Letter from Jacques Cholet
I have recently become interested in Jacques Cholet and how he came by some information relating to the little church at Rennes-le-Château. This information led him to undertake excavations in [and around] the church at Rennes. Cholet and his sources may be of interest to us. A fellow researcher informed me that Cholet had studied the archives of the last surviving line of the Monfort-l'Amaury's - and that he mentions in a report that "he found some papers in another castle (Montfort-Amaury - heirs of Simon de Montfort). These papers showed maps and some hiding [places] within the church of RLC". The source of this information originates in research carried out by Pierre Jarnac but i have not been able to confirm this assertion yet. It may be the same information reported by Paul Saussez in his 'Tomb of the Lords' CD:
The Cholet letter is dated to May 31st, 1955. This is only around two years after the death of Marie Denarnaud [29/1/1953]. It is also a good 8 months before the beginning of the [so-called] Myth of Rennes-le-Château. This 'myth' marked the explosion of interest and hysteria regarding Rennes-le-Château when Albert Salamon’s published "La Fabuleuse Découverte du Curé aux Milliards de Rennes-le-Château" through the pages of La Dépêche de Midi on the 12, 13 and 14 January 1956. These articles claimed that Saunière had discovered a treasure. Salamon's source was Noel Corbu. It was after these publications that the first 'researchers' and treasure hunters started appearing at Rennes-le-Château and it is to here that can be traced all the later interest in Saunière.
So if this is the case - how is it that Cholet knew before many of the researchers that there might be a 'mystery' at Rennes-le-Château? Logically he would have known of this much earlier than when he wrote his letter asking for permission to excavate i.e. 1955. Did Cholet know Noel Corbu and got his information from him? Or did he turn up in Rennes independently after learning something in Paris via archives?
Corbu had arrived at Rennes-le-Chateau in 1942. He had originally been living in Bugarach and heard there, from the local villagers, that an area of land might be for sale at Rennes-le-Chateau and that the village was enveloped in a local mystery. Corbu decided to investigate. Although land was not for sale - eventually the Corbu family became friends with Denarnaud. It is said that Denarnaud hinted many times to Corbu about a 'secret' surrounding or pertaining to Rennes-le-Chateau. But she never got to divulge it to Noel Corbu, dying of a stroke which left her firstly paralysed and then finally killing her. Corbu some time earlier had been made the sole heir of Sauniere's domaine by Denarnaud and on her death Corbu inherited the estate and along with the estate came documents and paraphernalia associated with Sauniere and Denarnaud. Corbu probably worked his way through all of these documents looking for clues about any treasure buried at Rennes.
Three years after Denanrnaud died Corbu opened a restaurant in Rennes-le-Chateau and had the great idea of inviting journalists up to hear the story of the priest with millions. This became the flash point of interest after three articles were printed in the press. It is obvious that Corbu gave some credence to these legends because he certainly searched for something. A researcher, Sagarzazu, years later reported a conversations that he had had with Noel Corbu's daughter:
"Mrs. Claire Corbu-Captier told me that her father, Noel Corbu and Yves Maraval often went together around the "Pla de Las Brugos" .... They went to the side of the "Cap-de-l'Homme" and they spent whole days conduct[ing] their research. It was certainly ...on a hill numbered on the maps 532, where there was discovered the slab called the "Coume Sourde" by Ernest Cros, in 1928, on the ridge overlooking the field adjoining Saint-Loup, and east along the dirt road that goes ...to La Cabanasse.
I say today that there is nothing to discover in these places, apart from a few crosses carved on rocks that outcrop on the ground and all of which have been [already] identified for decoding of the triangulation of the Coume Sourde slab. In the early '60s, a fire ravaged the plateau of Las Brugos - usually a practice noted by shepherds in the area of mountain pastures. The locals , however, suspected Noel Corbu of having lit the fire. This suspicion seems plausible because he certainly set fire to cavities and signs carved on the rocks.
This fire, which destroyed all the heather and scrub around the "Pla de Las Brugos" was beneficial because it allowed the cleansing of the rocks which then showed every line of sight of the triangulation of the mysterious coding slab of the "Coume Sourde". This cleansed brush allowed another researcher of 60 years to reconstruct the true triangulation of the slab "Coume Sourde" with a precise identification of crosses engraved on the rocks. SIS meant "Sancto Salvatore Imago" (the holy image of the Saviour) and corresponded to the head of the roughly carved "Cap-de-l'Homme", SAE corresponded to a rock shelter that the locals called "St. Anthony Hermit ", further north, halfway between Cape de l'Homme and the farm of La Cabanasse. The branches of these crosses indicated sight lines leading to other clues in a mysterious treasure hunt. Vegetation and trees that have grown up now ensures that all this is not verifiable except for those who know just where to look for these hidden things."
Prior to May 1955 then, Cholet was aware of some information - information that led him to want to conduct investigations there. Some of this information may have been obtained from Corbu and that other mysterious character, Yves Maraval, and probably also the Abbe Mazieres [see below]. However, it is unclear which information Cholet originally worked with [i.e. that of the Montfort-l'Aumaury parchments] and when it became mixed with the researches of Corbu. I say this because, as you will see in sections of the Cholet Report below - which he published in i believe 1967 - the Priory of Sion 'propaganda' was now added, because Cholet refers to the Blanchefort headstone'. Cholet, when requesting permission from the Mayor at Rennes-le-Chateau to excavate wrote that " ...the principal purpose of these investigations is to find the treasures hidden several centuries ago by various persons who lived in Rennes-le-Château".
