Having acquired an indepth
knowledge of the books of correspondence of Abbé Saunière, many people
often ask me if there exists amongst these documents anything which
would confirm or deny the thesis of the so-called “Saunière’s Model”, on
which a large part of Mr André Douzet’s research about Rennes le Château
[1] relies.
Picture caption: The
label on the model
REVIEW OF THE FACTS
It was at the conference which he gave in the grounds of Saunière’s
house at Rennes le Château in August 1995, that Mr Douzet presented this
model and his first work on it. He claimed to have found the object at
the home of a metal-founder, together with several letters in Saunière’s
own hand. Although the model clearly illustrates holy sites such as they
were shown at the beginning of our [Christian] era, he presented this
model more or less as a “Treasure map of Rennes le Chateau” which would
have been left behind by the priest at the end of his life.
There were numerous speakers, of whom M. Boumendil, M. Tappa and M.
Feral launched a real scandal, accusing the author of being a forger
and, in short, of producing convincing elements to prop up his
statements. A meeting was arranged for the presentation of certain items
but Mr Douzet did not appear at this meeting and did not find it
convenient to arrange a new meeting to clear the serious accusations
brought against him [2].
The matter seemed therefore to be agreed for the followers of Rennes le
Chateau, all the more so when Patrick Mensior succeeded in proving that
the so-called model, if it really did date from the 1900’s, had nothing
to do with Rennes le Château and that it could not have been ordered by
Abbé Saunière (see the section of the conclusion in his article
published by the “Amis de l’Insolite”). To come to this conclusion he
relied on elements of correspondence known at the time, namely the
correpondence of 1915-1917, published by Pierre Jarnac [3].
In comparison, through a completely personal interpretation, Mr Douzet
recognised, in the reversed relief of a mould of the so-called model, a
region closer to his home [Durban-Corbières] and continued his work in
the area of Périllos (in the Pyrénées Orientales). He recently created
an association [according to the French law of 1901] in order to promote
this research, amongst other activities. To this day Mr Douzet has never
produced the documents requested which would be able to clear the
serious doubts which overshadow the sincerity of his research.
Picture caption: The
model seen from above
ABBE SAUNIERE’S FILES
Since the announcement of the discovery of the files of correspondence
and financial accounts of Abbé Saunière, many people have asked if there
was any mention of the famous letters which were supposed to have been
exchanged between Abbé Saunière and the designer of the model.
From the beginning, Mr Douzet has stated that he preferred not to make
these letters available because they contained information which he
wanted to keep to himself; I therefore asked him to inform me of the
dates of the letters, to see whether they were recorded in the priest’s
files.
This solution would be advantageous because it would not require him to
produce the documents, just for him to provide the details of their
dates, and if the information was confirmed, he would no longer be the
target of the accusations which had followed him for more than 10 years.
Therefore, with methods which to me have seemed to be delaying tactics
(in particular his tendency to respond with incredibly convoluted
answers to simple questions which would normally only require a Yes or a
No), and in spite of the formal promise which he had made to me in
public, Mr Douzet did not finally wish to provide me with these dates.
Since then I have completed my study of Abbé Saunière’s files and I can
state that I have not found a trace of any element which would be able
to confirm the M. Douzet’s statements.
In relation to the accounts books:
There exists no invoice
relating to the supposed model.
There exists no invoice
for the measuring tools or optical tools such as those described by
Mr Douzet, which Abbé Saunière would have needed in order to create
the topographic model.
There exists no invoice
for the hire of a carriage or for a property rental in Lyon, in
particular in the Rue de Macchabées.
There exists no trace of
an invoice for a voyage to Lyon, Durban-Corbières or Périllos.
In relation to the files of
correspondence:
There exists no trace of
the letters cited by Mr Douzet relating to a supposed topographic
model.
There exists no trace of
the journeys to Lyon which Abbé Saunière is alleged to have made,
although his journeys to other destinations are often very clear.
There exists no trace of
his supposed journeys to Durban-Corbières or to Périllos, nor the
maintenance of a continued connection of any kind with this place.
There exists no trace of
an order for optical or measuring equipment which Abbé Saunière
would have needed for the creation of his topographic model.
There exists no trace of
an order for a carriage or for accommodation rental in Lyon,
especially on the Rue de Macchabées.
Additionally, I have not
found any link between Bérenger Saunière and the real people who ordered
this model, which had originally an educational purpose and which had
been created in reality in many tens of examples at that time.
To the anticipated objection that, as these matters were secret, Abbé
Saunière would not have mentioned them in his notebooks, I reply that
from his trial, Abbé Saunière denied having kept such notebooks and that
this had worked against him during his sentencing. As a result, that
which the priest wanted to hide from the inquisitors of the time is more
than likely written in his notebooks.
One of the other examples
of the model such as used in Jerusalem for its educational purpose
CONCLUSIONS
Mr Douzet has been for very many years the target of criticisms and of
accusations which seriously endanger the credibility of the works which
he has carried out based on the study of the so-called “Saunière’s
Model”.
He has not wanted to do what was required to try to eliminate these
doubts and has even excused himself from the various offers which have
been made to him to support his thesis after having publicly given his
agreement to do so.
The work carried out in a documented and reasoned way by M. Patrick
Mensior seem to me completely conclusive. They invalidate the theories
of Mr Douzet.
My own research has not at any time allowed me to eliminate the doubts
which weigh upon the credibility of the works of Mr Douzet.
My advice is therefore, that in the current state of the justifications,
it is necessary to consider these creations as a work of the
imagination.
(1) As the
theories of Mr Douzet have occupied a sizeable book, this
article only relates to the so-called model and its supposed
implications. I state again that the elements on which I have
relied are essentially taken from the close study of the
notebooks of Abbé Saunière.
(2) On the subject of the events of 1995, read Rennes le
château, le secret de SAUNIERE (Editions Sud Ouset - 2005), by
Jean-Luc ROBIN, - page 102 onwards.
