responses. Lincoln
then joined forces with Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh for further research. This led them to the

pseudohistorical Dossiers Secrets at the Bibliothque nationale de France , which though alleging to portray
hundreds of years of medieval history, were actually all written by Plantard and de Chrisey under the pseudonym
of "Philippe Toscan du Plantier". Unaware that the documents had been forged, Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh used
them as a major source for their 1982 controversial non-fiction book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail,[1] in
which they presented the following myths as facts to support their hypotheses: [7]
However, the authors re-interpreted the Dossiers Secrets in the light of their own interest in undermining the
Roman Catholic Church's institutional reading of Judeo-Christian history.[31] Contrary to Plantard's initial FrancoIsraelist claim that the Merovingians were only descended from the Tribe of Benjamin,[32] they asserted that:
The authors therefore concluded that the modern goals of the Priory of Sion are:
the public revelation of the tomb and shrine of Sigebert IV as well as the lost treasure of the Temple in
Jerusalem, which supposedly contains genealogical records that prove the Merovingian dynasty was of the
Davidic line, to facilitate Merovingian restoration in France;
the re-institutionalization of chivalry and the promotion of pan-European nationalism;
the establishment of a theocratic "United States of Europe": a Holy European Empire politically and
religiously unified through the imperial cult of a Merovingian Great Monarch who occupies both the throne
of Europe and the Holy See; and
the actual governance of Europe residing with the Priory of Sion through a single-party European
Parliament.
The authors also incorporated the antisemitic and anti-Masonic tract known as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
into their story, concluding that it was actually based on the master plan of the Priory of Sion. They presented it as
the most persuasive piece of evidence for the existence and activities of the Priory of Sion by arguing that:
the original text on which the published version of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was based had
nothing to do with Judaism or an "international Jewish conspiracy". It issued from a Masonic body
practicing the Scottish Rite which incorporated the word "Zion" in its name;
the original text was not intended to be released publicly, but was a program for gaining control of
Freemasonry as part of a strategy to infiltrate and reorganise church and state according to esoteric
Christian principles;
after a failed attempt to gain influence in the court of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia , Sergei Nilus changed the
original text to forge an inflammatory tract in 1903 to discredit the esoteric clique around Papus by implying
they were Judaeo-Masonic conspirators; and
some esoteric Christian elements in the original text were ignored by Nilus and hence remained unchanged
in the antisemitic canard he published.
In reaction to this memetic synthesis of investigative journalism with religious conspiracism, many secular
conspiracy theorists added the Priory of Sion to their list of secret societies collaborating or competing to
manipulate political happenings from behind the scenes in their bid for world domination.[33] Some occultists
speculated that the emergence of the Priory of Sion and Plantard closely follows The Prophecies by M. Michel
Nostradamus (unaware that Plantard was intentionally trying to fulfill them). [34] Fringe Christian eschatologists
countered that it was a fulfilment of prophecies found in the Book of Revelation and further proof of an antiChristian conspiracy of epic proportions. [35]
However, professional historians and scholars from related fields do not accept The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
as a serious dissertation.[36]
French authors like Franck Marie (1978), [37] Pierre Jarnac (1985),[38] (1988),[39] Jean-Luc Chaumeil (1994),[40]
and more recently Marie-France Etchegoin and Frdric Lenoir (2004),[41] Massimo Introvigne (2005),[42] JeanJacques Bedu (2005),[43] and Bernardo Sanchez Da Motta (2005),[44] have never taken Plantard and the Priory of

Sion as seriously as Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh. They eventually concluded that it was all a hoax, outlining in
detail the reasons for their verdict, and giving detailed evidence that the Holy Blood authors had not reported
comprehensively.[45] They imply that this evidence had been ignored by Lincoln, Baigent, and Leigh to bolster the
mythical version of the Priory's history that was developed by Plantard during the early 1960s after meeting author
Grard de Sde .[45]

The Messianic Legacy[edit]