This suggests that Cholet was indeed in possession of information that might relate to a 'treasure' hidden there. And note that the word treasure is spoken of in the plural!
Later Cholet writes a report about why he wanted to dig there and what he found. Here are some sections from his report [i have highlighted interesting statements in bold]. Cholet began with the following:
"In Gaulish times there was a temple there dedicated to the god ARA. It is from this name that the place-name Rennes-le-Château is derived. It was the Visigoths who first changed the name - they called it Radaès. Then came Rada, Rédé, Rédéa, Rèda-Castel and - finally - Rennes-le-Château. The Celts worshiped the god Ares by moving physically closer to him, i.e. by establishing themselves on a mountain side while protecting themselves from the elements. A cavern close to a mountaintop was, for them, the ideal place of worship: at Rennes-le-Château there was a cave situated very close to the summit. This religion lasted until the area was christianised. Following the customs of the time the priests, monks and preaching friars built their churches on the sites of the former pagan altars. In this way the former temple to Ares was covered by the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, a building that does not seem to have changed its location down the centuries, even though it was destroyed several times. This structure was built during the Visigothic occupation.
When the Saracens invaded the region from Spain the strongholds built by the Visigoths fell into their hands. The siege of Radaès lasted quite a long time, as it was the regional capital and was therefore heavily fortified. The survivors, after walling up in the former temple everything that they were unable to take away with them, escaped by an underground passageway leading towards the present-day chateau, and from there to the place known as Blanchefort. A branch of this underground passage descended towards the River Sals, opposite Coustaussa. The river was crossed at a ford (which still exists), while the exit from this underground passage has been blocked by a landslide; even so, the resumption of their escape route towards Coustaussa is still visible on the left-hand side of the road to Arques.
After Charlemagne put the Saracens to flight a new population took up residence there, but we do not know very much about this period. We have to wait until the Albigensian Crusade to find the name Rédé reappearing in history. It is stated that Rédé would have fallen after Montségur and that a part of the Cathars' possessions would also have been walled up in the temple before the surrender, but we do not know anything precise about this".
But the main thrust of his interest is with the following time-span:
"The really great historical period of this area - at least as far as those people in whom we are interested is concerned - lies during the domination of this area by the Counts of VOISIN. After the fall of the Cathars and their allies (Some Christian lords had followed the great Cathar chiefs, not out of religious conviction but out of the obedience of a vassal to his master: this was the case with the Count of Aniort and his brothers. Calm having been restored, a major trial was held at Carcassonne. There they pleaded their cause, succeeded in having the charges against them dismissed and had their possessions restored to them on condition that they change their name. Ever since then the family has borne the name of De Niort, after a small village adjoining the Sault plateau) the survivors of the fighting parcelled out the area among themselves. The results of the fighting at the Razé fell to the Chevalier de Voisin, a minor nobleman without appanage, son of the Count of VOISIN (-le-Bretonneux, near Paris) and a vassal of Simon de Montfort (whom he had followed in his adventures) who had been lucky enough to survive the fighting. He took the title of Count Pierre I of VOISIN, lord of the Razé. Later he was appointed seneschal. His elder son succeeded him under the name Pierre II, while the younger son, Paul-Guillaume, was suspected of turning to brigandage. We have to wait until the Hundred Years War (1365) to encounter a Count of VOISIN in history again. During that time the Grandes Compagnies laid the area to waste. The seigneur of the period, Alaric I of VOISIN, decided to exterminate them. He formed his knights and vassals into a unit and advanced in front of the mercenaries. They met near St. Paul de Fenouillet. After a fierce battle the mercenaries prevailed and what remained of Alaric's troops retreated to Rèda-Castel pursued by those of the Grandes Compagnies, who besieged the town, which was soon captured and destroyed. All that remained was the castle, although a cannonball had penetrated a tower of the ramparts, the Tour Marsala (Marsala = Sainte Barbe). A tremendous explosion destroyed everything, but the keep was unharmed - the resistance continued until... After the mercenaries had razed the church of St. Pierre to the ground they found the entrance to an underground passage. They rushed into it thinking that they could seize the chateau from the inside, but they never reached it: at a turning of the underground passage there was a rocking flagstone and all those who ran onto it fell into a well. There they lie to this day. After this adventure the siege was raised. Dating from around the same period is the passage running to Rèda-Castel constructed for the wife of Pedro the Cruel, King of Castile. Blanche de Castile, the third woman to bear this name (she was actually Blanche de Bourbon) once sought refuge with the Count of VOISIN, who, by virtue of his possessions was as much a vassal of the King of France as he was of the King of Castile, but this episode does not contribute anything to our story. We need to jump forward to the Wars of Religion to open a new chapter on this area. The Calvinists overran the area and destroyed those towns whose inhabitants refused to conform to their ideas. Rèda-Castel and its town were destroyed once more: the chateau, houses, churches - everything was razed to the ground. The surrounding towns shared the same fate. It is from this period that the neighbouring town of Espéraza takes its name: it is not a distortion of the French word 'espérance' (hope) but a contraction of the Occitan expression 'Es-per-raza', which in French means ‘C'est pour raser’ (‘This is for razing to the ground’). The family of VOISIN disappeared from the region after this adventure".
