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</ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Messianic_Legacy" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Messianic_Legacy"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span><i>The Messianic Legacy</i></span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Messianic_Legacy-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Revised_myth" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Revised_myth"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4</span> <span>Revised myth</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Revised_myth-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Pelat_Affair" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Pelat_Affair"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.5</span> <span>Pelat Affair</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Pelat_Affair-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Revival_attempts" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Revival_attempts"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.6</span> <span>Revival attempts</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Revival_attempts-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Da_Vinci_Code" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Da_Vinci_Code"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.7</span> <span><i>The Da Vinci Code</i></span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Da_Vinci_Code-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Sion_Revelation" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Sion_Revelation"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.8</span> <span><i>The Sion Revelation</i></span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Sion_Revelation-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Bloodline_movie" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Bloodline_movie"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.9</span> <span><i>Bloodline</i> movie</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Bloodline_movie-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Alleged_Grand_Masters" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Alleged_Grand_Masters"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Alleged Grand Masters</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Alleged_Grand_Masters-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Priory of Sion</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 39 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-39" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">39 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%B1_%D8%B5%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86" title="دير صهيون – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="دير صهيون" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-az mw-list-item"><a href="https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sion_Priorat%C4%B1" title="Sion Prioratı – Azerbaijani" lang="az" hreflang="az" data-title="Sion Prioratı" data-language-autonym="Azərbaycanca" data-language-local-name="Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Azərbaycanca</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bn mw-list-item"><a href="https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BF_%E0%A6%85%E0%A6%AB_%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%A8" title="প্রায়োরি অফ সায়োন – Bangla" lang="bn" hreflang="bn" data-title="প্রায়োরি অফ সায়োন" data-language-autonym="বাংলা" data-language-local-name="Bangla" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>বাংলা</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D1%80%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%A1%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD" title="Орден на Сион – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Орден на Сион" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Български</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priorat_de_Si%C3%B3" title="Priorat de Sió – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Priorat de Sió" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C5%99evorstv%C3%AD_sionsk%C3%A9" title="Převorství sionské – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Převorství sionské" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sions_Priorat" title="Sions Priorat – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Sions Priorat" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prieur%C3%A9_de_Sion" title="Prieuré de Sion – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Prieuré de Sion" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siioni_prioraat" title="Siioni prioraat – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="Siioni prioraat" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-el mw-list-item"><a href="https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9A%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%BD%CF%8C_%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%A3%CE%B9%CF%8E%CE%BD" title="Κοινό της Σιών – Greek" lang="el" hreflang="el" data-title="Κοινό της Σιών" data-language-autonym="Ελληνικά" data-language-local-name="Greek" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ελληνικά</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priorato_de_Sion" title="Priorato de Sion – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Priorato de Sion" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%B1_%D8%B5%D9%87%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%86" title="دیر صهیون – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="دیر صهیون" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prieur%C3%A9_de_Sion" title="Prieuré de Sion – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Prieuré de Sion" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gl mw-list-item"><a href="https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priorado_de_Si%C3%B3n" title="Priorado de Sión – Galician" lang="gl" hreflang="gl" data-title="Priorado de Sión" data-language-autonym="Galego" data-language-local-name="Galician" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Galego</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%8B%9C%EC%98%A8%EC%88%98%EB%8F%84%ED%9A%8C" title="시온수도회 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="시온수도회" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hr mw-list-item"><a href="https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sionski_priorij" title="Sionski priorij – Croatian" lang="hr" hreflang="hr" data-title="Sionski priorij" data-language-autonym="Hrvatski" data-language-local-name="Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Hrvatski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biarawan_Sion" title="Biarawan Sion – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Biarawan Sion" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priorato_di_Sion" title="Priorato di Sion – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Priorato di Sion" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A1%D7%93%D7%A8_%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9F" title="מסדר ציון – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="מסדר ציון" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ka mw-list-item"><a href="https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%A1%E1%83%98%E1%83%9D%E1%83%9C%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1_%E1%83%9E%E1%83%A0%E1%83%98%E1%83%9D%E1%83%A0%E1%83%90%E1%83%A2%E1%83%98" title="სიონის პრიორატი – Georgian" lang="ka" hreflang="ka" data-title="სიონის პრიორატი" data-language-autonym="ქართული" data-language-local-name="Georgian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ქართული</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ml mw-list-item"><a href="https://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%AA%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%B1%E0%B4%BF_%E0%B4%93%E0%B4%AB%E0%B5%8D_%E0%B4%B8%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%AF%E0%B5%8B%E0%B5%BA" title="പ്രയറി ഓഫ് സിയോൺ – Malayalam" lang="ml" hreflang="ml" data-title="പ്രയറി ഓഫ് സിയോൺ" data-language-autonym="മലയാളം" data-language-local-name="Malayalam" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>മലയാളം</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priorij_van_Sion" title="Priorij van Sion – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Priorij van Sion" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B7%E3%82%AA%E3%83%B3%E4%BF%AE%E9%81%93%E4%BC%9A" title="シオン修道会 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="シオン修道会" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-no mw-list-item"><a href="https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sionordenen" title="Sionordenen – Norwegian Bokmål" lang="nb" hreflang="nb" data-title="Sionordenen" data-language-autonym="Norsk bokmål" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Bokmål" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk bokmål</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakon_Syjonu" title="Zakon Syjonu – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Zakon Syjonu" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priorado_de_Si%C3%A3o" title="Priorado de Sião – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Priorado de Sião" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prioria_din_Sion" title="Prioria din Sion – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Prioria din Sion" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82_%D0%A1%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0" title="Приорат Сиона – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Приорат Сиона" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sq mw-list-item"><a href="https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ABsia_e_Sionit" title="Parësia e Sionit – Albanian" lang="sq" hreflang="sq" data-title="Parësia e Sionit" data-language-autonym="Shqip" data-language-local-name="Albanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Shqip</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sl mw-list-item"><a href="https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sionsko_priorstvo" title="Sionsko priorstvo – Slovenian" lang="sl" hreflang="sl" data-title="Sionsko