In 1986, Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh published The Messianic Legacy, a sequel to The Holy Blood and the Holy
Grail. The authors assert that the Priory of Sion is not only the archetypal cabal but an ideal repository of the
cultural legacy of Jewish messianism that could end the crisis of meaning within the Western world by providing
a Merovingian sacred king as a messianic figure in which the West and, by extension, humanity can place its
trust. However, the authors are led to believe by Plantard that he has resigned as Grand Master of the Priory of
Sion in 1984 and that the organisation has since gone underground in reaction to both an internal power struggle
between Plantard and an Anglo-American contingent as well as a campaign of character assassination against
Plantard in the press and books written by skeptics.[46]
Although Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh remain convinced that the pre-1956 history of the Priory of Sion is true, they
confess to the possibility that all of Plantard's claims about a post-1956 Priory of Sion were part of an elaborate
hoax to build a cult of personality and cult of intelligence around himself in French esoteric circles. [46]

Revised myth[edit]
In 1989, Plantard tried but failed to salvage his reputation and agenda as a mystagogue in esoteric circles by
claiming that the Priory of Sion had actually been founded in 1681 at Rennes-le-Chteau, and was focused more
on harnessing the paranormal power of ley lines and sunrise lines,[47] and a promontory called "Roc Noir" (Black
Rock) in the area,[48] than installing a Merovingian pretender on the restored throne of France. In 1990, Plantard
revised himself by claiming he was only descended from a cadet branch of the line of Dagobert II, while arguing
that the direct descendant was really Otto von Habsburg.[49][50]

Pelat Affair[edit]
In September 1993, while investigative judge Thierry Jean-Pierre was investigating the activities of multimillionaire Roger-Patrice Pelat in the context of the Pechiney-Triangle Affair, he was informed that Pelat may have
once been Grand Master of an esoteric society known as the Priory of Sion. Pelat's name had been on Plantard's
list of Grand Masters since 1989. In fact, Pelat had died in 1989, while he was being indicted for insider trading "dlit d'initi" in French. Plantard may have been naive about financial terms and interpreted the word "initi"
esoterically, to mean "initiate". Following a long established pattern, Plantard "recruited" the "initiate" Pelat soon
after his death and included him as the most recent Priory of Sion Grand Master.[51] Plantard had first claimed that
Pelat had been a Grand Master in a Priory of Sion pamphlet dated 8 March 1989, then claimed it again later in a
1990 issue of Vaincre, the revived publication of Alpha Galates, a pseudo- chivalric order created by Plantard in
Vichy France to support the "National Revolution".[52][53]
Pelat had been a friend of Franois Mitterrand, then President of France, and at the centre of a scandal involving
French Prime Minister Pierre Brgovoy. As an investigative judge, Jean-Pierre could not dismiss any information
brought to his attention pertaining to the case, especially if it might have led to a scandal similar to the one
implicating an illegal Masonic lodge named Propaganda Due in the 1982 Banco Ambrosiano bank failure in Italy,
Jean-Pierre ordered a search of Plantard's home. The search turned up a hoard of false documents, including
some proclaiming Plantard the true king of France . Plantard admitted under oath that he had fabricated
everything, including Pelat's involvement with the Priory of Sion.[51][54] Plantard was threatened with legal action
by the Pelat family and therefore disappeared to his house in southern France. He was 74 years old at the time.
Nothing more was heard of him until he died in Paris on 3 February 2000.[55]

Sandri revival[edit]
On 27 December 2002, an open letter announced the revival of the Priory of Sion as an integral traditionalist
esoteric society, which stated that: "The Commanderies of Saint-Denis, Millau, Geneva and Barcelona are fully
operative. According to the Tradition, the first Commanderie is under the direction of a woman", claiming there
were 9,841 members.[56] It was signed by Gino Sandri (who claims to be Plantard's former private secretary)
under the title of General Secretary, [57] and by "P. Plantard" (Le Nautonnier, G. Chyren). Sandri is a well-versed
occultist who has spent his life infiltrating esoteric societies only to get expelled from them. [57] After interviewing
Sandri, independent researcher Laurent Octonovo Buchholtzer wrote:

Ive personally met this Gino Sandri on one occasion, and I had the opportunity to have a really
good talk with him, but I think that he's simply seeking attention. He seemed to me to be something
of a mythomaniac, which would certainly be an excellent qualification for being Secretary of the
Priory of Sion. During our conversation he said something in passing that I found quite
extraordinary. He said, Ultimately, what is the Priory of Sion? It's nothing more than a well-known
brand name, but with goodness knows what behind it? He gave a good brief account of the
phenomenon of the Priory of Sion. Thanks to Dan Brown, hundreds of millions of people now have
brand awareness, and several million of them seem to take it seriously. [55]

The Da Vinci Code[edit]

For more details on this topic, see The Priory of Sion in the Da Vinci Code.
As a result of Dan Brown's best-selling 2003 conspiracy fiction novel The Da Vinci Code and the subsequent
2006 film,[3] there was a new level of public interest in the Priory of Sion. Brown's novel promotes the mythical
version of the Priory but departs from the ultimate conclusions presented in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.
Rather than plotting to create a Federal Europe ruled by a Merovingian sacred king descended from the historical
Jesus, the Priory of Sion initiates its members into a mystery cult seeking to restore the feminist theology
necessary for a complete understanding of early Christianity, which was supposedly suppressed by the Roman
Catholic Church. The author has presented this speculation as fact in his non-fiction preface, as well as in his
public appearances and interviews.
Furthermore, in their 1987 sequel The Messianic Legacy,[46] Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh suggested that there was
a current conflict between the Priory of Sion and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which they speculated
might have originated from an earlier rivalry between the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller during the
Crusades. However, for the dramatic structure of The Da Vinci Code, Brown chose the controversial Roman
Catholic prelature Opus Dei as the Assassini-like nemesis of the Priory of Sion, despite the fact that no author had
ever argued that there is a conflict between these two groups.

The Sion Revelation[edit]

Further conspiracy theories were reported in the 2006 non-fiction book The Sion Revelation: The Truth About the
Guardians of Christ's Sacred Bloodline by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince (authors of the 1997 non-fiction book
The Templar Revelation, the principal source for Dan Brown's claims about hidden messages in the work of
Leonardo da Vinci). [58] They accepted that the pre-1956 history of the Priory of Sion was a hoax created by
Plantard, and that his claim that he was a Merovingian dynast was a lie. However, they insist that this was part of
a complex red herring intended to distract the public from the hidden agenda of Plantard and his "controllers".
They argue that the Priory of Sion was a front organisation for one of the many crypto-political societies which
have been plotting to create a "United States of Europe" in line with French occultist Alexandre Saint-Yves
d'Alveydre's synarchist vision of an ideal form of government.

Bloodline movie[edit]

The 2008 documentary Bloodline [59] by Bruce Burgess, a filmmaker with an interest in paranormal claims,
expands on the "Jesus bloodline" hypothesis and other elements of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.[60]
Accepting as valid the testimony of an amateur archaeologist codenamed "Ben Hammott" relating to his
discoveries made in the vicinity of Rennes-le-Chteau since 1999; Burgess claims Ben has found the treasure of
Brenger Saunire: a mummified corpse, which they believe is Mary Magdalene, in an underground tomb they
claim is connected to both the Knights Templar and the Priory of Sion. In the film, Burgess interviews several
people with alleged connections to the Priory of Sion, including a Gino Sandri and Nicolas Haywood. A book by
one of the documentary's researchers, Rob Howells, entitled Inside the Priory of Sion: Revelations from the
World's Most Secret Society - Guardians of the Bloodline of Jesus presented the version of the Priory of Sion as
given in the 2008 documentary,[61] which contained several erroneous assertions, such as the claim that Plantard
believed in the Jesus bloodline hypothesis.[62] On 21 March 2012, Ben Hammott confessed and apologised on
Podcast interview (using his real name Bill Wilkinson) that everything to do with the tomb and related artifacts was
a hoax; revealing that the actual tomb was now destroyed, being part of a full sized set located in a warehouse in
England.[63]

Alleged Grand Masters[edit]