This rather revealing report continues [giving us a snapshot if you like, of the story of Rennes-le-Chateau for Cholet at this time]:
"Rennes-le-Château entered into the ownership of the family of 'Hautpoul de Blanchefort '. It seems that these new lords were rich and powerful, as other noble families sought their friendship and alliances through marriage. This was the period of the Bourbon Kings, and we have to wait for their fall before the town of Rennes-le-Château enters history again. At that time it was a staging-post on the émigré route to Spain. The curé of the time hid the émigrés and gave them food and drink. When he felt that he had gone too far and that the civil authorities were on their way to arrest him, he buried his meagre possessions in the church and wrote the history of his local area on pieces of parchment, hiding them in one of the pillars supporting the altar. Then he too departed - never to return.
Rennes-le-Château was still a prosperous village, despite being isolated: no road suitable for vehicles connected it to the other towns, only a rough mule track to Rennes-les-Bains. There was little money in the area. The inhabitants, who were completely self-sufficient, lived well but modestly. However, the whole range of trades and crafts was represented there. The curé of the period, Bérenger Saunière, implored the Mayor to vote him a credit of 91 francs and 60 centimes to pay for repairs to the roof of the church, but neither the curé nor the Commune had such a sum, even though the rain leaked onto the altar. One morning the old bell-ringer, while performing his duties, was almost hit on the head by a piece of wood that had fallen from the belfry. He kicked it inside and continued ringing the Angelus. That evening he came across the piece of wood again and, out of curiosity, picked it up and found it rather light for its size. Looking at it more closely he found that it was hollow and that it contained some ferns. Inside the ferns he found a parchment wrapped around a bone. The text on this parchment was written in Latin. He took it to the Curé who said, 'This is certainly a relic and its history'. For several days the Curé tried to translate this puzzle without much success. So he went to Paris and returned with a translation. On the following Thursday, assisted by the choirboys, the curé set about lifting a slab inside the church, but it was heavy and it took the whole morning to budge it. Finally, around midday, the task was finished. Where the slab had been there was a large hole and, at the bottom of it, the beginning of a staircase. He sent the choir away, saying to them: 'Come back all of you in two hours - there'll be sweets for everyone'. Then he locked up the church. At two o'clock in the afternoon the door was still closed. It was only opened again at four o'clock when the curé, quite radiant with joy, handed out the sweets he had promised.
From this day forward he started spending a great deal of money on all manner of things: after making sure the church was repaired and decorated he had a large and beautiful house built where all were welcome to dine, and he also did a great deal for the village and its inhabitants, repairing their houses and giving their daughters dowries. But he had great problems with the Bishop. He was accused of all sorts of things: making a pact with the Devil, trafficking in Masses, espionage, acting as a letter box for clandestine messages, etc., accusations which did not, however, prevent him spending and building.
One day a lady, who was both pious and quite rich, said that she thought it was unseemly that people were continuing to say Mass (in this beautiful church restored to new condition) on such an old altar. With the agreement of the curé and without any regard for archaeology, she had the old altar, which dated from the Carolingian period, or perhaps even from that of the Visigoths, demolished and had it replaced with the one that is there now. Once again there was a 'find': in one of the pillars which held up the heavy altar slab the workmen found three parchments which the non-juring curé of the time of the Convention had hidden there This time the translation was an easier task. It is thanks to the first two parchments that we know what we have written above about the local history of the region. The contents of the third parchment were not divulged, but Curé Saunière's subsequent conduct is a clear indication of its content. He asked some workmen who were busy building the conservatory at that time to come into the church with their shovels and pickaxes He made them dig behind the altar and soon there appeared the neck of an earthenware jar. He wanted to continue on his own: he had just found the secret hiding-place of the curé who had fled to Spain. It was in this earthenware jar that he found the magnificent ciborium which he offered to the canon of St. Paul de Fenouillet to thank him for having pleaded his cause before the court in Rome.
Where did curé Saunière get all this money?
In the light of what we have said above there is no doubt that it was from a treasure: in moving the slab known as the tombstone of the Chevalier he had discovered the path to the Temple. Now let us try to trace the origins of this treasure or treasures.
The Visigoths: Alaric I, King of the Visigoths, twice besieged Rome. On the first occasion he obtained a ransom from it; on the second occasion he sacked it and then died the following year. To give this prestigious chief a tomb worthy of him his soldiers diverted a river, dug the tomb in the dried riverbed and then, after the burial, restored the river to its original course. According to custom his possessions should have been placed in the tomb with him, but the King's share was not perhaps the whole of the treasures of Rome. History tells us that the Visigoths, having returned to their own territory, could not agree on the election of the new king. Some of them, about 40,000 all told, refused to recognise Alaric's successor and, after helping themselves to the war booty, crossed the mountains and eventually established themselves in the region in which we are interested. The site of Radaès lent itself admirably to resistance. It is said that the pursuers long besieged the fugitives, but never once set foot on the plateau. After the dissident Visigoths had made Radaès into their capital it was only logical that they should deposit their treasure there.
The Cathars: we know that the Crusaders, when they penetrated Montségur, found nothing. We also know that, on the morning of the surrender, three men, on the orders of their chief, were let down from the ramparts by ropes. Were they given the task of taking the treasure somewhere else, or of being the sole survivors who would pass their beliefs on to future generations?