priorstvo" data-language-autonym="Slovenščina" data-language-local-name="Slovenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenščina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82" title="Сионски приорат – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Сионски приорат" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sh mw-list-item"><a href="https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sionski_priorij" title="Sionski priorij – Serbo-Croatian" lang="sh" hreflang="sh" data-title="Sionski priorij" data-language-autonym="Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски" data-language-local-name="Serbo-Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siionin_veljeskunta" title="Siionin veljeskunta – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Siionin veljeskunta" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prieur%C3%A9_de_Sion" title="Prieuré de Sion – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Prieuré de Sion" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-th mw-list-item"><a href="https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%9F%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%8B%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%99" title="ไพรเออรีออฟไซออน – Thai" lang="th" hreflang="th" data-title="ไพรเออรีออฟไซออน" data-language-autonym="ไทย" data-language-local-name="Thai" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ไทย</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sion_Tarikat%C4%B1" title="Sion Tarikatı – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="Sion Tarikatı" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%80%D1%96%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82_%D0%A1%D1%96%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%83" title="Пріорат Сіону – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Пріорат Сіону" 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0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-Citation_style plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-style ambox-citation_style" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg/40px-Edit-clear.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg/60px-Edit-clear.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg/80px-Edit-clear.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="48" data-file-height="48" /></span></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This article <b>has an unclear <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Citation_style" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">citation style</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">citation</a> and <a href="/wiki/Help:Footnotes" title="Help:Footnotes">footnoting</a>.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">October 2020</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Priory_of_Sion_Logo.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/Priory_of_Sion_Logo.png" decoding="async" width="219" height="300" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="219" data-file-height="300" /></a><figcaption>The official <a href="/wiki/Emblem" title="Emblem">emblem</a> of the Priory of Sion is partly based on the <a href="/wiki/Fleur-de-lis" title="Fleur-de-lis">fleur-de-lis</a>, which was a symbol particularly associated with the <a href="/wiki/French_monarchy" class="mw-redirect" title="French monarchy">French monarchy</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Baigent_1982_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Baigent_1982-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></figcaption></figure> <p>The <i><b>Prieuré de Sion</b></i> (<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1177148991">.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}</style><span class="IPA-label IPA-label-small">French pronunciation:</span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="fr-Latn-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/French" title="Help:IPA/French">[pʁijœʁe<span class="wrap"> </span>də<span class="wrap"> </span>sjɔ̃]</a></span>), translated as <b>Priory of Sion</b>, was a <a href="/wiki/Fraternal_organisation" class="mw-redirect" title="Fraternal organisation">fraternal organisation</a> founded in <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a> and dissolved in 1956 by <a href="/wiki/Pierre_Plantard" title="Pierre Plantard">Pierre Plantard</a> in his failed attempt to create a prestigious neo-<a href="/wiki/Chivalric_order" class="mw-redirect" title="Chivalric order">chivalric order</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Introvigne_2005_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Introvigne_2005-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the 1960s, Plantard began claiming that his <a href="/wiki/Self-styled_order" title="Self-styled order">self-styled order</a> was the latest <a href="/wiki/Front_organisation" class="mw-redirect" title="Front organisation">front</a> for a <a href="/wiki/Secret_society" title="Secret society">secret society</a> founded by crusading knight <a href="/wiki/Godfrey_of_Bouillon" title="Godfrey of Bouillon">Godfrey of Bouillon</a>, on <a href="/wiki/Mount_Zion" title="Mount Zion">Mount Zion</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Jerusalem" title="Kingdom of Jerusalem">Kingdom of Jerusalem</a> in 1099, under the guise of the historical monastic <a href="/wiki/Order_of_Sion" title="Order of Sion">order</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Abbey_of_Our_Lady_of_Mount_Zion" class="mw-redirect" title="Abbey of Our Lady of Mount Zion">Abbey of Our Lady of Mount Zion</a>. As a framework for his grandiose assertion of being both the <a href="/wiki/Last_Roman_Emperor#Catholic_tradition" title="Last Roman Emperor">Great Monarch</a> prophesied by <a href="/wiki/Nostradamus" title="Nostradamus">Nostradamus</a> and a <a href="/wiki/Merovech" title="Merovech">Merovingian</a> <a href="/wiki/Pretender" title="Pretender">pretender</a>, Plantard further claimed the Priory of Sion was engaged in a centuries-long benevolent <a href="/wiki/Conspiracy" title="Conspiracy">conspiracy</a> to install a secret <a href="/wiki/Bloodline" class="mw-redirect" title="Bloodline">bloodline</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Merovingian_dynasty" title="Merovingian dynasty">Merovingian dynasty</a> on the thrones of France and the rest of <a href="/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Introvigne_2005_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Introvigne_2005-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> To Plantard's surprise, all of his claims were fused with the notion of a <a href="/wiki/Jesus_bloodline" title="Jesus bloodline">Jesus bloodline</a> and popularised by the authors of the 1982 speculative nonfiction book <i><a href="/wiki/The_Holy_Blood_and_the_Holy_Grail" title="The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail">The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail</a></i>,<sup id="cite_ref-Baigent_1982_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Baigent_1982-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> whose conclusions would later be borrowed by <a href="/wiki/Dan_Brown" title="Dan Brown">Dan Brown</a> for his 2003 mystery thriller novel <i><a href="/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code" title="The Da Vinci Code">The Da Vinci Code</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-Brown_2003_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Brown_2003-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>After attracting varying degrees of public attention from the late 1960s to the 1980s, the <a class="mw-selflink-fragment" href="#Myth">mythical history</a> of the Priory of Sion was exposed as a <a href="/wiki/Ludibrium" title="Ludibrium">ludibrium</a> — an elaborate <a href="/wiki/Hoax" title="Hoax">hoax</a> in the form of an <a href="/wiki/Western_esotericism" title="Western esotericism">esoteric</a> <a href="/wiki/Puzzle" title="Puzzle">puzzle</a> — created by Plantard as part of his unsuccessful stratagem to become a respected, influential and wealthy player in French <a href="/wiki/Western_esotericism" title="Western esotericism">esotericist</a> and <a href="/wiki/Monarchism_in_France" title="Monarchism in France">monarchist</a> circles. Pieces of evidence presented in support of the historical existence and activities of the Priory of Sion before 1956, such as the so-called <i><a href="/wiki/Dossiers_Secrets_d%27Henri_Lobineau" title="Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau">Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau</a></i>, were discovered to have been <a href="/wiki/Forgery" title="Forgery">forged</a> and then planted in various locations around France by Plantard and his accomplices.<sup id="cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Putnam_2003-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, Pierre Plantard himself disowned Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau when he described it as being the work of Philippe Toscan du Plantier who had allegedly been arrested for taking LSD, in another attempt to form another version of the Priory of Sion from 1989, also reviving the organ “Vaincre”, that lasted for four issues. </p><p>Despite the "Priory of Sion mysteries" having been exhaustively <a href="/wiki/Debunker" title="Debunker">debunked</a> by journalists and scholars as France's greatest 20th-century <a href="/wiki/Literary_hoax" class="mw-redirect" title="Literary hoax">literary hoax</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Putnam_2003-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Bradley_2006_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bradley_2006-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Katsoulis_2009_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Katsoulis_2009-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> many <a href="/wiki/Conspiracy_theorists" class="mw-redirect" title="Conspiracy theorists">conspiracy theorists</a> still <a href="/wiki/True-believer_syndrome" title="True-believer syndrome">persist in believing</a> that the Priory of Sion was a millennium-old <a href="/wiki/Cabal" title="Cabal">cabal</a> concealing a religiously <a href="/wiki/Subversion" title="Subversion">subversive</a> secret. A few independent researchers outside of <a href="/wiki/Academia" class="mw-redirect" title="Academia">academia</a> claim, based on alleged insider information, that the Priory of Sion continues to operate as a conspiratorial secret society to this day.