The mythical Priory of Sion was supposedly led by a "Nautonnier", an Old French word for a navigator, which
means Grand Master in their internal esoteric nomenclature. The following list of Grand Masters is derived from
the Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau compiled by Plantard under the nom de plume of "Philippe Toscan du
Plantier" in 1967. All those named on this list had died before that date. All but two are also found on lists of
alleged Imperators (supreme heads) and distinguished members of the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis
which circulated in France at the time when Plantard was in touch with this Rosicrucian Order. Most of those
named share the common thread of being known for having an interest in the occult or heresy.[21]
The Dossiers Secrets asserted that the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar always shared the same Grand
Master until a schism occurred during the "Cutting of the elm" incident in 1188. Following that event, the Grand
Masters of the Priory of Sion are listed in French as being:
A later document, Le Cercle d'Ulysse,[24] identifies Franois Ducaud-Bourget, a prominent Traditionalist Catholic
priest who Plantard had worked for as a sexton during World War II, [21] as the Grand Master following Cocteau's
death. Plantard himself is later identified as the next Grand Master.
When the Dossiers Secrets were exposed as a forgery by French researchers, Plantard kept quiet. During his
1989 attempt to make a comeback and revive the Priory of Sion, Plantard sought to distance himself from the
discredited first list, and published a second list of Priory Grand Masters,[64] which included the names of the
deceased Roger-Patrice Pelat, and his own son Thomas Plantard de Saint-Clair:
1. Jean-Timoleon de Negri d'Albes (16811703)
2. Franois d'Hautpoul (17031726)
3. Andr Hercule de Rosset (17261766)
4. Charles de Lorraine (17661780)
5. Maximilian de Lorraine (17801801)
6. Charles Nodier (18011844)
7. Victor Hugo (18441885)
8. Claude Debussy (18851918)
9. Jean Cocteau (19181963)
10. Franois Balphangon (19631969)
11. John Drick (19691981)

12. Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair (1981)

13. Philippe de Chrisey (19841985)
14. Roger-Patrice Pelat (19851989)
15. Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair (1989)
16. Thomas Plantard de Saint-Clair (1989)
17. Prince Paul Demidoff de san Donatto ( 2001)
In 1993 Plantard acknowledged that both lists were fraudulent when he was investigated by a judge during the
Pelat Affair .[51][54]

Notes[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Henry Lincoln, Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail,
Corgi, 1982. ISBN 0-552-12138-X.
2. Jump up ^ moreorless - www.moreorless.net. "CESNUR 2005 International Conference Beyond The Da
Vinci Code: History and Myth of the Priory of Sion, by Massimo Introvigne". Cesnur.org. Retrieved 2012-1120.
3. ^ Jump up to: a b Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, Doubleday, 2003. ISBN 0-385-50420-9.
4. Jump up ^ Pierre Plantard, Gisors et son secret..., ORBIS, 1961, abridged version contained in Grard de
Sde, Les Templiers sont parmi nous. 1962.
5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Bill Putnam, John Edwin Wood, The Treasure of Rennes-le-Chteau. A Mystery Solved ,
Sutton Publishers, 2003.
6. Jump up ^ "''The Secret of the Priory of Sion'', '60 Minutes', 30 April 2006, presented by Ed Bradley,
produced by Jeanne Langley, CBS News". Cbsnews.com. 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
7. ^ Jump up to: a b Damian Thompson, "How Da Vinci Code tapped pseudo-fact hunger ", Daily Telegraph.
2008. Retrieved on 28 March 2008.
8. Jump up ^ David Klinghoffer, "The Da Vinci Protocols: Jews should worry about Dan Browns success ",
National Review Online, 2006. Retrieved on 28 March 2008.
9. Jump up ^ Sharan Newman. The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code. page 243245. Priory of Sion.
=New York. Berkley Books. isbn=0-7865-5469-X, AEB ISBN 0-7865-5470-3
10. Jump up ^ Extrait du Journal Officiel du 20 juillet 1956 (p. 6731)
11. Jump up ^ "Pierre Plantard Extrait du Journal Officiel du 20 juillet 1956" . Jhaldezos.free.fr. 2008-02-16.
Retrieved 2012-11-20.
12. Jump up ^ Guy Gavard, Histoire d'Annemasse et des communes voisines: les relations avec Genve de
l'poque romaine l'an 2000 (Montmlian: la Fontaine de Silo, impr. 2006).
13. Jump up ^ Bernardo Sanchez Da Motta, Do Enigma de Rennes-le-Chteau ao Priorado de Siao - Historia
de um Mito Moderno, Esquilo, 2005, p. 322, reproducing the Priory of Sion Registration Document showing
the group was based in Plantard's apartment.
14. Jump up ^ Bradley, Ed (2006). "The Priory Of Sion: Is The "Secret Organization" Fact Or Fiction?" .
Retrieved 16 July 2008.
15. ^ Jump up to: a b "Les Archives du Prieur de Sion", Le Charivari, N18, 1973. Containing a transcript of
the 1956 Statutes of the Priory of Sion.
16. Jump up ^ J. Cailleboite, "A Sous-Cassan et aux pervenches un missionnaire regarde la vie ouvriere",
Circuit, Numro spcial, October 1956.
17. Jump up ^ The History of a Mystery , BBC 2, transmitted on 17 September 1996

