Menu mysteries Bérenger Saunière

The extraordinary life of Bérenger Saunière

Bérenger Saunière is born April 11, 1852 in Montazel, village close to Rennes-Le-Chateau. Child of a family who counts seven, Bérenger Saunière, of them of his true first name, François Béenger, will be oriented toward the priesthood all as his brother Alfred. His father is the sharecropper of a noble of the region: The marquis of Cazemajou. He makes his seminary to Narbonne and is ordered priest in June 1879. He becomes priest in Alet and is named then in the parish of the Clat, isolated and rough village being on the earths of the Negroes of Ables. He remains there three years and is named by his superior as professor in Narbonne. There, it seems that his attitude, sometimes insolent and independent, seem to be he unfavorable and decide the bishopric to name it in a township of little importance and little future for him: Rennes-Le-Chateau. He is thirty three years old when June 1st, 1885 he takes possession of the parish.

. Decorated among lakes and a cross engraved, the altar didn't correspond to the wish of the young priest, that wished to have a beautiful church, nor in the fashion of the religious buildings of the time. A happy donor, Mrs. Cavailhé of Coursan, having made a grant, allowed Bérenger Saunière to finance the purchase of a new altar. Calling on workers of the village he decides to disassemble the former altar to achieve the setting up of the new.

July 27, 1887, the workers displace the stone of altar and put up to date the summit of the two old pillars. From this episode the facts complicate themselves. It is said that in one of these pillars, that possessed a cupule, concealed rollers of wood sealed to wax. The workers handed these rollers to the priest who worked them and made some come out of the parchments.

Another hypothesis says that it is during works in the church that was discovered, in a baluster of wood, a vial that contained some parchments. To the reflection it is very likely that one of the two pillars and the baluster contained, one and the other, of the hidden elements. In the pillar it had to have the relics and the dedication of the Saint-Marie-Madeleine church probably there and in the baluster it is surely certain that a vial was discovered and that it contained some documents. Antoine Captier, the carillonneur of the time, he didn't tell his family: "It is thanks to me that the vicar became rich ".

A short time after this discovery, Bérenger Saunière decides to remove the paving from the c.ur of the church. Just before the site of the former altar a tile of stone, of beautiful measurements, was placed on soil. The vicar asked the workers to displace it. Two surprises waited for them, on the one hand, the part of the tile having its face in contact with the earth was decorated with a superb bas-relief representing a stage making see two knights probably on their settings, the other, the most interesting to the early access, was a "oule" driven in soil and containing of the pieces, probably gold. Seeing the look astonished of the workers, Bérenger Saunière tells to them: "These are medals of Lourdes without value. Besides he is getting late, we will continue works later. ".

The set of the these discoveries seem certain. The baluster exists well and it is the property of M. and Mrs. Antoine Captier. The so-called tile" Tiles some Knights" is currently visible to the museum of the village. The episode of the discovery of the "oule" is established by the testimonies which agree of the workers, and the discovery of the documents in the baluster and the pillar is established by the testimony of the Captier carillonneur. It is after the évènements complicates themselves. According to some authors, of which Gérard De Sède, the exegete of Rennes-Le-Chateau, Bérenger Saunière would have carried to his bishop, Eminence Billiards, the discovered parchments. This last before their complexity, financed the vicar's journey of Rennes-Le-Chateau in Paris so that he can present them to specialists so that they translate them during the summer 1891.
We don't possess any serious proofs currently as for one journey of Bérenger Saunière in Paris. A lot of authors pretend that Bérenger Saunière, during his hypothetical journey in Paris, met Emma Calvé, singer in vogue to the opera, Claude Debussy, the occultist Jules Bois and a lot of other characters, all steps necessarily in odor of holiness..

In 1891, Bérenger Saunière started creating the gardens of the church as us know them currently with particularly sophisticated plans. This year 1891 seems to have been the highest importance for Bérenger Saunière. On the one hand because he/it achieves the first works of the gardens of the church but also because September 9, 1891 he discovers a tomb in the church. Makes itself must have a considerable importance since he/it writes it down in his newspaper. On the other hand, het achieves a collage with elements descended of religious magazines in which one can read: "The year 1891 range in the eternity with the fruit of which one speaks below. "

In 1892, Bérenger Saunière and his maid, Marie Dénéarnaud, make spoken of them. Indeed, the Town hall complains officially about the machinations of the vicar and his maid in the cemetery. They displace some tombs, open them and jostle the bones that they place in an ossuary that the vicar to makes construct in the cemetery. And then Bérenger Saunière works away at the tomb of the Lady of Negro of Ables of which he erases the enrollments of the epitaph while chiseling them. Fortunately a copy of this text had been raised several years before by archaeologists.