<sup id="cite_ref-Baigent_1987_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Baigent_1987-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Picknett_1997_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Picknett_1997-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Gardner_2005_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gardner_2005-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Picknett_2006_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Picknett_2006-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Howells_2011_13-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Howells_2011-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Some <a href="/wiki/Skeptic" class="mw-redirect" title="Skeptic">skeptics</a> express concern that the proliferation and popularity of <a href="/wiki/Pseudohistorical" class="mw-redirect" title="Pseudohistorical">pseudohistorical</a> books, websites and films inspired by the Priory of Sion hoax contribute to the problem of unfounded <a href="/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories" title="List of conspiracy theories">conspiracy theories</a> becoming mainstream;<sup id="cite_ref-Mondschein_2014_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Mondschein_2014-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> while others are troubled by how these works romanticize the <a href="/wiki/Reactionary" title="Reactionary">reactionary</a> ideologies of the <a href="/wiki/Far_right" class="mw-redirect" title="Far right">far right</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Klinghoffer_2006_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Klinghoffer_2006-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: History"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Fraternal_organisation" class="mw-redirect" title="Fraternal organisation">fraternal organisation</a> was founded in the town of <a href="/wiki/Annemasse" title="Annemasse">Annemasse</a>, <a href="/wiki/Haute-Savoie" title="Haute-Savoie">Haute-Savoie</a>, in eastern France in 1956.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The 1901 <a href="/wiki/French_law" class="mw-redirect" title="French law">French law</a> of Associations required that the Priory of Sion be registered with the government; although the statutes and the registration documents are dated 7 May 1956, the registration took place at the <a href="/wiki/Subprefectures_in_France" title="Subprefectures in France">subprefecture</a> of <a href="/wiki/Saint-Julien-en-Genevois" title="Saint-Julien-en-Genevois">Saint-Julien-en-Genevois</a> on 25 June 1956 and recorded in the <i><a href="/wiki/Journal_Officiel_de_la_R%C3%A9publique_Fran%C3%A7aise" class="mw-redirect" title="Journal Officiel de la République Française">Journal Officiel de la République Française</a></i> on 20 July 1956.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The headquarters of the Priory of Sion and its journal <i>Circuit</i> were based in the apartment of Plantard, in a social housing block known as Sous-Cassan newly constructed in 1956.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The founders and signatories inscribed with their real names and aliases were Pierre Plantard, also known as "Chyren", and André Bonhomme, also known as "Stanis Bellas". Bonhomme was the President while Plantard was the Secretary General. The registration documents also included the names of Jean Deleaval as the Vice-President and Armand Defago as the Treasurer. The choice of the name "Sion" was based on a popular local feature, a hill south of Annemasse in France, known as Mont Sion, where the founders intended to establish a <a href="/wiki/Retreat_(spiritual)" title="Retreat (spiritual)">spiritual retreat</a> center.<sup id="cite_ref-Bradley_2006_7-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bradley_2006-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The accompanying title to the name was "<i>Chevalerie d'Institutions et Règles Catholiques d'Union Indépendante et Traditionaliste</i>": this subtitle forms the acronym CIRCUIT and translates in English as "Chivalry of Catholic Rules and Institutions of Independent and Traditionalist Union". The statutes of the Priory of Sion indicate its purpose was to allow and encourage members to engage in studies and <a href="/wiki/Mutual_aid_(organization_theory)" class="mw-redirect" title="Mutual aid (organization theory)">mutual aid</a>. The articles of the association expressed the goal of creating a <a href="/wiki/Traditionalist_Catholic" class="mw-redirect" title="Traditionalist Catholic">Traditionalist Catholic</a> <a href="/wiki/Chivalric_order" class="mw-redirect" title="Chivalric order">chivalric order</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Jean-Luc_Chaumeil_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Jean-Luc_Chaumeil-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Article 7 of the statutes of the Priory of Sion stated that its members were expected "to carry out good deeds, to help the Roman Catholic Church, teach the truth, defend the weak and the oppressed". Towards the end of 1956 the association had planned to forge partnerships with the local Catholic Church of the area which would have involved a school bus service run by both the Priory of Sion and the church of Saint-Joseph in Annemasse.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Plantard is described as the President of the Tenants' Association of Annemasse in the issues of <i>Circuit</i>. The bulk of the activities of the Priory of Sion bore no resemblance to the objectives as outlined in its statutes: <i>Circuit</i>, the official journal of the Priory of Sion, was indicated as a news bulletin of an "organisation for the defence of the rights and the freedom of affordable housing" rather than for the promotion of <a href="/wiki/Chivalry" title="Chivalry">chivalry</a>-inspired charitable work. The first issue of the journal is dated 27 May 1956, and, in total, twelve issues appeared. Some of the articles took a political position in the local council elections. Others criticised and even attacked real-estate developers of Annemasse.<sup id="cite_ref-Jean-Luc_Chaumeil_21-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Jean-Luc_Chaumeil-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>According to a letter written by Léon Guersillon the Mayor of Annemasse in 1956, contained in the folder holding the 1956 Statutes of the Priory of Sion in the subprefecture of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, Plantard was given a six-month sentence in 1953 for fraud.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The formally registered association was dissolved some time after October 1956 but intermittently revived for different reasons by Plantard between 1961 and 1993, though in name and on paper only. The Priory of Sion is considered dormant by the subprefecture because it has indicated no activities since 1956. According to French law, subsequent references to the Priory bear no legal relation to that of 1956 and no one, other than the original signatories, is entitled to use its name in an official capacity.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (April 2018)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> André Bonhomme played no part in the association after 1956. He officially resigned in 1973 when he heard that Plantard was linking his name with the association. In light of Plantard's death in 2000, there is no one who is currently alive who has official permission to use the name.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Myth">Myth</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Myth"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Plantard's_plot"><span id="Plantard.27s_plot"></span>Plantard's plot</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Plantard's plot"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Plantard set out to have the Priory of Sion perceived as a prestigious <a href="/wiki/Esoteric_Christian" class="mw-redirect" title="Esoteric Christian">esoteric Christian</a> chivalric order, whose members would be <a href="/wiki/%C3%89minence_grise" title="Éminence grise">people of influence</a> in the fields of finance, politics and philosophy, devoted to installing the "<a href="/wiki/Last_Roman_Emperor#Catholic_tradition" title="Last Roman Emperor">Great Monarch</a>", prophesied by <a href="/wiki/Nostradamus" title="Nostradamus">Nostradamus</a>, on the throne of France. Plantard's choice of the pseudonym "Chyren" was a reference to "Chyren Selin", Nostradamus's <a href="/wiki/Anagram" title="Anagram">anagram</a> for the name for this <a href="/wiki/Christian_eschatology" title="Christian eschatology">eschatological</a> figure.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Between 1961 and 1984, Plantard contrived a <a href="/wiki/Myth" title="Myth">mythical</a> pedigree for the Priory of Sion claiming that it was the offshoot of a real <a href="/wiki/Catholic_religious_order" class="mw-redirect" title="Catholic religious order">Catholic religious order</a> housed in the Abbey of Our Lady of Mount Zion, which had been founded in the <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Jerusalem" title="Kingdom of Jerusalem">Kingdom of Jerusalem</a> during the <a href="/wiki/First_Crusade" title="First Crusade">First Crusade</a> in 1099 and later absorbed by the <a href="/wiki/Jesuits" title="Jesuits">Jesuits</a> in 1617. The mistake is often made that this Abbey of Sion was a Priory of Sion, but there is a difference between an <a href="/wiki/Abbey" title="Abbey">abbey</a> and a <a href="/wiki/Priory" title="Priory">priory</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Introvigne_2005_2-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Introvigne_2005-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Calling his original 1956 group "Priory of Sion" presumably gave Plantard the later idea to claim that his organisation had been historically founded by crusading knight <a href="/wiki/Godfrey_of_Bouillon" title="Godfrey of Bouillon">Godfrey of Bouillon</a> on <a href="/wiki/Mount_Zion" title="Mount Zion">Mount Zion</a> near <a href="/wiki/Jerusalem" title="Jerusalem">Jerusalem</a> during the <a href="/wiki/Middle_Ages" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Putnam_2003-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <figure typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Nicolas_Poussin_-_Et_in_Arcadia_ego_(deuxi%C3%A8me_version).