18. Jump up ^ Pierre Jarnac, Les Archives de Rennes-le-Chteau , Tome II, Editions Belisane, 1988, p. 566.
19. Jump up ^ Gino Sandri, Secrtaire du Prieur de Sion
20. Jump up ^ Marie-France Etchegoin & Frdric Lenoir, Code Da Vinci: L'Enqute, p.61 (Robert Laffont,
2004).
21. ^ Jump up to: a b c Introvigne, Massimo (2005). "Beyond The Da Vinci Code: History and Myth of the Priory
of Sion". Retrieved 16 July 2008.
22. Jump up ^ Jean-Luc Chaumeil, La Table d'Isis ou Le Secret de la Lumire , Editions Guy Trdaniel, 1994,
p. 121124.
23. Jump up ^ Madeleine Blancassall, "Les Descendants Mrovingiens ou lnigme du Razs wisigoth"
(1965), in: Pierre Jarnac, Les Mystres de Rennes-le-Chteau, Mlanges Sulfureux , CERT, 1994.
24. ^ Jump up to: a b Jean Delaude, Le Cercle dUlysse (1977), in: Pierre Jarnac, Les Mystres de Rennes-leChteau, Mlanges Sulfureux, CERT, 1994.
25. Jump up ^ A photograph of a young Thomas Plantard de Saint-Clair standing next to the Les Pontils tomb
was published in Jean-Pierre Deloux, Jacques Brtigny, Rennes-le-Chteau - Capitale Secrte de l'Histoire
de France, 1982.
26. ^ Jump up to: a b Jean-Luc Chaumeil (Goeroe of speculative freemason), Rennes-le-Chteau Gisors
Le Testament du Prieur de Sion. Le Crpuscule dune Tnbreuse Affaire, ditions Pgase, 2006.
27. Jump up ^ Bill Putnam, John Edwin Wood, The Treasure of Rennes-le-Chteau, A Mystery Solved , Sutton
Publishing, revised 2005 paperback edition, p.189192. ISBN 0-7509-4216-9.
28. Jump up ^ Bill Putnam, John Edwin Wood, The Treasure of Rennes-le-Chteau, A Mystery Solved , Sutton
Publishing, revised 2005 paperback edition (ISBN 0-7509-4216-9). This book mentions Dr Wieland
Willkers identification of the smaller parchment with the Codex Bezae.
29. Jump up ^ The History of a Mystery , BBC 2, transmitted on 17 September 1996.
30. Jump up ^ The Secret of the Priory of Sion, CBS News '60 Minutes', transmitted on 30 April 2006,
presented by Ed Bradley, produced By Jeanne Langley.
31. Jump up ^ Conspiracies On Trial: The Da Vinci Code (The Discovery Channel); transmitted on 10 April
2005.
32. Jump up ^ Pierre Jarnac, Les Mystres de Rennes-le-Chteau: Mlange Sulfureux (CERT, 1994).
33. Jump up ^ Doug Moench, Factoid Books. The Big Book of Conspiracies, Paradox Press, 1995. ISBN 156389-186-7.
34. Jump up ^ Marie-France Etchegoin & Frdric Lenoir, Code Da Vinci: LEnqute, p.61 (Robert Laffont;
2004).
35. Jump up ^ Barbara Aho, " The Merovingian Dynasty. Satanic Bloodline of the Antichrist and False Prophet ",
watchpair.com, 1997. Retrieved on 29 March 2008.
36. Jump up ^ Martin Kemp, Professor of Art History at Oxford University, on the documentary The History of a
Mystery, BBC Two, transmitted on 17 September 1996, commenting on books like The Holy Blood and the
Holy Grail: "There are certain historical problems, of which the Turin Shroud is one, in which there is
'fantastic fascination' with the topic, but a historical vacuum - a lack of solid evidence - and where there's a
vacuum - nature abhores a vacuum - and historical speculation abhors a vacuum - and it all floods in...But
what you end up with is almost nothing tangible or solid. You start from a hypothesis, and then that is
deemed to be demonstrated more-or-less by stating the speculation, you then put another speculation on
top of that, and you end up with this great tower of hypotheses and speculations - and if you say 'where are
the rocks underneath this?' they are not there. It's like the House on Sand, it washes away as soon as you
ask really hard questions of it."
37. Jump up ^ Franck Marie, Rennes-le-Chteau: Etude Critique (SRES, 1978).
38. Jump up ^ Pierre Jarnac, Histoire du Trsor de Rennes-le-Chteau (1985).

