Holy Blood, Holy Grail (63 page)

Europe a trans or pan-European confederation assembled into a modern empire and ruled by a dynasty descended from Jesus. This dynasty would not only occupy a throne of political or secular power, but quite conceivably, the throne of Saint Peter as well. Under that supreme authority there might then be an interlocking network of kingdoms or principalities, connected by dynastic alliance and intermarriage a kind of twentieth-century “feudal system’, but without the abuses usually

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associated with that term. And the actual process of governing would presumably reside with the Prieure de Sion which might take the form of, say, a European

Parliament endowed with executive and/or legislative powers.

A Europe of this sort would constitute a new and unified political force in international affairs an entity whose status would ultimately be comparable to that of the Soviet Union, or the United States. Indeed it might well emerge stronger than either, because it would rest on deep-rooted spiritual and emotional foundations, rather than on abstract, theoretical or ideological ones. It would appeal not only to man’s head, but to his heart as well. It would draw its strength from tapping the collective psyche of Western Europe, awakening the fundamental religious impulse.

Such a programme may well appear quixotic. But history by now should have taught us not to underestimate the potential of the collective psyche, and the power to be obtained by harnessing it. A few years ago it would have seemed inconceivable that a religious zealot without an army of his own, without a political party behind him, without anything at his disposal save charisma and the religious hunger of a people could single-handedly topple the modern and superbly equipped edifice of the Shah’s regime in

Iran. And yet that is precisely what the Ayatollah Khomeini managed to do.

We are not, of course, sounding a warning. We are not, implicitly or explicitly, comparing the Prieure de Sion to the Ayatollah. We have no reason to think Sion sinister -as one might the demagogue of Iran. But the demagogue of Iran bears eloquent witness to the deep-rooted character, the energy, the potential power of man’s religious impulse and the ways in which that impulse can be channelled to political ends. Such ends need not entail an abuse of authority. They may be as laudable as those of Churchill or de Gaulle were during the Second World War. The religious impulse can be channelled in any of innumerable directions. It is a source of immense potential power.

And it is all too often ignored or overlooked by modern governments founded on, and often fettered to, reason alone. The religious impulse reflects a profound psychological and emotional need. And

psychological and emotional needs are every bit as real as the need for

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bread, for shelter, for material security.

We know that the Prieure de Sion is not a “lunatic fringe’ organisation. We know it is well financed and includes -or, at any race, commands sympathy from men in responsible and influential positions in politics, economics, media, the arts. We know that since 1956 it has increased its membership more than fourfold, as if it were mobil ising or preparing for something; and M. Plantard told us personally that he and his Order were working to a more or less precise timetable. We also know that since 1956 Sion has been making certain information available discreetly, tantalisingly, in piecemeal fashion, in measured quantities just sufficient to provide alluring hints. Those hints provoked this book.

If the Prieure de Sion intends to “show its cards’, the time is ripe for it to do so. The political systems and ideologies which, in the early years of our century, seemed to promise so much have virtually all displayed a degree of bankruptcy. Communism, socialism, fascism, capitalism,

Western-style democracy have all, in one way or another, betrayed their promise, jaundiced their adherents and failed to fulfill the dreams they engendered. Because of their small-mindedness, lack of perspective and abuse of office, politicians no longer inspire confidence, only distrust.

In the West today there is increasing cynicism, dissatisfaction and disillusion. There is increasing psychic stress, anxiety and despair. But there is also an intensifying quest for meaning, for emotional fulfilment, for a spiritual dimension to our lives, for something in which genuinely to believe. There is a longing for a renewed sense of the sacred that amounts, in effect, to a full-scale religious revival exemplified by the proliferation of sects and cults, for example, and the swelling tide of fundamentalism in the United States.

There is also, increasingly, a desire for a true “leader’ not a Fiihrer, but a species of wise and benign spiritual figure, a priest king in whom mankind can safely repose its trust. Our civilisation has sated itself with materialism and in the process become aware of a more profound hunger. It is now beginning to look elsewhere, seeking the fulfilment of emotional, psychological and spiritual needs.