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Nicolas_Poussin_-_Et_in_Arcadia_ego_%28deuxi%C3%A8me_version%29.jpg/200px-Nicolas_Poussin_-_Et_in_Arcadia_ego_%28deuxi%C3%A8me_version%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="143" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Nicolas_Poussin_-_Et_in_Arcadia_ego_%28deuxi%C3%A8me_version%29.jpg/300px-Nicolas_Poussin_-_Et_in_Arcadia_ego_%28deuxi%C3%A8me_version%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Nicolas_Poussin_-_Et_in_Arcadia_ego_%28deuxi%C3%A8me_version%29.jpg/400px-Nicolas_Poussin_-_Et_in_Arcadia_ego_%28deuxi%C3%A8me_version%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="5966" data-file-height="4253" /></a><figcaption>The cryptic phrase "<i>Et in Arcadia ego</i>" in <a href="/wiki/Nicolas_Poussin" title="Nicolas Poussin">Nicolas Poussin</a>'s late 1630s painting <i><a href="/wiki/Et_in_Arcadia_ego_(Poussin)" title="Et in Arcadia ego (Poussin)">The Arcadian Shepherds</a></i> was appropriated for Priory of Sion myth-making, first utilised in 1964.</figcaption></figure><p>Furthermore, Plantard was inspired by a 1960 magazine <i>Les Cahiers de l'Histoire</i> to center his personal genealogical claims, as found in the "Priory of Sion documents", on the <a href="/wiki/Merovingian_dynasty" title="Merovingian dynasty">Merovingian</a> king <a href="/wiki/Dagobert_II" title="Dagobert II">Dagobert II</a>, who had been assassinated in the 7th century.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> He also adopted <i>"<a href="/wiki/Et_in_Arcadia_ego_(Poussin)" title="Et in Arcadia ego (Poussin)">Et in Arcadia ego</a>..."</i>, a slightly altered version of a <a href="/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases" title="List of Latin phrases">Latin phrase</a> that most famously appears as the title of two paintings by <a href="/wiki/Nicolas_Poussin" title="Nicolas Poussin">Nicolas Poussin</a>, as the <a href="/wiki/Motto" title="Motto">motto</a> of both his family and the Priory of Sion,<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> because the tomb which appears in these paintings resembled one in the Les Pontils area near <a href="/wiki/Rennes-le-Ch%C3%A2teau" title="Rennes-le-Château">Rennes-le-Château</a>. This tomb would become a symbol for his <a href="/wiki/Dynastic" class="mw-redirect" title="Dynastic">dynastic</a> claims as the last legacy of the Merovingians on the territory of <a href="/wiki/Raz%C3%A8s" title="Razès">Razès</a>, left to remind the select few who have been initiated into these <a href="/wiki/Sacred_mysteries" title="Sacred mysteries">mysteries</a> that the "lost king", Dagobert II, would figuratively come back in the form of a hereditary <a href="/wiki/Pretender" title="Pretender">pretender</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Jean_Delaude_1994_28-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Jean_Delaude_1994-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>To lend credibility to the apparently fabricated lineage and pedigree, Plantard and his friend, <a href="/wiki/Philippe_de_Ch%C3%A9risey" title="Philippe de Chérisey">Philippe de Chérisey</a>, needed to create "independent evidence". So during the 1960s, they created and deposited a series of <a href="/wiki/False_document" title="False document">false documents</a>, the most famous of which was entitled <i><a href="/wiki/Dossiers_Secrets_d%27Henri_Lobineau" title="Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau">Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau</a></i> ("Secret Files of Henri Lobineau"), at the <a href="/wiki/Biblioth%C3%A8que_nationale_de_France" title="Bibliothèque nationale de France">Bibliothèque nationale de France</a> in Paris. During the same decade, Plantard commissioned de Chérisey to forge two medieval <a href="/wiki/Parchment" title="Parchment">parchments</a>. These parchments contained encrypted messages that referred to the Priory of Sion. </p><p>They adapted, and used to their advantage, the earlier false claims put forward by <a href="/wiki/No%C3%ABl_Corbu" title="Noël Corbu">Noël Corbu</a> that a Catholic priest named <a href="/wiki/B%C3%A9renger_Sauni%C3%A8re" title="Bérenger Saunière">Bérenger Saunière</a> had supposedly discovered ancient parchments inside a pillar while renovating his church in <a href="/wiki/Rennes-le-Ch%C3%A2teau" title="Rennes-le-Château">Rennes-le-Château</a> in 1891. Inspired by the popularity of media reports and books in France about the discovery of the <a href="/wiki/Dead_Sea_scrolls" class="mw-redirect" title="Dead Sea scrolls">Dead Sea scrolls</a> in the <a href="/wiki/West_Bank" title="West Bank">West Bank</a>, they hoped this same theme would attract attention to their parchments.<sup id="cite_ref-ChaumTest_30-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ChaumTest-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Their version of the parchments was intended to prove Plantard's claims about the Priory of Sion being a medieval secret society that was the source of the "underground stream" of <a href="/wiki/Western_esotericism" title="Western esotericism">esotericism</a> in Europe.<sup id="cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Putnam_2003-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Plantard then enlisted the aid of author <a href="/wiki/G%C3%A9rard_de_S%C3%A8de" title="Gérard de Sède">Gérard de Sède</a> to write a book based on his unpublished manuscript and forged parchments,<sup id="cite_ref-ChaumTest_30-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ChaumTest-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> alleging that Saunière had discovered a link to a hidden treasure. The 1967 book <i>L'or de Rennes, ou La vie insolite de Bérenger Saunière, curé de Rennes-le-Château</i> ("The Gold of Rennes, or The Strange Life of Bérenger Saunière, Priest of Rennes-le-Château"), which was later published in paperback under the title <i>Le Trésor Maudit de Rennes-le-Château</i> ("The Accursed Treasure of Rennes-le-Château") in 1968, became a popular read in France. It included copies of the found parchments (the originals were, of course, never produced), though it did not provide the decoded hidden texts contained within them. One of the Latin texts in the parchments was copied from the <i><a href="/wiki/New_Testament" title="New Testament">Novum Testamentum</a></i>, an attempted restoration of the <a href="/wiki/Vulgate" title="Vulgate">Vulgate</a> by <a href="/wiki/John_Wordsworth" title="John Wordsworth">John Wordsworth</a> and Henry White.<sup id="cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Putnam_2003-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The other text was copied from the <a href="/wiki/Codex_Bezae" title="Codex Bezae">Codex Bezae</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Putnam_2003-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Based on the wording used, the versions of the Latin texts found in the parchments can be shown to have been copied from books first published in 1889 and 1895, which is problematic considering that de Sède's book was trying to make a case that these documents were centuries old. In 1969, English scriptwriter, producer and researcher <a href="/wiki/Henry_Lincoln" title="Henry Lincoln">Henry Lincoln</a> became intrigued after reading <i>Le Trésor Maudit</i>. He discovered one of the encrypted messages, which read "<i>À Dagobert II Roi et à Sion est ce trésor, et il est là mort</i>" ("To Dagobert II, King, and to Sion belongs this treasure and he is there dead"). This was possibly an allusion to the tomb and <a href="/wiki/Shrine" title="Shrine">shrine</a> of <a href="/wiki/Sigebert_IV" title="Sigebert IV">Sigebert IV</a>, a real or mythical son of Dagobert II which would not only prove that the Merovingian dynasty did not end with the death of the king, but that the Priory of Sion has been entrusted with the duty to protect his <a href="/wiki/Relic" title="Relic">relics</a> like a treasure.<sup id="cite_ref-Baigent_1982_1-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Baigent_1982-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Lincoln expanded on the conspiracy theories, writing his own books on the subject, and inspiring and presenting three <a href="/wiki/BBC_Two" title="BBC Two">BBC Two</a> <a href="/wiki/Chronicle_(UK_TV_series)" class="mw-redirect" title="Chronicle (UK TV series)">Chronicle</a> documentaries between 1972 and 1979 about the alleged mysteries of the Rennes-le-Château area. In response to a tip from Gérard de Sède, Lincoln claims he was also the one who discovered the <i>Dossiers Secrets</i>, a series of planted genealogies which appeared to further confirm the link with the extinct Merovingian bloodline. The documents claimed that the Priory of Sion and the <a href="/wiki/Knights_Templar" title="Knights Templar">Knights Templar</a> were two fronts of one unified organisation with the same leadership until 1188.