39. Jump up ^ Pierre Jarnac, Les Archives de Rennes-le-Chteau (Editions Belisane, 1988). Describing The
Holy Blood and the Holy Grail as a "monument of mediocrity".
40. Jump up ^ Jean-Luc Chaumeil,La Table d'Isis ou Le Secret de la Lumire (Editions Guy Trdaniel, 1994).
41. Jump up ^ Marie-France Etchegoin & Frdric Lenoir, Code Da Vinci: L'Enqute (Robert Laffont, 2004).
42. Jump up ^ Massimo Introvigne, Gli Illuminati E Il Priorato Di Sion - La Verita Sulle Due Societa Segrete
Del Codice Da Vinci Di Angeli E Demoni (Piemme; 2005).
43. Jump up ^ Jean-Jacques Bedu, Les sources secrtes du Da Vinci Code (Editions du Rocher, 2005).
44. Jump up ^ Bernardo Sanchez Da Motta, Do Enigma de Rennes-le-Chteau ao Priorado de Siao - Historia
de um Mito Moderno (Esquilo, 2005).
45. ^ Jump up to: a b Miller, Laura (22 February 2004 2005). "The Last Word; The Da Vinci Con". The New
York Times. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
46. ^ Jump up to: a b c Baigent, Michael; Leigh, Richard; Lincoln, Henry (1987). The Messianic Legacy. Henry
Holt & Co. ISBN 0-8050-0568-4.
47. Jump up ^ The ley line is from "Fauteil du Diable" to "Fortin de Blanchefort", intersected by a sunrise line
of 17 January from the church of Rennes-les-Bains to the church of Rennes-le-Chteau, in Vaincre, page
19 (June 1989). This was first given, in much more complex form, in Philippe de Chrisey's 1975 document
L'Or de Rennes pour un Napolon (Bibliothque Nationale; Tolbiac - Rez-de-jardin magasin 4- LB442360).
48. Jump up ^ Quoting from Plantard's letter dated 4 April 1989: "Our Treasure, that of the Priory of Sion, is
the Secret of the Roc Noir. Venerated since high antiquity by those who believed in its immense power..."
49. Jump up ^ Quoting Pierre Plantard: "If anyone can claim to be a descendant of Sigisbert IV in the direct
line it can only be Otto von Habsburg, and he alone. To all those people who write to me I have given this
same reply." From Vaincre Reprend le titre d'un priodique paru en 1942-1943, Number 1, April 1990 [1]
The April 1989, June 1989, September 1989, April 1990 issues of Vaincre were compiled together (with
some of the articles modified) in 1992 and entitled Le Cercle: Rennes-le-Chteau et le Prieur de Sion ,
consisting of 86 pages. This material was published in December 2007 by Pierre Jarnac in Pgase, No 5
hors srie, Le Prieur de Sion - Les Archives de Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair - Rennes-le-Chateau Gisors - Stenay (90 pages) [2]
50. Jump up ^ Quoting Plantard: "We would like to repeat that in no case have we found any trace of the son
of Dagobert II in the list of the Visigothic Razes. This Sigibert IV found refuge with his abbess sister at
Oeren and was the cousin of Sigebert de Rhedae, who was alive more or less around the same time.
Historians conflate these two Sigiberts into one person. When did Sigebert IV die? We don't know. Some
think that he was the founder of the Habsburg family."
51. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Affaire Pelat: Le Rapport du Juge", Le Point, no. 1112 (814 January 1994), p. 11.
52. Jump up ^ Les Cahiers de Rennes-le-Chateau , Nr. IX, page 59, ditions Blisane, 1989.
53. Jump up ^ Jean-Jacques Bedu, Les sources secrtes du Da Vinci Code, Editions du Rocher, 2005.
54. ^ Jump up to: a b Philippe Laprvte, "Note sur lactualit du Prieur de Sion", in: Politica Hermetica, Nr. 10
(1996), p. 140151.
55. ^ Jump up to: a b Laurent "Octonovo" Buchholtzer, "Pierre Plantard, Genevive Zaepfell and the AlphaGalates", in: Actes du Colloque 2006, Oeil-du-Sphinx, 2007.
56. Jump up ^ Bulletin Pgase N06, Janvier/Mars 2003.
57. ^ Jump up to: a b Laurent "Octonovo" Buchholtzer, Rennes-le-Chteau, une Affaire Paradoxale , Oeil-duSphinx, 2008.
58. Jump up ^ Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince, The Sion Revelation. The Truth About the Guardians of Christ's
Sacred Bloodline, Touchstone, 2006. ISBN 0-7432-6303-0.