From 1896, Bérenger Saunière gets involved in the restoration of the church. Het spends to all goes, he has all the church redone with astonishing decorations and sometimes not very. Catholics.
In December 1898, Bérenger Saunière begins to buy the lands around the church. These ambitions of constructors are going to materialize. The works of the Béthanie villa and the Tower Magdala begin in May 1891.
The villa is the point of organ of his work. He receives there and live in style, he receives some characters important such M. there Guillaume, that himself should being a member of the family of the Hasbourgs. The villagers remembered of his accent and the stranger called" it ". 
The Tower Magdala served him of library. Constructed very close to the ravine it overhangs the tray of Rennes-Le-Chateau. Lasting years Bérenger Saunière lead an ostentatious life, surrounded with high rank people, so much regional that national and same international. Certain remembered a singer's stupendous voice. Was this Emma Calvé? The abbot's maid, Marie Dénarnaud, that he had taken like" maid of the vicar ", only had 18 years when shet went back to her service. One was well far from the canonical age of 40 years!
Marie Denarnaud ordered its dresses by correspondences in the more department stores of Paris. Her holdings left many memories to the inhabitants.
Besides the Magdala tower, Bérenger Saunière had a greenhouse constructed in the shape of tower in which he put the essences of plants and rarest flowers of the region. He even bought a Monkey who didn't fail to astonish and to frighten the inhabitants of the village. He has two dogs that he names Faust and Pomponnet. Bérenger Saunière and Marie Denarnaud lead the big life. And the church farms the eyes !

And yet wind is going to turn! In December 1901, Eminence Billiards, bishop of Carcassone dies and is replaced by Eminence Paul-Félix Beuran of Beauséjour. Eminence of Beauséjour learns the life of his Rennes-Le-Chateau vicar. He makes investigate and note that what one had brought back to him was well below the truth. He decides to ask for the accounts the vicar of Rennes-Le-Chateau. The answers of Bérenger Saunière are laconic. They are content with saying: "I received many grants that allowed me to achieve the embellishment of the church of the village. My donors wish to remain in anonymity. " Beauséjour insists and demand of the precise accounts. The attitude of Saunière is strange. He doodles quickly of the accounts that he hands to the prelate and that seem obviously rigged. What is incredible is that Bérenger Saunière doesn't minimize its accounts, well on the contrary, because instead of making think that he doesn't have any money, he puts in evidence, through these rigged accounts, that he possesses some a lot.

This answer and this attitude aggravate Eminence of Beauséjour who decides to name Saunière in the parish of Coustouge. Besides to this title a fact is also astonishing. Coustouge doesn't have anything of a small parish. Coustouge is an a lot bigger city than Rennes-Le-Chateau and a lot richer. Nothing to see with the poverty of the Rennes-Le-Chateau village. Where is the punishment of Eminence of Beauséjour? Bérenger Saunière doesn't hesitate to answer his bishop: "If our religion orders us to consider before all our spiritual interests, it doesn't order us for as much to disregard our material interests, that are here low, and mine are in Rennes and no elsewhere. I declare it, Eminence, with the whole firmness of a respectful son, to you: No I would never leave! " What aplomb!
Although has his arrival in Rennes-Le-Chateau Bérenger Saunière was in radical opposition with the town hall of Rennes-Le-Chateau, the opinions and the things changing with time, the Mayor of Rennes-Le-Chateau doesn't hesitate to write to the bishopric to make by the discontent of the inhabitants of the village of their vicar's nomination in Coustouge. The mayor doesn't hesitate to sign a lease of renting of the presbytery in Bérenger Saunière of 99 years, preventing all lodging thus to some priests that it is.
February 1st, 1909, Bérenger Saunière gives its resignation in writing. The 9, abbot Marty is named vicar going against Rennes-Le-Chateau. He must not accommodate himself in Carderonne capable to have the presbytery..
July 6, 1910, Bérenger Saunière is mentioned to appear before the court of the officialité for an accusation of traffic of Mass. Finally het will be condemned to a" suspense adivinis ". He won't have the right anymore to practice the sacraments of the church.
Beauséjour will partially have arrived to his ends. He will have succeeded in showing evidence of authority, but he won't have succeeded in making leave Saunière. He knows good that the accusation of traffic of Mass didn't justify the expenses of Saunière, it didn't confide to Eminence of Cabrières: "It was necessary to find some things to make condemn it! ".
After the suit, Bérenger Saunière supported the fact badly of have been condemned by these fathers. He withdrew from big moments in the Tower Magdala where he spent his time classifying his fabulous collection of stamps..
In the month of January 1917, whereas he is at the summit of the Tower Magdala, he collapses victim of an attack. Even conscious, Marie Dénarnaud, having found it, made it carry in his room.
Feeling to arrive his last instant he asked for a priest. The abbot Rivière surrenders to his bedhead. The legend wants that it remained with the dying several hours and that it refused to give him the last sacraments. The same legend says that Rivers of this day became sad and morose. What terrifying confession did Saunière make? 
Finally Bérenger Saunière dies out January 22, 1917 to 5h00 the morning.
He was buried in the cemetery of the village the 24 of this month.
His legend was born. From where did come him the money necessary to his ostentatious life and to the construction of his domain?
No one knew how to answer..