<sup id="cite_ref-Baigent_1982_1-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Baigent_1982-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Letters in existence dating from the 1960s written by Plantard, de Chérisey and de Sède to each other confirm that the three were engaging in an out-and-out <a href="/wiki/Hoax" title="Hoax">hoax</a>. The letters describe schemes to combat criticisms of their various allegations and ways they would make up new allegations to try to keep the hoax alive. These letters (totalling over 100) are in the possession of French researcher Jean-Luc Chaumeil, who has also retained the original envelopes. A letter later discovered at the subprefecture of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois also indicated that Plantard had a criminal conviction as a <a href="/wiki/Confidence_trick" class="mw-redirect" title="Confidence trick">con artist</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Bradley_2006_7-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bradley_2006-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Holy_Blood_and_the_Holy_Grail"><i>The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail</i></h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/The_Holy_Blood_and_the_Holy_Grail" title="The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail">The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail</a></div> <p>As the <i>Chronicle</i> documentaries on the topic became quite popular and generated thousands of responses, Lincoln then joined forces with <a href="/wiki/Michael_Baigent" title="Michael Baigent">Michael Baigent</a> and <a href="/wiki/Richard_Leigh_(author)" title="Richard Leigh (author)">Richard Leigh</a> for further research. This led them to the <a href="/wiki/Pseudohistory" title="Pseudohistory">pseudohistorical</a> <i><a href="/wiki/Dossiers_Secrets_d%27Henri_Lobineau" title="Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau">Dossiers Secrets</a></i> at the <a href="/wiki/Biblioth%C3%A8que_nationale_de_France" title="Bibliothèque nationale de France">Bibliothèque nationale de France</a>, which though alleging to portray hundreds of years of medieval history, were actually all written by Plantard and de Chérisey under the pseudonym of "Philippe Toscan du Plantier". </p><p>Unaware that the documents had been forged, Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh used them as a major source for their 1982 speculative nonfiction book <i>The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail,</i><sup id="cite_ref-Baigent_1982_1-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Baigent_1982-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> in which they presented the following <a href="/wiki/Factoid" title="Factoid">myths as facts</a> to support their hypotheses:<sup id="cite_ref-Thompson_2008_32-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Thompson_2008-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ul><li>there is a <a href="/wiki/Secret_society" title="Secret society">secret society</a> known as the Priory of Sion, which has a long history starting in 1099, and had illustrious <a class="mw-selflink-fragment" href="#Alleged_Grand_Masters">Grand Masters</a> including <a href="/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci" title="Leonardo da Vinci">Leonardo da Vinci</a> and <a href="/wiki/Isaac_Newton" title="Isaac Newton">Isaac Newton</a>;</li> <li>it created the <a href="/wiki/Knights_Templar" title="Knights Templar">Knights Templar</a> as its military arm and financial branch; and</li> <li>it is devoted to installing the <a href="/wiki/Merovingian_dynasty" title="Merovingian dynasty">Merovingian dynasty</a>, that ruled the <a href="/wiki/Franks" title="Franks">Franks</a> from 457 to 751, on the thrones of France and the rest of Europe.</li></ul> <p>The authors re-interpreted the <i>Dossiers Secrets</i> in the light of their own interest in questioning the Catholic Church's institutional reading of <a href="/wiki/Judeo-Christian" title="Judeo-Christian">Judeo-Christian</a> history.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Contrary to Plantard's initial <a href="/wiki/French_Israelism" title="French Israelism">Franco-Israelist</a> claim that the Merovingians were only descended from the <a href="/wiki/Tribe_of_Benjamin" title="Tribe of Benjamin">Tribe of Benjamin</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> they asserted that: </p> <ul><li>the Priory of Sion protects Merovingian <a href="/wiki/Dynast" class="mw-redirect" title="Dynast">dynasts</a> because they may be the lineal <a href="/wiki/Jesus_bloodline" title="Jesus bloodline">descendants of the historical Jesus</a> and his alleged wife, <a href="/wiki/Mary_Magdalene" title="Mary Magdalene">Mary Magdalene</a>, traced further back to <a href="/wiki/King_David" class="mw-redirect" title="King David">King David</a>;</li> <li>the legendary <a href="/wiki/Holy_Grail" title="Holy Grail">Holy Grail</a> is simultaneously the womb of <a href="/wiki/Saint" title="Saint">saint</a> Mary Magdalene and the sacred <a href="/wiki/Royal_descent" title="Royal descent">royal bloodline</a> she gave birth to; and</li> <li>the Church tried to kill off all remnants of this bloodline and their supposed guardians, the <a href="/wiki/Cathars" class="mw-redirect" title="Cathars">Cathars</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Knights_Templar" title="Knights Templar">Templars</a>, so <a href="/wiki/Popes" class="mw-redirect" title="Popes">popes</a> could hold the <a href="/wiki/Episcopal_throne" class="mw-redirect" title="Episcopal throne">episcopal throne</a> through the <a href="/wiki/Apostolic_succession" title="Apostolic succession">apostolic succession</a> of <a href="/wiki/Saint_Peter" title="Saint Peter">Peter</a> without fear of it ever being <a href="/wiki/Usurper" title="Usurper">usurped</a> by an <a href="/wiki/Antipope" title="Antipope">antipope</a> from the <a href="/wiki/Primogeniture" title="Primogeniture">hereditary succession</a> of Mary Magdalene.</li></ul> <p>The authors therefore concluded that the modern goals of the Priory of Sion are: </p> <ul><li>the public revelation of the tomb and shrine of <a href="/wiki/Sigebert_IV" title="Sigebert IV">Sigebert IV</a> as well as the <a href="/wiki/Arch_of_Titus#Significance_in_Jewish_history" title="Arch of Titus">lost treasure</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Temple_in_Jerusalem" title="Temple in Jerusalem">Temple in Jerusalem</a>, which supposedly contains genealogical records that prove the Merovingian dynasty was of the <a href="/wiki/Davidic_line" title="Davidic line">Davidic line</a>, to facilitate Merovingian restoration in France;</li> <li>the re-institutionalization of <a href="/wiki/Chivalry" title="Chivalry">chivalric</a> <a href="/wiki/Knighthood" class="mw-redirect" title="Knighthood">knighthood</a> and the promotion of <a href="/wiki/Pan-European_nationalism" title="Pan-European nationalism">pan-European nationalism</a>;</li> <li>the establishment of a <a href="/wiki/Theocracy" title="Theocracy">theocratic</a> "<a href="/wiki/United_States_of_Europe" class="mw-redirect" title="United States of Europe">United States of Europe</a>": a Holy European Empire politically and religiously unified through the <a href="/wiki/Imperial_cult" title="Imperial cult">imperial cult</a> of a Merovingian <a href="/wiki/Great_Catholic_Monarch" class="mw-redirect" title="Great Catholic Monarch">Great Monarch</a> who occupies both the throne of Europe and the <a href="/wiki/Holy_See" title="Holy See">Holy See</a>; and</li> <li>the actual governance of Europe residing with the Priory of Sion through a <a href="/wiki/One-party_state" title="One-party state">one-party</a> <a href="/wiki/European_Parliament" title="European Parliament">European Parliament</a>.</li></ul> <p>The authors incorporated the <a href="/wiki/Antisemitic" class="mw-redirect" title="Antisemitic">antisemitic</a> and <a href="/wiki/Anti-Masonry" title="Anti-Masonry">anti-Masonic</a> tract known as <i><a href="/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the_Elders_of_Zion" title="The Protocols of the Elders of Zion">The Protocols of the Elders of Zion</a></i> into their story, concluding that it was actually based on the master plan of the Priory of Sion. They presented it as the most persuasive piece of evidence for the existence and activities of the Priory of Sion by arguing that: </p> <ul><li>the original text on which the published version of <i>The Protocols of the Elders of Zion</i> was based had nothing to do with <a href="/wiki/Judaism" title="Judaism">Judaism</a> or an "<a href="/wiki/Jewish_world_domination" class="mw-redirect" title="Jewish world domination">international Jewish conspiracy</a>". It issued from a <a href="/wiki/Masonic_body" class="mw-redirect" title="Masonic body">Masonic body</a> practicing the <a href="/wiki/Scottish_Rite" title="Scottish Rite">Scottish Rite</a> which incorporated the word "<a href="/wiki/Zion" title="Zion">Zion</a>" in its name;</li> <li>the original text was not intended to be released publicly, but was a program for gaining control of <a href="/wiki/Freemasonry" title="Freemasonry">Freemasonry</a> as part of a strategy to infiltrate and reorganize church and state according to <a href="/wiki/Esoteric_Christian" class="mw-redirect" title="Esoteric Christian">esoteric Christian</a> principles;</li> <li>after a failed attempt to gain influence in the court of Tsar <a href="/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia" class="mw-redirect" title="Nicholas II of Russia">Nicholas II of Russia</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sergei_Nilus" title="Sergei Nilus">Sergei Nilus</a> changed the original text to forge an inflammatory tract in 1903 to discredit the esoteric clique around <a href="/wiki/Papus" class="mw-redirect" title="Papus">Papus</a> by implying they were <a href="/wiki/Judaeo-Masonic_conspiracy_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Judaeo-Masonic conspiracy theory">Judaeo-Masonic conspirators</a>; and</li> <li>some esoteric Christian elements in the original text were ignored by Nilus and hence remained unchanged in the <a href="/wiki/Antisemitic_canard" class="mw-redirect" title="Antisemitic canard">antisemitic canard</a> he published.</li></ul> <p>In reaction to this <a href="/wiki/Memetic_engineering" title="Memetic engineering">memetic synthesis</a> of investigative journalism with religious <a href="/wiki/Conspiracism" class="mw-redirect" title="Conspiracism">conspiracism</a>, many secular conspiracy theorists added the Priory of Sion to their list of <a href="/wiki/Secret_societies" class="mw-redirect" title="Secret societies">secret societies</a> collaborating or competing to manipulate political happenings from behind the scenes in their bid for <a href="/wiki/Hegemony" title="Hegemony">world domination</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Moench_1995_35-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Moench_1995-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Some <a href="/wiki/List_of_occultists" title="List of occultists">occultists</a> speculated that the emergence of the Priory of Sion and Plantard closely follows <i>The Prophecies by M. Michel Nostradamus</i> (unaware that Plantard was <a href="/wiki/Self-fulfilling_prophecy" title="Self-fulfilling prophecy">intentionally trying to fulfill</a> them).