The Templars: they had a powerful presence in the region, with a commandery at Campagne-sur-Aude and an observation post on Mont du Bézu. At Blanchefort there was a castle which belonged to them. Of their own free will or by force the nobles were obliged to march with them. Proof that the Templars were mixed up in the affair of the treasures is that on the slab known as the tombstone of Blanchefort there were signs, with Latin inscriptions, which only the Templars used. There was also a certain 'taboo' on the Templar possessions, which meant that their hidden treasure has come down through the centuries without anyone being able to get their hands on it. Anything belonging to the Templars has always inspired great fear in those who had to guard it or had reason to approach it.
Blanche de Castile: a parchment found at the scene shows that the mother of St. Louis came to Rédé, heavily guarded and loaded down with innumerable items of baggage. According to the parchment this baggage was buried in an underground passage below the former chateau of the Counts of VOISIN and then walled in. Obviously the fact that this baggage was entrusted to such a powerful ally suggests that it must have contained something quite precious. This happened in June 1249, when the King was on Crusade and not yet a prisoner, so it could not have been his ransom but must have been what remained of the royal treasure. The Lady Regent, sensing that her end was near, insisted on putting it somewhere secure, the barons of the court having too strong a desire to appropriate it to themselves.
Blanche de France: daughter of St. Louis, born in Jaffa in 1252. She was Blanche de Castile (the second to bear that name) by virtue of her marriage to the Infant of Castile. She also stayed at Rédé: it was for her that the former castle of the Templars was restored and given the name Blanchefort. The story that follows took place during the reign of Philippe III the Bold. Following the assassination of the heir to the throne of Castile (the husband of Blanche de France) and the kidnapping of their two children the King of France convened the meeting of the Three Kings (France, Majorca and Aragon). When the discussions achieved no result a war ensued, which France lost. In the treaty that followed it was stipulated that the Infants of Castile would be returned to their mother on condition that both she and they renounced the throne of Castile and that the family lived in France. In return a considerable sum of money in gold would be sent to the widow every year during her lifetime. In principle she lived at Lunel but she made frequent visits to Blanchefort. It was during a visit to Blanchefort that the little caravan carrying the recipient of this gift of gold was attacked, the escorts killed and the mules and their burden stolen. Everyone in the area assumed that it was Count Paul-Guillaume who had launched the attack and that he hid his booty in the underground passages of the chateau. A short time afterwards Count Paul disappeared (revenge?, exile? - no one will ever know).
By what route did curé Saunière reach his treasure?
On the first occasion this was via the site of the tombstone of the Chevalier. According to the enquiry made after Saunière's death, for a long time the faithful walked on planks in the centre of the church, facing the altar. This location is incorrect, as when digging at the site indicated we had evidence that, down the centuries, no one had excavated at this place. After Curé Saunière had had the tiled floor relaid the hole underneath the tombstone was blocked up, yet he continued to go down to visit his treasure. This suggests that once he was in the underground passages he must have found other exits - and two facts prove it:
One evening when he went into the cemetery some people followed him. Suddenly he disappeared. The pursuers hid and awaited his return but he never emerged, yet the following morning he said Mass in the church. There is yet another path that leads to the former temple. He found it in the rock garden. One night a man followed the Curé and saw him go underground after he had been digging in this garden. He followed him down and surprised him rummaging in a barrel full of gold coins. The curé, furious at having been surprised, escorted the man up again and led him into the church, where he made him swear on the Gospel never to speak of what he had just seen. The man kept his word for the whole of his life, but on his deathbed he did speak, without however revealing the exact place where the curé had been digging.
The 'baggage' of Blanche de Castile: it is necessary to make a distinction between the treasure of the curé and the hidden treasure of the Regent. I have held in my hands the parchment which deals with this matter and I can say that the underground passages where this 'baggage' is (or was) are something quite separate and do not communicate with the former temple or, if there ever was such a communicating passage, then it has been walled up. On the parchment are two hand writings. One is lifeless and faded: this is the hand in which the main drawing and text are done. The whole document is dated and signed by Brother Dominique de Mirepoix on 29 June 1249. The signatory says that he assisted the Lady Regent in burying her baggage and drew the plan on her orders. The second handwriting is very fine, as if done with a point, and the ink is black (whereas the first is blueish). The text only provides a few complementary indications, such as 'Souterrain remblayé par SMBC' ('Underground passage filled in by SMBC') and, at the place where the baggage was hidden: 'Ici est enfoui la Puissance' ('Here there is buried Power'). This second handwriting is neither dated not signed but is undoubtedly more recent".
What is interesting is that a document Cholet names as being useful to him was one written by a Dominique of Mirepoix and dated to 1249. That name rang a bell and i looked through my old research and sure enough, i knew i had seen this name before. The diagram below is alleged to be this Dominique of Mirepoix document which show the underground passages at Rennes thus;
The original source for this information comes from a researcher known as Hercules [i feature some of his research elsewhere on this site as it is very interesting] who appears to tie this document to a Monsieur Maraval, a descendant of the Aniort family. I refer to this work HERE and Sagarzazu [who is really Hercules] says the following regarding the above mentioned Templar scroll;
"Concerning the origin of this Templar scroll, it could have been stolen during the Revolution from the archives of Father Henri Boudet, a religious or another noble. Indeed, an inventory of the goods of the abbot Antoine Bigou, former priest of Rennes-le-Chateau, seized by the Republic after his exile in Spain, carries the signature of a notary who was a Maraval, bailiff or officer in Limoux. In fact ..... according to information taken from the current owner of the chateau of Niort (a niece of Yves Maraval), the Maraval family do not come from the region of Limoux but Mazamet.