Such an atmosphere would seem eminently conducive to the Prieure de

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Sion’s objectives. It places Sion in the position of being able to offer an alternative to existing social and political systems. Such an alternative is hardly likely to constitute Utopia or the New Jerusalem. But to the extent that it satisfies needs which existing systems do not even acknowledge it could well prove immensely attractive.

There are many devout Christians who do not hesitate to interpret the Apocalypse as nuclear holocaust. How might the advent of Jesus’s lineal descendant be interpreted? To a receptive audience, it might be a kind of

Second Coming.

THE END

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Postscript to the Paperback Edition

Since the publication of our book, much new material has been forthcoming.

Some readers, with extremely important new information, have been open and generous in passing it on to us. Others have preferred to be cryptic, enigmatic and elliptical, speaking mysteriously of unspecified knowledge they possess, or unspecified research they have done which has led to equally unspecified conclusions of a startling/amazing/shattering/definitive nature. Such hints may indeed attest to new and valid material or to an irrelevant intellectual ingenuity and a need for spurious mystification.

In any case, we have received letters from people so aggressively over-cautious and secretive that we wonder why they bothered to write to us at all. Their shroud of obscurity and opacity seems to have been generated by a fear (verging sometimes on paranoia) that they may be deprived, unscrupulously, of the fruits of their work that we might steal the results of their research, or their decipherments, or the treasure they are convinced they have located, and leave them unacknowledged, un recognised unrewarded.

In The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, we have presented our material openly. We have also supplied information about relevant sources, in order that others may be stimulated to research of their own. The time for mystification is now past. We hope that readers who have what they consider worthwhile material will be as forthcoming as we have tried to be.

We urge them, if possible, to publish it themselves. Alternatively, we request them to make their findings available to us.

We hereby publicly state that no such material will be published, used or exploited by us unless some prior and mutually acceptable arrangement has been concluded with those who provide it. We also

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publicly state that all such material, if used by us in any way, will be duly acknowledged in a fashion that is likewise mutually acceptable. We would also like to state that we have NO interest, beyond the historical and archaeological, in any

“treasure’ uncovered in connection with Rennes-leChateau. We wish only to observe and record such discoveries as and when they might be made. Any cash rewards accruing from any ‘treasure’ would remain with those whose information leads to the location of the relevant site.

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Appendix The Alleged Grand Masters o f the Prieure de Sion

JEAN DE GI SORS According to the “Prieure documents’, jean de Gisors was

Sion’s first independent Grand Master, assuming his position after the ‘cutting of the elm’

and the separation from the Knights Templar in 1188. He was born in 1133 and died in 1220. He was at least nominal lord of the fortress of Gisors in Normandy where meetings were traditionally convened between English and French kings and where, in 1188, a curious squabble did occur which involved the cutting of an elm. Until 1193 Jean was a vassal of the king of England Henry II and then Richard I. He also possessed property in England in Sussex, and the manor of Titchfield in Hampshire.

According to the “Prieure documents’, he met with Thomas a Becket in 1169.

No independent record of this meeting survives, but Becket was at Gisors in 1169 and must have had some contact with the lord of the fortress.

MARIE DE SAINT-CLAIR. Information on Marie de Saint Clair was even more meagre than information on jean de Gisors._.Born around 1192, she was descended from Henry de Saint-Clair, Baron of Rosslyn in Scotland, who accompanied Godfroi de Bouillon on the First Crusade. Rosslyn itself was situated not far from the Templars’ major preceptory in Scotland, and

Rosslyn Chapel, built in the fifteenth century, became mantled with Rose Croix and Freemasonry legends. Marie de Saint-Clair’s grandmother married into the French Chaumont family -as did Jean de Gisors. The genealogies of the Chaumont, Gisors and Saint-Clair families were thus closely intertwined.

There is some evidence that Marie de Saint Clair was, in fact, jean de

Gisors’ second wife, but we could not confirm this definitely.