<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Fringe <a href="/wiki/Christian_eschatology" title="Christian eschatology">Christian eschatologists</a> countered that it was a fulfilment of <a href="/wiki/Prophecies" class="mw-redirect" title="Prophecies">prophecies</a> found in the <a href="/wiki/Book_of_Revelation" title="Book of Revelation">Book of Revelation</a> and further proof of an <a href="/wiki/Antichrist" title="Antichrist">anti-Christian</a> conspiracy of epic proportions.<sup id="cite_ref-Aho_1997_37-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Aho_1997-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Historians and scholars from related fields do not accept <i>The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail</i> as a serious dissertation.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> French authors like Franck Marie (1978),<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Pierre Jarnac (1985),<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>40<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (1988),<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Jean-Luc Chaumeil (1994),<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>42<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and more recently Marie-France Etchegoin and Frédéric Lenoir (2004),<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Massimo_Introvigne" title="Massimo Introvigne">Massimo Introvigne</a> (2005),<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>44<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Jean-Jacques Bedu (2005),<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and Bernardo Sanchez Da Motta (2005),<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>46<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> have never taken Plantard and the Priory of Sion as seriously as Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh. They eventually concluded that it was all a <a href="/wiki/Hoax" title="Hoax">hoax</a>, outlining in detail the reasons for their verdict, and giving detailed evidence that the <i>Holy Blood</i> authors had not reported comprehensively.<sup id="cite_ref-Miller_2004_47-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Miller_2004-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>47<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> They imply that this evidence had been ignored by Lincoln, Baigent, and Leigh to bolster the mythical version of the Priory's history that was developed by Plantard during the early 1960s after meeting author <a href="/wiki/G%C3%A9rard_de_S%C3%A8de" title="Gérard de Sède">Gérard de Sède</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Miller_2004_47-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Miller_2004-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>47<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Messianic_Legacy"><i>The Messianic Legacy</i></h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: The Messianic Legacy"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In 1986, Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh published <i>The Messianic Legacy</i>, a sequel to <i>The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail</i>. The authors assert that the Priory of Sion is not only <i>the</i> archetypal <a href="/wiki/Cabal" title="Cabal">cabal</a> but an ideal repository of the cultural legacy of <a href="/wiki/Jewish_messianism" class="mw-redirect" title="Jewish messianism">Jewish messianism</a> that could end the “crisis of <a href="/wiki/Meaning_of_life" title="Meaning of life">meaning</a>” within the <a href="/wiki/Western_world" title="Western world">Western world</a> by providing a Merovingian <a href="/wiki/Sacred_king" title="Sacred king">sacred king</a> as a <a href="/wiki/Messiah" title="Messiah">messianic figure</a> in which the West and, by extension, humanity can place its trust. However, the authors are led to believe by Plantard that he has resigned as <a href="/wiki/Grand_Master_(order)" class="mw-redirect" title="Grand Master (order)">Grand Master</a> of the Priory of Sion in 1984 and that the organisation has since gone underground in reaction to both an internal power struggle between Plantard and an “Anglo-American contingent” as well as a campaign of <a href="/wiki/Character_assassination" title="Character assassination">character assassination</a> against Plantard in the press and books written by skeptics.<sup id="cite_ref-Baigent_1987_9-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Baigent_1987-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Although Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh remain convinced that the pre-1956 history of the Priory of Sion is true, they confess to the possibility that all of Plantard's claims about a post-1956 Priory of Sion were part of an elaborate <a href="/wiki/Hoax" title="Hoax">hoax</a> to become a respected, influential and wealthy player in French <a href="/wiki/Western_esotericism" title="Western esotericism">esotericist</a> and <a href="/wiki/Monarchism_in_France" title="Monarchism in France">monarchist</a> circles.<sup id="cite_ref-Baigent_1987_9-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Baigent_1987-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Revised_myth">Revised myth</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Revised myth"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In 1989, Plantard tried but failed to salvage his reputation and agenda as a <a href="/wiki/Mystagogue" title="Mystagogue">mystagogue</a> in esotericist circles by claiming that the Priory of Sion had actually been founded in 1681 at <a href="/wiki/Rennes-le-Ch%C3%A2teau" title="Rennes-le-Château">Rennes-le-Château</a>, and was focused more on harnessing the <a href="/wiki/Paranormal" title="Paranormal">paranormal</a> power of <a href="/wiki/Ley_line" title="Ley line">ley lines</a> and sunrise lines,<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>48<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and a promontory called "Roc Noir" (Black Rock) in the area,<sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-49"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>49<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> than installing a Merovingian <a href="/wiki/Pretender" title="Pretender">pretender</a> on the restored throne of France. In 1990, Plantard revised himself by claiming he was only descended from a <a href="/wiki/Cadet_branch" title="Cadet branch">cadet branch</a> of the line of Dagobert II, while arguing that the direct descendant was really <a href="/wiki/Otto_von_Habsburg" title="Otto von Habsburg">Otto von Habsburg</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>50<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-51"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>51<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Pelat_Affair">Pelat Affair</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Pelat Affair"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In September 1993, while investigative judge Thierry Jean-Pierre was investigating the activities of multi-millionaire <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger-Patrice_Pelat" class="extiw" title="fr:Roger-Patrice Pelat">Roger-Patrice Pelat</a> in the context of the <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affaire_Pechiney-Triangle" class="extiw" title="fr:Affaire Pechiney-Triangle">Pechiney-Triangle Affair</a>, he was informed that Pelat may have once been <a href="/wiki/Grand_Master_(order)" class="mw-redirect" title="Grand Master (order)">Grand Master</a> of a secret society known as the Priory of Sion. Pelat's name had been on Plantard's list of Grand Masters since 1989. In fact, Pelat had died in 1989, while he was being indicted for <a href="/wiki/Insider_trading" title="Insider trading">insider trading</a>. Following a long established pattern of using dead people's names, Plantard "recruited" the "initiate" Pelat soon after his death and included him as the most recent Priory of Sion Grand Master.<sup id="cite_ref-lepoint_52-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-lepoint-52"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>52<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Plantard had first claimed that Pelat had been a Grand Master in a Priory of Sion pamphlet dated 8 March 1989, then claimed it again later in a 1990 issue of <i>Vaincre</i>, the revived publication of Alpha Galates, a <a href="/wiki/Pseudo-chivalric_order" class="mw-redirect" title="Pseudo-chivalric order">pseudo-chivalric order</a> created by Plantard in <a href="/wiki/Vichy_France" title="Vichy France">Vichy France</a> to support the "<a href="/wiki/National_Revolution" class="mw-redirect" title="National Revolution">National Revolution</a>".<sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-53"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>53<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-54" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-54"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>54<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Pelat had been a friend of <a href="/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Mitterrand" title="François Mitterrand">François Mitterrand</a>, then <a href="/wiki/President_of_France" title="President of France">President of France</a>, and at the centre of a scandal involving French Prime Minister <a href="/wiki/Pierre_B%C3%A9r%C3%A9govoy" title="Pierre Bérégovoy">Pierre Bérégovoy</a>. As an investigative judge, Jean-Pierre could not dismiss any information brought to his attention pertaining to the case, especially if it might have led to a scandal similar to the one implicating an illegal pseudo-<a href="/wiki/Masonic_lodge" title="Masonic lodge">Masonic lodge</a> named <a href="/wiki/Propaganda_Due" title="Propaganda Due">Propaganda Due</a> in the 1982 <a href="/wiki/Banco_Ambrosiano" title="Banco Ambrosiano">Banco Ambrosiano</a> bank failure in Italy, Jean-Pierre ordered a search of Plantard's home. The search turned up a hoard of false documents, including some proclaiming Plantard the true <a href="/wiki/King_of_France" class="mw-redirect" title="King of France">king of France</a>. Plantard admitted under oath that he had fabricated everything, including Pelat's involvement with the Priory of Sion.