About the years 1988-1989, I had talked twice by phone with Gerard de Sede, who at that time lived in Belgium. I got his details through his mother who was then living in an apartment in rue Saint-Jacques in Paris. He knew Maravel very well, whom he called "Yvon" but I have not been able to get more information on this Templar document as Gerard de Sede obviously did not know anything.
During a meal between researchers at the restaurant "La Tour" in the summer of 1965, Yves Maraval exhibited a copy of an ancient Templar parchment. There, following an argument with a fairly young adventurer named Bernard Sorieul, Yves Maraval tore part of the parchment with a plan and he gave it to Bernard Sorieul. ... This diamond shaped plan was later published in "Le Charivari" (No. 18 October November 1973 - page 13) ... In the legend of the pictures in "Le Charivari", Jean-Luc Chaumeil wrote: "Below is a sketch drawn by the hand of the Father (Saunière). The circles drawn around the rectangle indicate the " The Tour Magdala ", the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, the villa" Bethany, "and the tower of alchemy of the Chateau de Voisins' ...
John Pellet, also had this plan in hand and he had time to draw a copy made to the rule. I have this other plan which is roughly identical to the first. A copy was given by Jean Pellet to a friend of mine........... This copy drawn by Jean Pellet brings nothing more than the authentic copy of the document"
The webmaster noted above who first published the diagram had this to say:
"According to Mr. Hercules this scroll was established by three Templars of Perpignan". The web master added: "So we could draw the conclusion that Béranger Saunière built his estate on the basis of these scrolls and parchments, but are they genuine? We can not prove it!"
According to Sagarzazu [Hercules/Hermes] various testimonies obtained described this scroll as being composed of a single sheet folded in half, with four pages:
-On the first page, there was nothing;
-On the second page, there was a text of nine lines in Vulgar Latin with a few words of Occitan or Catalan;
-On the third page, there were another nine lines of text in Vulgar Latin with a few words of Catalan or Occitan, and was following the text of the previous page;
-On the fourth page, there was on the top half of the document, two pieces of three lines each, always in Vulgar Latin with a few words of Catalan or Occitan, and that was the end of the previous two pages of text. On the bottom half of the fourth page, there was a plan in diamond.
The Latin text of 21 lines (9 + 9 + 3) was an act evidencing the 'hiding' of a treasure, without indication of place, by three Templars of Perpignan which one of them seemed to be called Barbier or was a Barber by profession. The treasure was then moved, again without indication of the new repository.
The second of three Latin text lines announced a curse by the devil for all those who try to get close and take ownership of the deposit of the Templar Church property.
This part of the Maraval parchment included a plan which corresponded to the underground diamond of the old Visigothic settlement on the location of the current domaine of Abbé Saunière. It also distinguished the cliff - very well represented by two curved lines that go to the cemetery of the Church of St Mary Magdalene. We also see the four towers of the ancient fortress that Saunière had partially rebuilt within the walls of his estate.
The parchment testified to the double transfer of treasure by three Templars of Perpignan, without indication of place. Initially, this deposit was probably transported by Chariot from the Roussillon, up to Reddas (Rennes), where it was temporarily removed and hidden in the tomb of Lords and in the underground networks under the church of Rennes-le-Chateau. Then, there was certainly a second transfer in small quantities, by mule and horse, to a place hidden in the countryside (in a cave, an old mine, ancient temple ...). This double-transfer was made at the request of the highest authorities of the Church and with the agreement of Pierre de Voisins who welcomed and housed three Templars in his manor of Bézu, now called in the locality "The Tipliés".
Do not forget that it was said that, for certain, the Fondi de Niort, possessed ‘a parchment authenticating a deposit in front of three witnesses, natives of Perpignan ....’ which is hinted at being related to the treasure of King Alaric and other items of the Temple of Jerusalem. So is the document illustrated above a fake, or related to the Aniort family, or somehow relevant to the searches of Cholet or something else? Are these the same documents Cholet reports as being found in the archives of the Montfort-l'Amaury family, descendants of Simon de Montfort or something completely different?
It is logical that there would be a Templar connection because the Montfort clan most certainly married into the upper echelons of the earliest Templars [see HERE]. Perhaps the Maraval document is some garbled family legend? I suppose as the Aniort family had close connections with the Templars, perhaps this Maraval document [if it is also the Montfort document] has some interesting information regarding the Templars and any supposed 'treasure' in the area?
This neatly fits with Ernest Cros. Why? Because, as i have just read in the fantastic Mensior article [see HERE] the author behind the Cros report most probably was Abbe Mazieres - and Abbe Maziere's tells us that he worked from the papers and research of Ernest Cros. We know that Cros documented a so-called Templar stone in the region of Rennes-le-Chateau. He also partially reconstructed a strange stone in the cemetery at Rennes-le-Chateau and that he thought this guarded some kind of Templar treasure. This would correlate with Cholet's assertion in his report where he wrote: "Proof that the Templars were mixed up in the affair of the treasures is that on the slab known as the tombstone of Blanchefort there were signs, with Latin inscriptions, which only the Templars used".
We know that Cros was "elderly engineer, graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique, and a retired railway employee, who used to spend his holidays in Quillan, where his wife owned the baths at Ginoles, He is worthy of mention for the role he played in the Rennes affair. A dedicated archaeologist, fascinated by ancient stones, he accused his friend Berenger Saunière of treating these historical pieces with contempt to the point of placing the "Dalle des Chevaliers" on the floor as a step, exposed to the elements, in front of the base of the statue of the Virgin Mary, and of erasing the inscriptions on the horizontal tombstone of the marquise of Blanehefort.