According to the genealogies in the “Prieure documents’, Marie’s mother was one Isabel

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Levis. This surname, which would seem to 5 The Families of Gisors, Payen and

Saint-Clair

From the work of Henri Lobineau (Henri de Lenoncourt)

Houu of Chaumont

TIBAUU DE PA YEN

“The Moor of Gardille’

10121 HI IGUESROBERT =ELEANORE

DE CHAUMONTDE CHAUMONT DE GUI TRY

1011-671017_75

TIBAUD DE PA YEN ADELAIDE - HUGUES DE CHAUMONT

1035-91 1036-951031-75 1st Lord of Gisors

OSMON DE CHAUMONT

CATHERINE = HUGUES DE PA YEN1060-1116

1070-1131 Lord of Guury

C.M.

Order of the Temple GUILLAUME DE CHAUMONT 1091-?

Lord of Gunry

RI CHILDE = ROBERT DE CHAUMONT

heiress of Samt-Clatr3q-7q

Lord of Guury

TIBAUD 1 - MA TILDE

“It. Pay ., 1055-1130

Lord of Gieors

GUILLAUME ROBERT

DE CHAUMONT DE SAINT-CLAIR

1155-1221 1160-1232

HUGUES II

1090-1142

Lord of Gisors

Sours Mermtnps

JEAN VI IDOINE

DES PLANTARD 1135-91

1130.? JEAN? DE CHAUMONT

1133-1220

Load of Guors frotoder of the

Rme-Crow in 1188

GM. Prieurc de Sion

GIRARD AGNES D’ASSALY - HUGUES III

1183-1213 1181-1225 Abbot, Pricurf d< StonLord of Gisors

GUILLAUME ==T== IO LANDE DE BAR

1219_1307

Lord of Gnwrs

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GM. Riewt de Sinn 1266 Line continues to present day be of Judaic origin, occurs frequently in the Languedoc, where there were Jewish settlements dating from before the Christian epoch.

GUILLAUME DE GI SORS Guillaume de Gisors, jean de Gisors’ grandson, was born in 1219. We had already encountered his name in connection with the mysterious head found in the Templars’ Paris preceptory after the arrests in 1307. Apart from this, however, we found only one external mention of him, on a deed dated 1244, which states that he was a knight. According to the genealogies in the “Prieure documents’, his sister married one jean des

Plantard. The “Prieure documents’ also state that Guillaume was inducted into the Order of the Ship and the Double Crescent in 1269. This Order was created by Louis IX (Saint Louis) for nobles who accompanied him on the illfated Sixth Crusade. If Guillaume de Gisors was a member of it, he must therefore have been with Saint Louis during the campaign in Egypt.

EDOUARD DE BAR. Barn in 1302, Edouard, Comte de Bar, was a grandson of

Edward I of England and a nephew of Edward II. He was descended from a family which had been influential in the Ardennes since Merovingian times and was almost certainly connected with the Merovingian dynasty.

Edouard’s daughter married into the house of Lorraine, and the genealogies of Bar and

Lorraine subsequently become closely intertwined.

In 1308, at the age of six (!), Edouard accompanied the duke of Lorraine into battle, was captured and not ransomed until 1314. On attaining his majority he purchased the seigneury of Stenay from one of his uncles, Jean de Bar. In 1324 he was allied in military operations with Ferry de Lorraine and Jean de Luxembourg and the house of Luxembourg, like that of

Lorraine, would seem to be of Merovingian blood. In 1336 Edouard died in a shipwreck off the coast of Cyprus.

No independent source could provide us with any link between Edouard de Bar and Guillaume de Gisors. According to the genealogies in the

“Prieure documents’, however, Edouard was grand-nephew of Guillaume’s wife, Iolande de Bar. While we could not confirm this affiliation, we

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found nothing to contradict it. If, as the “Prieure documents’

maintain, Edouard assumed Sion’s Grand

Mastership in 1307, he would have done so at the age of five. This is not necessarily improbable, if he was captured on the battlefield at the age of six. Until Edouard attained his majority the comte of Bar was governed by his uncle, jean de Bar, who acted as regent. It is possible that Jean acted in the capacity of “regent Grand Master’ as well. But there would seem to be no sense in the selection of a five-year-old boy as Grand Master unless the Grand Mastership was in some way linked to heredity or blood descent.