Gisors In 1961, author
Gérard de Sède had an article published in
Noir et blanc about the
Château de Gisors in Normandy, linked to the claims of Roger Lhomoy who, since 1946, alleged it contained the treasure of the
Knights Templar. Plantard read the article and wrote to de Sède, later collaborating with him on the book ''Les Templiers sont parmi nous, ou, L'Enigme de Gisors'' ("The Templars are Amongst Us, or The Enigma of Gisors"), that was published in 1962. The name Priory of Sion reappeared within the pages of this book.
Rennes-le-Château In 1962, author
Robert Charroux published his book
Trésors du monde (), telling the story of
Noël Corbu, who claimed the 19th century priest
Bérenger Saunière had discovered the treasure of
Blanche of Castile in the village of
Rennes-le-Château. This inspired Plantard to write his own book on the subject matter but, failing to find a publisher his manuscript was extensively rewritten by Gérard de Sède resulting in the 1967 book, ''L'Or de Rennes''. The book adapted Corbu's story to fit-in with Plantard's claims about the survival of the line of
Merovingian king
Dagobert II, and Plantard began claiming to be descended from Dagobert II since 1964 when he began depositing false documents in the
Bibliothèque nationale giving the secret history of the Priory of Sion. These Priory of Sion documents contained false genealogies attaching Plantard's family tree to another genealogy found in an article by Louis Saurel in the French magazine ''Les Cahiers de l'Histoire'' Number 1 (1960). Plantard originally claimed these genealogies had been compiled by a Doctor Hervé and Abbé Pichon (a historical person, 1828–1905), originally at the request of
Napoleon Bonaparte, who found out about the Merovingian survival from
Abbé Sieyès. Plantard added that Abbé Pierre Plantard, former vicar of the
Basilica of St. Clotilde, Paris (falsely claiming they were related), drew up genealogies giving the survival of the line of Dagobert II on 18 March 1939. Philippe de Chérisey, Plantard's friend and accomplice, later claimed that Abbé Pichon was the pseudonym of François Dron (a completely different historical person who was a
numismatist). When Jean-Luc Chaumeil revealed during the 1980s that Plantard's genealogical claims were fictional adaptations of Louis Saurel's article published in 1960, Plantard released a "
cheque" dated 14 April 1960 showing his former wife Anne-Léa Hisler had been paid for the article contained in ''Les Cahiers de l'Histoire'', and therefore claiming she was the original author. The Priory Documents of the 1960s gave a revised history of the Priory of Sion, claiming it had been founded by
Godfrey of Bouillon during the Crusades and named after
Mount Sion in Jerusalem, conflating it with a genuine historical monastic order, the
Abbey of Our Lady of Mount Zion. De Sède's book was most famous for its reproduction of two "parchments" that were allegedly discovered by Saunière that hinted at the survival of the line of Dagobert II. However, Plantard and de Sède fell out over book royalties following the publication of ''L'Or de Rennes'' in 1967 and Philippe de Chérisey, Plantard's friend and accomplice, announced he had forged the "parchments". But it was due to the success of de Sède's book ''L'Or de Rennes'' that Pierre Plantard became famous, as the guardian of the secret of Rennes-le-Château. By 1978, Plantard began claiming that his grandfather had met Bérenger Saunière in Rennes-le-Château, and that the real source of Saunière's wealth was the Abbé
Henri Boudet, parish priest of the nearby village of
Rennes-les-Bains.
Parchments and genealogies hoax When the "parchments" were originally published in Gérard de Sède's book ''L'Or de Rennes'' in 1967, it was claimed there were four parchments originally discovered by Saunière in the hollow pillar of his church. In “L'Enigme de Rhedae” (1964) Henri Lobineau said that Saunière discovered documents bearing the royal seal of Blanche of Castile, giving the line of Dagobert II drawn up by Abbé Pichon between 1805 and 1814, using documents found during the Revolution. The parchments said the Merovingians were descended from the
Tribe of Benjamin and Dagobert II had hidden an ‘accursed’ treasure in Rennes-le-Château. This was elaborated upon in a 1965 Priory document by stating it was Abbé Antoine Bigou, one of Saunière's predecessor curés at Rennes-le-Château, who hid the parchments in 1790 in the hollow pillar that supported the church altar, after finding out about the secret of Rennes-le-Château on 17 January 1781 at the deathbed of Marie de Negri d'Ables, Marquise d'Hautpoul-Blanchefort. There were four parchments altogether, two of which were reproduced in Gérard de Sède’s forthcoming book (their contents were described in this 1965 document) and the other two containing genealogies made by the Abbé Bigou (running from 1548 to 1789) and Henri Lobineau (running from 1780 to 1915). When in 1967 de Chérisey announced that the parchments published in ''L'Or de Rennes'' were fakes, different claims were introduced about the exact nature of Sauniere's discovery. Based on a 1966 fake letter that appeared in
Dossiers Secrets allegedly written by the