It is thanks to the writings of Mr. Cros that we know of the existence in the cemetery of the gravestone known as "Et In Arcadia Ego", [i.e. the Reddis Cellis stone] which the abbé erased and had transported to be placed on top of the ossuary. It was also Mr Cros who discovered in the surrounding area the Templar stone of Coumesourde, which, to this day, remains an enigma as regards its presentation as much as its origin."
So here is the letter of Cholet in 1955:
"Concerning the origin of this Templar scroll, it could have been stolen during the Revolution from the archives of Father Henri Boudet, a religious or another noble. Indeed, an inventory of the goods of the abbot Antoine Bigou, former priest of Rennes-le-Chateau, seized by the Republic after his exile in Spain, carries the signature of a notary who was a Maraval, bailiff or officer in Limoux. In fact ..... according to information taken from the current owner of the chateau of Niort (a niece of Yves Maraval), the Maraval family do not come from the region of Limoux but Mazamet.
About the years 1988-1989, I had talked twice by phone with Gerard de Sede, who at that time lived in Belgium. I got his details through his mother who was then living in an apartment in rue Saint-Jacques in Paris. He knew Maravel very well, whom he called "Yvon" but I have not been able to get more information on this Templar document as Gerard de Sede obviously did not know anything.
During a meal between researchers at the restaurant "La Tour" in the summer of 1965, Yves Maraval exhibited a copy of an ancient Templar parchment. There, following an argument with a fairly young adventurer named Bernard Sorieul, Yves Maraval tore part of the parchment with a plan and he gave it to Bernard Sorieul. ... This diamond shaped plan was later published in "Le Charivari" (No. 18 October November 1973 - page 13) ... In the legend of the pictures in "Le Charivari", Jean-Luc Chaumeil wrote: "Below is a sketch drawn by the hand of the Father (Saunière). The circles drawn around the rectangle indicate the " The Tour Magdala ", the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, the villa" Bethany, "and the tower of alchemy of the Chateau de Voisins' ...
John Pellet, also had this plan in hand and he had time to draw a copy made to the rule. I have this other plan which is roughly identical to the first. A copy was given by Jean Pellet to a friend of mine........... This copy drawn by Jean Pellet brings nothing more than the authentic copy of the document"
The webmaster noted above who first published the diagram had this to say:
"According to Mr. Hercules this scroll was established by three Templars of Perpignan". The web master added: "So we could draw the conclusion that Béranger Saunière built his estate on the basis of these scrolls and parchments, but are they genuine? We can not prove it!"
According to Sagarzazu [Hercules/Hermes] various testimonies obtained described this scroll as being composed of a single sheet folded in half, with four pages:
-On the first page, there was nothing;
-On the second page, there was a text of nine lines in Vulgar Latin with a few words of Occitan or Catalan;
-On the third page, there were another nine lines of text in Vulgar Latin with a few words of Catalan or Occitan, and was following the text of the previous page;
-On the fourth page, there was on the top half of the document, two pieces of three lines each, always in Vulgar Latin with a few words of Catalan or Occitan, and that was the end of the previous two pages of text. On the bottom half of the fourth page, there was a plan in diamond.
The Latin text of 21 lines (9 + 9 + 3) was an act evidencing the 'hiding' of a treasure, without indication of place, by three Templars of Perpignan which one of them seemed to be called Barbier or was a Barber by profession. The treasure was then moved, again without indication of the new repository.
The second of three Latin text lines announced a curse by the devil for all those who try to get close and take ownership of the deposit of the Templar Church property.
This part of the Maraval parchment included a plan which corresponded to the underground diamond of the old Visigothic settlement on the location of the current domaine of Abbé Saunière. It also distinguished the cliff - very well represented by two curved lines that go to the cemetery of the Church of St Mary Magdalene. We also see the four towers of the ancient fortress that Saunière had partially rebuilt within the walls of his estate.
The parchment testified to the double transfer of treasure by three Templars of Perpignan, without indication of place. Initially, this deposit was probably transported by Chariot from the Roussillon, up to Reddas (Rennes), where it was temporarily removed and hidden in the tomb of Lords and in the underground networks under the church of Rennes-le-Chateau. Then, there was certainly a second transfer in small quantities, by mule and horse, to a place hidden in the countryside (in a cave, an old mine, ancient temple ...). This double-transfer was made at the request of the highest authorities of the Church and with the agreement of Pierre de Voisins who welcomed and housed three Templars in his manor of Bézu, now called in the locality "The Tipliés".
Do not forget that it was said that, for certain, the Fondi de Niort, possessed ‘a parchment authenticating a deposit in front of three witnesses, natives of Perpignan ....’ which is hinted at being related to the treasure of King Alaric and other items of the Temple of Jerusalem. So is the document illustrated above a fake, or related to the Aniort family, or somehow relevant to the searches of Cholet or something else? Are these the same documents Cholet reports as being found in the archives of the Montfort-l'Amaury family, descendants of Simon de Montfort or something completely different?
It is logical that there would be a Templar connection because the Montfort clan most certainly married into the upper echelons of the earliest Templars [see HERE]. Perhaps the Maraval document is some garbled family legend? I suppose as the Aniort family had close connections with the Templars, perhaps this Maraval document [if it is also the Montfort document] has some interesting information regarding the Templars and any supposed 'treasure' in the area?
