Name.....The Priory Of Sion
Code.....SF7301
Origin...1956
Status...Undecided

The increasing popularity and sales of The Da Vinci Code has sent shock waves throughout the world. The buzz and hype that the book has generated has ensured that The Da Vinci Code is the hot topic for many lively debates and discussions, with the author, Dan Brown, becoming an instant household name. The reason why the book has made such an impact is that if it is true, the whole foundations of Christianity may have been built on deceit.

The Da Vinci Code is a fictional novel that claims to contain factual material. Of which the mysterious Priory Of Sion is the most controversial and hotly debated. As in any investigation it is always a good idea to start from the beginning, so we will start with a brief description of The Da Vinci Code.

The Chief Curator of the Louvre, Jacques Saunière, is found murdered in the museum's main gallery. A friend of the curator is rushed to the scene and immediately becomes the number one suspect for the crime. Now on the run, Robert Langdon takes flight with Sophie Neveu, a beautiful French police cryptographer. An albino monk assassin from Opus Dei, and a sinister police superintendent then pursue them. As clues are gradually uncovered, they find out that Jacques Saunière was the director of the Priory Of Sion, a European secret society founded in 1099 after the first crusade, that through the centuries have vigorously guarded the secret location and nature of the Holy Grail.

The astonishing truth is that the Holy Grail is actually Jesus's bloodline and the Priory Of Sion are protecting documents that prove Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus and that she carried his child with her when she fled to what is now France after the Crucifixion.

Dan Brown claims that in 1975, Paris's Bibliotheque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets. These parchments contained lists of previous grand masters of The Priory Of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo and Leonardo Da Vinci.

Summary

The Priory Of Sion was founded in 1956 (not 1099 as Dan Brown claims) as a social group by four friends, including the president André Bonhomme and Pierre Plantard. The purpose of the group was to rally such issues as low-cost housing, and they produced an amateur journal called "Circuit" devoted to the subject. The Priory Of Sion was named after the hill of Mont Sion located outside the town of St.Julien-en-Genevoise, where the group was formed. Registration documents filed at the police station of St. Julien-en-Genevois in 1956 prove that The Priory Of Sion (Prieure du Sion) was founded in that year.

One of the founders, Pierre Plantard, a well known confidence trickster who spent time in jail for fraud and embezzlement, met Noel Corbu, the heir to Abbe Berenger Sauniere of Rennes-le-chateau. This meeting proved to be a pinnacle point of what was to follow.
Noel Corbu told Pierre a legend about Abbe Sauniere, a priest of a poor parish whose sudden influx of money made possible the renovation of the church and a villa to be built, as well as a tower. Pierre was told that the sudden change of fortunes was because Abbe had discovered treasure in the surroundings of the village, using clues from parchments found inside one of the pillars of the church. This discovery was only made because of renovation work on the church.

This story was concocted by Corbu as a marketing coup to attract custom to his restaurant that he had just opened in the Villa. This small detail would have meant very little to Pierre Plantard as he set about creating a legend of his own.

In The mid 60's, The 'Dossiers Secrets' of Henri Lobineau were lodged with the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. These documents included genealogies of descendants of the Merovingian kings and suggested a direct blood-line between King Dagobert II and Pierre Plantard. The dossiers also contained information relating to the Priory Of Sion being founded in 1099 by Godefroy de Bouillon, and a list of past grand masters of the Priory. This was all followed by Plantard claiming that the Priory was linked with the Knights Templar, and that he was a directly descended from the Merovingian Kings of France.

In 1971, Plantard's accomplice Phillippe de Cherisey publicly admitted that the parchments were his own forgeries. Plantard responded by claiming that the forgeries were actually copies of original parchments.

It is widely believed that Plantard concocted this elaborate hoax to feed his wild misconception that he was the direct descendant of French royalty.

Discredited Plantard retired from the Priory Of Sion on 10th July 1984.

Final Thoughts

So, it's conclusive, we now know that the Priory Of Sion was no more of a secret society than the local school chess club. So 'That's that' I hear you say. Well, not quite…

Although the Priory Of Sion has only existed since 1956, a society called the Order Of Sion existed from the middle ages to the 17th century. The Order was based on Mt. Sion and some believe that the Order of Sion and the Order of the Temple (later to be known as the Knights Templar) were, until 1188, one organisation under the same leadership, and remained interwoven after the split. This link has not been proven.