59. Jump up ^ Bloodline DVD (Cinema Libre, 2008, 113 minutes). The documentary was originally released in
cinemas on 9 May 2008.
60. Jump up ^ Ronald H. Fritze, Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-Religions,
pages 8-9 (Reaktion Books, 2009). ISBN 1-86189-430-9
61. Jump up ^ Robert Howells, Inside The Priory of Sion: Revelations From The World's Most Secret Society Guardians of The Bloodline of Jesus (Watkins Publishing, 2011). ISBN 1-78028-017-3
62. Jump up ^ "In Holy Blood, Holy Grail Plantard claimed that the key to the mystery of Rennes-le-Chteau
was that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had children." Howells, page 2.
63. Jump up ^ NightVision Radio, entry dated Wednesday, March 21, 2012
64. Jump up ^ The second list appeared in Vaincre No. 3, September 1989, p. 22.

External links[edit]
Introvigne, Massimo. The Da Vinci Code FAQ, or Will the Real Priory of Sion Please Stand Up? . CESNUR.
Retrieved on 2008-06-20.
Netchacovitch, Johan. Chaumeil - Plantard in Gazette of Rennes-le-Chteau (12 April 2006). Retrieved on
2008-06-20.
Netchacovitch, Johan. Sole survivor of the Priory of Sion in Gazette of Rennes-le-Chteau (4 November
2006). Retrieved on 2008-06-20.
Polidoro, Massimo. The Secrets of Rennes-le-Chteau: Notes on a Strange World . Committee for
Skeptical Inquiry. Retrieved on 2008-06-20.
Wilson, Robert Anton . The Priory of Sion: Jesus, Freemasons, Extraterrestrials, The Gnomes of Zurich,
Black Israelites and Noon Blue Apples in Gnosis Issue #6: Secret Societies (Winter 1987-'88). Retrieved
on 2008-09-22.
Sharan Newman. The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code. page 243245. Priory of Sion. =New
York. Berkley Books. isbn=0-7865-5469-X, AEB ISBN 0-7865-5470-3
Extrait du Journal Officiel du 20 juillet 1956 (p. 6731)