This neatly fits with Ernest Cros. Why? Because, as i have just read in the fantastic Mensior article [see HERE] the author behind the Cros report most probably was Abbe Mazieres - and Abbe Maziere's tells us that he worked from the papers and research of Ernest Cros. We know that Cros documented a so-called Templar stone in the region of Rennes-le-Chateau. He also partially reconstructed a strange stone in the cemetery at Rennes-le-Chateau and that he thought this guarded some kind of Templar treasure. This would correlate with Cholet's assertion in his report where he wrote: "Proof that the Templars were mixed up in the affair of the treasures is that on the slab known as the tombstone of Blanchefort there were signs, with Latin inscriptions, which only the Templars used".
We know that Cros was "elderly engineer, graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique, and a retired railway employee, who used to spend his holidays in Quillan, where his wife owned the baths at Ginoles, He is worthy of mention for the role he played in the Rennes affair. A dedicated archaeologist, fascinated by ancient stones, he accused his friend Berenger Saunière of treating these historical pieces with contempt to the point of placing the "Dalle des Chevaliers" on the floor as a step, exposed to the elements, in front of the base of the statue of the Virgin Mary, and of erasing the inscriptions on the horizontal tombstone of the marquise of Blanehefort.
It is thanks to the writings of Mr. Cros that we know of the existence in the cemetery of the gravestone known as "Et In Arcadia Ego", [i.e. the Reddis Cellis stone] which the abbé erased and had transported to be placed on top of the ossuary. It was also Mr Cros who discovered in the surrounding area the Templar stone of Coumesourde, which, to this day, remains an enigma as regards its presentation as much as its origin."
So here is the letter of Cholet in 1955:
Lettre de Jacques CHOLET - au maire de Rennes le château - 31 mai 1955
Monsieur le maire de Rennes le château Ayant déjà obtenu l'autorisation des autorités religieuses, je sollicite de vous l'autorisation de faire dans l'église de votre village des recherches, sondages et éventuellement des fouilles, dans l'église elle même, dans ses dépendances et sur son pourtour. Il est bien entendu que ces recherches seront faites en accord avec l'abbé REGAUD afin que l'exercice du culte ne soit nullement troublé. Ces recherches ont pour but principal de retrouver le ou les trésors cachés il y a plusieurs siècles par diverses personnes ayant habité rennes le château et comme buts secondaires, chercher à éclaircir certains points d'histoire et d'archéologie. Ne disposant que d'environs un mois pour faire ces recherches, il y a plusieurs cas à envisager. 1°) Je ne trouve rien, tout est remis en état. 2°) Il y a une ou plusieurs trouvailles, constat en sera fait par huissier et la totalité des valeurs sera remise entre les mains des représentants de l'état qui se chargeront de sa transformation en francs et répartiront équitablement les parts aux ayants droits (état, propriétaires, inventeur). 3°) Les recherches sont en bonne voie, mais le temps me manque pour les terminer, alors en accord avec vous et le représentant des autorités religieuses je referme provisoirement mais solidement les fouilles ou sondages et vous vous engagez par écrit à ne pas accorder de permissions à d'autres chercheurs sans mon accord, car dès que ma profession me laissera quelques loisirs, je reprendrai les travaux un moment interrompus. J'espère Monsieur le Maire que ma demande est claire et précise et en espérant votre accord, je vous prie de croire à l'expression de mes meilleurs sentiments. CHOLET Jacques Chef de Section de la Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens Contremaître en travaux publics 7, rue Pierre Curie Verrier le Buisson - Seine et OiseSuit une note manuscrite, probablement de la main de M. LAMBEGE, alors maire de Rennes le château:Autorisation accordée pour des fouilles éventuelles dans l'enceinte de l'église à l'exception du cimetière et compte tenu des engagements formels stipulés sur la présente lettre. Rennes le château, le 31 mai 1959. Le Maire |
Cholet's letter translates as:
"To the Mayor of Rennes-le-Château
My dear Mayor
Having already obtained permission from the religious authorities I now request you to allow me to undertake, in the church of your village, investigations, soundings and perhaps excavations, both within the church itself and in its appurtenances and surroundings.
It is of course understood that these investigations will be performed in collaboration with the Abbé Rigaud so that his church services are not disturbed in any way. The principal purpose of these investigations is to find the treasures hidden several centuries ago by various persons who lived in Rennes-le-Château and the secondary aim is to elucidate certain points of history and archaeology.
Since I only have about a month for these investigations there are several possible outcomes:
1) I find nothing: in that case everything will be reinstated.
2) I make one or more discoveries, in which case an official report of these will be drawn up by the notaire and the whole of the treasure trove handed over to the State, which will be responsible for converting it into cash and distributing it in equal shares to those so entitled (the State, landowners, the finder).
3) The investigations proceed satisfactorily but I do not have sufficient time to complete them, in which case, in agreement with you and the representative of the religious authorities, I will provisionally but emphatically suspend the excavations or soundings and you will promise in writing not to grant any permissions to other investigators without my agreement, since as soon as my work commitments allow me free time to do so I shall resume the work.