International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, being an adaptation of material contained in a 1964 book by René Descadeillas involving François-Pierre d'Hautpoul, these revised claims appeared in a 1977 Priory document by Jean Delaude, ''Le Cercle d'Ulysse''. This revised version of the story stayed more-or-less intact right up to 1990, containing minor variations involving exact dates. The 1977 Priory document claimed Saunière discovered three documents: 1) a genealogy of the Counts of Rhedae dated 1243 bearing the seal of Blanche of Castile, 2) a document of 1608 relating to François-Pierre d'Hautpoul providing a complementary genealogy from 1240 onwards and, 3) a last will and testament of Henri d'Hautpoul dated 24 April 1695 bearing the stamp and signature of the testator, adding they were originally sold by Saunière's niece Madame James to two Englishmen, Captain Ronald Stansmore and Sir Thomas Frazer of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. Then repeating again that the parchments given in ''L'Or de Rennes'' were fakes by Philippe de Chérisey. In 1978 Philippe de Chérisey repeated the parchments had been sold by Madame James to Captain Ronald Stanmore and Sir Thomas Frazer, adding they were deposited in a
Safe deposit box of
Lloyds Bank; and following an article in
The Daily Express, "the demand for the recognition of Merovingian rights made in 1955 and 1956 by Sir Alexander Aikman, Sir John Montague Brocklebank, Major Hugh Murchison Clowes and nineteen other men in the office of
Notary Public, P. J. F. Freeman." In 1981 Plantard circulated a French newspaper cutting of unknown provenance stating the parchments were stored in a Safe deposit box of Lloyds Bank, London. A book published in 1983 by Louis Vazart reproduced two fake "notarised documents" allegedly dating from October 1955 naming Captain Ronald Stansmore Nutting (altered from Captain Ronald Stansmore), Major Hugh Murchison Clowes and the Right Honourable Viscount Leathers as the legal owners of the parchments discovered by Saunière "whose value cannot be estimated", and requesting the parchments — all containing proof of the survival of the line of Dagobert II — to be removed from France. The Notary Public was named as Maître Patrick Francis Jourdan Freeman. Another "notarised document" that was later reproduced in
Vaincre Number 1 (1990), gave the caption "after a photograph taken by Etienne Plantard in London in 1958", naming only Captain R.S. Nutting as the owner of the "parchments". The firm of solicitors was given as John Newton & Sons, London. In 1989, when Plantard revised his claims about the Priory of Sion, it was stated in a 1989 issue of
Vaincre: "The parchments of Blanche of Castile were in Etienne Plantard's safe-deposit box in London since November 1955 and they did not 'mention' Dagobert, or a Dagobert II and Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair was never 'a Merovingian pretender' to the throne of France: His lineage results from the Counts de Rhédae and by the female line of Saint Clair-sur-Epte, which has no relationship with 'Sinclair'."
Plantard de Saint Clair From 1975, Pierre Plantard used the surname
Plantard de Saint-Clair, described as an epithet by Jean-Luc Chaumeil, following his interview with Plantard in the magazine
l’Ère d’Aquarius. The "Saint-Clair" part of his surname was added to his real surname on the basis that this was the family name associated with the area of Gisors associated with his hoax - according to the
mythology of the Priory of Sion "Jean VI des Plantard" married a member of the House of Gisors during the 12th century. Plantard also appropriated the
false titles of "Comte de Saint-Clair" and "Comte de Rhédæ" to himself.
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail In 1982, authors
Henry Lincoln,
Michael Baigent and
Richard Leigh published
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. It became a bestseller and publicized Plantard's Priory of Sion story, treating seriously the content of the Priory of Sion documents of the 1960s and 1970s. The book added a new element to the story, that the Merovingian line of kings had actually been descended from the
historical Jesus and
Mary Magdalene, and that the purpose of the Priory (and its military arm, the
Knights Templar) was to protect the secret of the
Jesus bloodline. and later even dismissed the Priory of Sion documents of the 1960s and 1970s as false and irrelevant. as well as an article attributed to
Frederick Forsyth. Plantard revised his Priory of Sion story, claiming the order was founded on 17 January 1681 in Rennes-le-Château, based upon documents discovered in
Barcelona, relating to a secret involving the
mystical power of
ley lines and sunrise lines, and
Rocco Negro (Black Rock), a promontory near Rennes-le-Château where he owned substantial property. In a letter dated 4 April 1989, Plantard wrote that
Victor Hugo "drew up the constitutions of the Priory of Sion on 14 July 1870, on the same day that he planted the oak-tree of the United States of Europe". 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, actually descended from Sigebert I (nicknamed "Plant-Ard"), different from
Sigebert IV, who was the son of Bera II and the grandson of
Wamba, the founding father of the
House of Habsburg and also the builder of
Habsburg Castle, drawing on content found in a 1979 book by Jean-Luc Chaumeil.
Roger-Patrice Pelat and downfall A 1989 Priory of Sion circular cited Roger-Patrice Pelat as a
Grand Master of the Priory of Sion. Pelat was a friend of the then
President of France François Mitterrand and centre of a scandal involving French Prime Minister
Pierre Bérégovoy. This initiative by Plantard had an unexpected consequence; in October 1993, the judge investigating the Pelat scandal had Pierre Plantard's house searched. The search failed to find any documents related to Pelat, but turned up a hoard of false documents, including some proclaiming Plantard the true king of France. Plantard admitted under oath he had fabricated everything, including Pelat's involvement with the Priory of Sion. Plantard was later 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. == Death ==