I hope, Mr. Mayor, that my request is clear and precise and that it meets with your approval
Cholet JacquesHead of DepartmentRégie Autonome des Transports ParisiensClerk of Works
7, rue Pierre CurieVerrier le Buisson – Seine et Oise
Approval granted for excavations within the church with the exception of the cemetery and subject to formal undertakings as stipulated by the present document.
Rennes-le-Château, 31 May 1959.
The Mayor, M. Lembege".
From http://www.rennes-le-chateau-rhedae.com/rlc/excavations1959.html
As is well known, Cholet did not find anything during his researches - probably because he was looking in the wrong places [see the work of Paul Saussez] but Cholet concluded his report saying;
"Plenty of other researchers have come and dug without result. They say that, down the centuries, two people have succeeded in entering the underground passages: A shepherd pursuing an escaped goat followed it into a hole where he found human remains and where the soil was strewn with gold coins. He brought quite a large quantity of the coins out with him but was accused of theft and executed.
They also say that a priest found some treasure in the time of Louis XIV. In 1959, when I was working in the church, a postman came in and said to me: 'There is an underground passageway which runs from the church to the chateau, but I wouldn’t go there for anything in the world'. He also said to me: 'The Curé Saunière used to get a lot of money orders sent to him through the post'.
We now have to draw some sort of conclusion from the foregoing.
As regards the Celtic Temple - The best way of penetrating it would be to follow the first route of Curé Saunière, i.e. the site of the slab called the ‘tombstone of the Chevalier’. Knowledge of this location is not entirely lost: two people are in on the secret but it's a secret that they are keeping to themselves. Not very much work would be required in the rock garden to find the second path. But in both cases you would run up against the veto of the Municipality.
From all that has been written above we can conclude that there are two quite separate things with no connection between them:
1 The former Temple with its treasure or treasures.
2 The underground passageway of the castle containing the 'baggage' of the Lady Regent.
If it should ever be someone's good fortune to penetrate into the underground passages or the former Celtic Temple then the greatest caution is urged: oubliettes, fall-traps and other kinds of traps can unleash themselves in the path of the unwary. The stone mechanisms of mediaeval times were built to last, as the adventure of the mercenaries of 1365 proves".
"To the Mayor of Rennes-le-Château
My dear Mayor
Having already obtained permission from the religious authorities I now request you to allow me to undertake, in the church of your village, investigations, soundings and perhaps excavations, both within the church itself and in its appurtenances and surroundings.
It is of course understood that these investigations will be performed in collaboration with the Abbé Rigaud so that his church services are not disturbed in any way. The principal purpose of these investigations is to find the treasures hidden several centuries ago by various persons who lived in Rennes-le-Château and the secondary aim is to elucidate certain points of history and archaeology.
Since I only have about a month for these investigations there are several possible outcomes:
1) I find nothing: in that case everything will be reinstated.
2) I make one or more discoveries, in which case an official report of these will be drawn up by the notaire and the whole of the treasure trove handed over to the State, which will be responsible for converting it into cash and distributing it in equal shares to those so entitled (the State, landowners, the finder).
3) The investigations proceed satisfactorily but I do not have sufficient time to complete them, in which case, in agreement with you and the representative of the religious authorities, I will provisionally but emphatically suspend the excavations or soundings and you will promise in writing not to grant any permissions to other investigators without my agreement, since as soon as my work commitments allow me free time to do so I shall resume the work.
I hope, Mr. Mayor, that my request is clear and precise and that it meets with your approval
Cholet JacquesHead of DepartmentRégie Autonome des Transports ParisiensClerk of Works
7, rue Pierre CurieVerrier le Buisson – Seine et Oise
Approval granted for excavations within the church with the exception of the cemetery and subject to formal undertakings as stipulated by the present document.
Rennes-le-Château, 31 May 1959.
The Mayor, M. Lembege".
From http://www.rennes-le-chateau-rhedae.com/rlc/excavations1959.html
As is well known, Cholet did not find anything during his researches - probably because he was looking in the wrong places [see the work of Paul Saussez] but Cholet concluded his report saying;
"Plenty of other researchers have come and dug without result. They say that, down the centuries, two people have succeeded in entering the underground passages: A shepherd pursuing an escaped goat followed it into a hole where he found human remains and where the soil was strewn with gold coins. He brought quite a large quantity of the coins out with him but was accused of theft and executed.
They also say that a priest found some treasure in the time of Louis XIV. In 1959, when I was working in the church, a postman came in and said to me: 'There is an underground passageway which runs from the church to the chateau, but I wouldn’t go there for anything in the world'. He also said to me: 'The Curé Saunière used to get a lot of money orders sent to him through the post'.
We now have to draw some sort of conclusion from the foregoing.
As regards the Celtic Temple - The best way of penetrating it would be to follow the first route of Curé Saunière, i.e. the site of the slab called the ‘tombstone of the Chevalier’. Knowledge of this location is not entirely lost: two people are in on the secret but it's a secret that they are keeping to themselves. Not very much work would be required in the rock garden to find the second path. But in both cases you would run up against the veto of the Municipality.
From all that has been written above we can conclude that there are two quite separate things with no connection between them:
1 The former Temple with its treasure or treasures.
2 The underground passageway of the castle containing the 'baggage' of the Lady Regent.
If it should ever be someone's good fortune to penetrate into the underground passages or the former Celtic Temple then the greatest caution is urged: oubliettes, fall-traps and other kinds of traps can unleash themselves in the path of the unwary. The stone mechanisms of mediaeval times were built to last, as the adventure of the mercenaries of 1365 proves".