<sup id="cite_ref-lepoint_52-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-lepoint-52"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>52<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Philippe_Laprévôte_1996_p._140_55-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Philippe_Laprévôte_1996_p._140-55"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>55<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Plantard was threatened with legal action by the Pelat family and therefore disappeared to his house in <a href="/wiki/Southern_France" title="Southern France">southern France</a>. He was 74 years old at the time. Nothing more was heard of him until he died in Paris on 3 February 2000.<sup id="cite_ref-Octonovo_56-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Octonovo-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>56<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Revival_attempts">Revival attempts</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Revival attempts"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>On 27 December 2002, an open letter announced the revival of the Priory of Sion as an <a href="/wiki/Traditionalist_School" class="mw-redirect" title="Traditionalist School">integral traditionalist</a> esoteric society, which stated that: "The Commanderies of Saint-Denis, Millau, Geneva and Barcelona are fully operative. According to the Tradition, the first Commanderie is under the direction of a woman", claiming there were 9,841 members.<sup id="cite_ref-57" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-57"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>57<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It was signed by <a href="/w/index.php?title=Gino_Sandri&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Gino Sandri (page does not exist)">Gino Sandri</a> (who claims to be Plantard's former private secretary) under the title of General Secretary,<sup id="cite_ref-Buccholtzer,_2008_58-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Buccholtzer,_2008-58"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>58<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and by "P. Plantard" (Le Nautonnier, G. Chyren). Sandri is a well-versed <a href="/wiki/Occultist" class="mw-redirect" title="Occultist">occultist</a> who has spent his life infiltrating esoteric societies only to get expelled from them.<sup id="cite_ref-Buccholtzer,_2008_58-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Buccholtzer,_2008-58"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>58<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After interviewing Sandri, independent researcher Laurent Octonovo Buchholtzer wrote: </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>I’ve personally met this Gino Sandri on one occasion, and I had the opportunity to have a really good talk with him, but I think that he's simply seeking attention. He seemed to me to be something of a mythomaniac, which would certainly be an excellent qualification for being Secretary of the Priory of Sion. During our conversation he said something in passing that I found quite extraordinary. He said, “Ultimately, what is the Priory of Sion? It's nothing more than a well-known brand name, but with goodness knows what behind it?” He gave a good brief account of the phenomenon of the Priory of Sion. Thanks to Dan Brown, hundreds of millions of people now have “brand awareness”, and several million of them seem to take it seriously.<sup id="cite_ref-Octonovo_56-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Octonovo-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>56<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <p>Since 2016, Italian <a href="/wiki/Western_esotericism" title="Western esotericism">esotericist</a> Marco Rigamonti has claimed to be the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion.<sup id="cite_ref-59" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-59"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>59<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Da_Vinci_Code"><i>The Da Vinci Code</i></h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: The Da Vinci Code"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>As a result of <a href="/wiki/Dan_Brown" title="Dan Brown">Dan Brown</a>'s best-selling 2003 <a href="/wiki/Conspiracy_fiction" title="Conspiracy fiction">conspiracy fiction</a> novel <i><a href="/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code" title="The Da Vinci Code">The Da Vinci Code</a></i><sup id="cite_ref-Brown_2003_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Brown_2003-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and the subsequent 2006 <a href="/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code_(film)" title="The Da Vinci Code (film)">film</a>, there was a new level of public interest in the Priory of Sion. Brown's novel promotes the mythical version of the Priory but departs from the ultimate conclusions presented in <i>The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail</i>. Rather than plotting to create a Federal Europe ruled by a <a href="/wiki/Merovingian" class="mw-redirect" title="Merovingian">Merovingian</a> <a href="/wiki/Sacred_king" title="Sacred king">sacred king</a> descended from the <a href="/wiki/Historical_Jesus" title="Historical Jesus">historical Jesus</a>, the Priory of Sion initiates its members into a <a href="/wiki/Mystery_cult" class="mw-redirect" title="Mystery cult">mystery cult</a> seeking to restore the <a href="/wiki/Feminist_theology" title="Feminist theology">feminist theology</a> necessary for a complete understanding of <a href="/wiki/Early_Christianity" title="Early Christianity">early Christianity</a>, which was supposedly suppressed by the Catholic Church. The author has presented this speculation as fact in his non-fiction preface, as well as in his public appearances and interviews. </p><p>Furthermore, in their 1987 sequel <i><a href="/wiki/The_Messianic_Legacy" class="mw-redirect" title="The Messianic Legacy">The Messianic Legacy</a></i>,<sup id="cite_ref-Baigent_1987_9-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Baigent_1987-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Lincoln, Baigent and Leigh suggested that there was a current conflict between the Priory of Sion and the <a href="/wiki/Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta" title="Sovereign Military Order of Malta">Sovereign Military Order of Malta</a>, which they speculated might have originated from an earlier rivalry between the <a href="/wiki/Knights_Templar" title="Knights Templar">Knights Templar</a> and <a href="/wiki/Knights_Hospitaller" title="Knights Hospitaller">Knights Hospitaller</a> during the <a href="/wiki/Crusades" title="Crusades">Crusades</a>. However, for the dramatic structure of <i>The Da Vinci Code</i>, Brown chose the <a href="/wiki/Controversies_about_Opus_Dei" title="Controversies about Opus Dei">controversial</a> Catholic <a href="/wiki/Personal_prelature" title="Personal prelature">personal prelature</a> <a href="/wiki/Opus_Dei" title="Opus Dei">Opus Dei</a> as the <a href="/wiki/The_Assassini#Similarities" title="The Assassini">Assassini</a>-like nemesis of the Priory of Sion, despite the fact that no author had ever argued that there is a conflict between these two groups. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Sion_Revelation"><i>The Sion Revelation</i></h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: The Sion Revelation"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Further conspiracy theories were reported in the 2006 non-fiction book <i>The Sion Revelation: The Truth About the Guardians of Christ's Sacred Bloodline</i> by <a href="/wiki/Lynn_Picknett" title="Lynn Picknett">Lynn Picknett</a> and Clive Prince (authors of the 1997 non-fiction book <i><a href="/wiki/The_Templar_Revelation" title="The Templar Revelation">The Templar Revelation</a></i>, the principal source for Dan Brown's claims about hidden messages in the work of <a href="/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci" title="Leonardo da Vinci">Leonardo da Vinci</a>).<sup id="cite_ref-Picknett_2006_12-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Picknett_2006-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> They accepted that the pre-1956 history of the Priory of Sion was a hoax created by Plantard, and that his claim that he was a Merovingian <a href="/wiki/Dynast" class="mw-redirect" title="Dynast">dynast</a> was a lie. However, they insist that this was part of a complex <a href="/wiki/Red_herring_(narrative)" class="mw-redirect" title="Red herring (narrative)">red herring</a> intended to distract the public from the hidden agenda of Plantard and his <a href="/wiki/Agent_handling" title="Agent handling">"controllers"</a>. They argue that the Priory of Sion was a <a href="/wiki/Front_organisation" class="mw-redirect" title="Front organisation">front organisation</a> for one of the many crypto-political societies which have been plotting to create a "<a href="/wiki/United_States_of_Europe" class="mw-redirect" title="United States of Europe">United States of Europe</a>" in line with French <a href="/wiki/List_of_occultists" title="List of occultists">occultist</a> <a href="/wiki/Alexandre_Saint-Yves_d%27Alveydre" title="Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre">Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Synarchist" class="mw-redirect" title="Synarchist">synarchist</a> vision of an ideal form of government. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Bloodline_movie"><i>Bloodline</i> movie</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Bloodline movie"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The 2008 documentary <i><a href="/wiki/Bloodline_(documentary)" class="mw-redirect" title="Bloodline (documentary)">Bloodline</a></i><sup id="cite_ref-60" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-60"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>60<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> by 1244 Films and producers Bruce Burgess, a British filmmaker with an interest in <a href="/wiki/Paranormal" title="Paranormal">paranormal</a> claims and Rene Barnett, a Los Angeles researcher and television and filmmaker, expands on the "<a href="/wiki/Jesus_bloodline" title="Jesus bloodline">Jesus bloodline</a>" hypothesis and other elements of <i>The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-61"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>61<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Accepting as valid the testimony of an amateur archaeologist codenamed "Ben Hammott" relating to his discoveries made in the vicinity of <a href="/wiki/Rennes-le-Ch%C3%A2teau" title="Rennes-le-Château">Rennes-le-Château</a> since 1999; The film speculates that Ben has found the treasure of <a href="/wiki/B%C3%A9renger_Sauni%C3%A8re" title="Bérenger Saunière">Bérenger Saunière</a>: a mummified corpse, which Hammott claimed to believe is <a href="/wiki/Mary_Magdalene" title="Mary Magdalene">Mary Magdalene</a>, in an underground tomb purportedly connected to both the Knights Templar and the Priory of Sion. In the film, Burgess interviews several people with alleged connections to the Priory of Sion, including a Gino Sandri and Nicolas Haywood. A book by one of the documentary's researchers, Rob Howells, entitled <i>Inside the Priory of Sion: Revelations from the World's Most Secret Society – Guardians of the Bloodline of Jesus</i> presented the version of the Priory of Sion as given in the 2008 documentary,<sup id="cite_ref-62" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-62"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>62<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> which contained several erroneous assertions, such as the claim that Plantard believed in the Jesus bloodline hypothesis.<sup id="cite_ref-63" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-63"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>63<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> On 21 March 2012, ahead of an impending public outing on the internet, Ben Hammott confessed and apologised on NightVision Radio, a podcast hosted by Bloodline Producer Rene Barnett (using his real name Bill Wilkinson) that everything to do with the tomb and related artifacts was a hoax; revealing that the actual tomb was now destroyed, being part of a full sized set located in a warehouse in England.<sup id="cite_ref-64" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-64"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>64<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Alleged_Grand_Masters">Alleged Grand Masters</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Alleged Grand Masters"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The notional version of the Priory of Sion first referred to during the 1960s was supposedly led by a "Nautonnier", an <a href="/wiki/Old_French" title="Old French">Old French</a> word for a <a href="/wiki/Navigator" title="Navigator">navigator</a>, which means <a href="/wiki/Grand_Master_(order)" class="mw-redirect" title="Grand Master (order)">Grand Master</a> in their internal esoteric nomenclature. The following list of Grand Masters is derived from the <i><a href="/wiki/Dossiers_Secrets_d%27Henri_Lobineau" title="Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau">Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau</a></i> compiled by Plantard under the <i>nom de plume</i> of "Philippe Toscan du Plantier" in 1967. All those named on this list had died before that date. All but two are also found on lists of alleged “<a href="/wiki/Imperator" title="Imperator">Imperators</a>” (supreme heads) and “distinguished members” of the <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Mystical_Order_Rosae_Crucis" class="mw-redirect" title="Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis">Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis</a> that circulated in France at the time when Plantard was in touch with this <a href="/wiki/Rosicrucian_Order" class="mw-redirect" title="Rosicrucian Order">Rosicrucian Order</a>. Most of those named share the common thread of being known for having an interest in the <a href="/wiki/Occult" title="Occult">occult</a> or <a href="/wiki/Christian_heresy" class="mw-redirect" title="Christian heresy">heresy</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Introvigne_2005_2-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Introvigne_2005-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_presumed_self-portrait_-_WGA12798.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_presumed_self-portrait_-_WGA12798.jpg/220px-Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_presumed_self-portrait_-_WGA12798.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="343" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_presumed_self-portrait_-_WGA12798.jpg/330px-Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_presumed_self-portrait_-_WGA12798.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_presumed_self-portrait_-_WGA12798.jpg/440px-Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_presumed_self-portrait_-_WGA12798.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2408" data-file-height="3754" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci" title="Leonardo da Vinci">Leonardo da Vinci</a>, alleged to be the Priory of Sion's 12th Grand Master</figcaption></figure> <p>The <i>Dossiers Secrets</i> asserted that the Priory of Sion and the <a href="/wiki/Knights_Templar" title="Knights Templar">Knights Templar</a> always shared <a href="/wiki/Grand_Masters_of_the_Knights_Templar" class="mw-redirect" title="Grand Masters of the Knights Templar">the same Grand Master</a> until a <a href="/wiki/Schism_(religion)" class="mw-redirect" title="Schism (religion)">schism</a> occurred during the "<a href="/wiki/Cutting_of_the_elm" title="Cutting of the elm">Cutting of the elm</a>" incident in 1188. Following that event, the Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion are listed in <a href="/wiki/French_language" title="French language">French</a> as being: </p> <ol><li><a href="/wiki/Jean_de_Gisors" title="Jean de Gisors">Jean de Gisors</a> (1188–1220)</li> <li>Marie de Saint-Clair (1220–1266)- Marie de Saint-Clair (1192-1266), daughter of Robert de Saint-Clair and Isabel Levis, became Grand Mistress of the Priory from 1220 to her death (3).</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guillaume_de_Gisors" title="Guillaume de Gisors">Guillaume de Gisors</a> (1266–1307)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Edouard_de_Bar" class="mw-redirect" title="Edouard de Bar">Edouard de Bar</a> (1307–1336)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jeanne_de_Bar" class="mw-redirect" title="Jeanne de Bar">Jeanne de Bar</a> (1336–1351)</li> <li>Jean de Saint-Clair (1351–1366)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Blanche_of_Navarre,_Queen_of_France" title="Blanche of Navarre, Queen of France">Blanche d'Évreux</a> (1366–1398)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nicolas_Flamel" title="Nicolas Flamel">Nicolas Flamel</a> (1398–1418)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_of_Anjou" title="René of Anjou">René d'Anjou</a> (1418–1480)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yolande,_Duchess_of_Lorraine" title="Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine">Iolande de Bar</a> (1480–1483)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sandro_Botticelli" title="Sandro Botticelli">Sandro Botticelli</a> (1483–1510)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci" title="Leonardo da Vinci">Leonardo da Vinci</a> (1510–1519)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_III,_Duke_of_Bourbon" title="Charles III, Duke of Bourbon">Connétable de Bourbon</a> (1519–1527)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ferrante_Gonzaga" title="Ferrante Gonzaga">Ferrante I Gonzaga</a> (1527–1575)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Louis_Gonzaga,_Duke_of_Nevers" class="mw-redirect" title="Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers">Ludovico Gonzaga</a> (1575–1595)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Fludd" title="Robert Fludd">Robert Fludd</a> (1595–1637)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Johannes_Valentinus_Andreae" title="Johannes Valentinus Andreae">J. Valentin Andrea</a> (1637–1654)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Boyle" title="Robert Boyle">Robert Boyle</a> (1654–1691)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Isaac_Newton" title="Isaac Newton">Isaac Newton</a> (1691–1727)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_Radclyffe" title="Charles Radclyffe">Charles Radclyffe</a> (1727–1746)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prince_Charles_Alexander_of_Lorraine" title="Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine">Charles de Lorraine</a> (1746–1780)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Archduke_Maximilian_Francis_of_Austria" title="Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria">Maximilian de Lorraine</a> (1780–1801)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_Nodier" title="Charles Nodier">Charles Nodier</a> (1801–1844)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Victor_Hugo" title="Victor Hugo">Victor Hugo</a> (1844–1885)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Claude_Debussy" title="Claude Debussy">Claude Debussy</a> (1885–1918)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean_Cocteau" title="Jean Cocteau">Jean Cocteau</a> (1918–1963)</li></ol> <p>A later document, <i>Le Cercle d'Ulysse</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-Jean_Delaude_1994_28-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Jean_Delaude_1994-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> identifies <a href="/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Ducaud-Bourget" title="François Ducaud-Bourget">François Ducaud-Bourget</a>, a prominent <a href="/wiki/Traditionalist_Catholic" class="mw-redirect" title="Traditionalist Catholic">Traditionalist Catholic</a> priest who Plantard had worked for as a <a href="/w/index.php?title=Sexton_(offiIn_1993,_Plantard_acknowledged_that_both_lists_were_fraudulent_when_he_was_investce)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Sexton (offiIn 1993, Plantard acknowledged that both lists were fraudulent when he was investce) (page does not exist)">sexton</a> during World War II,<sup id="cite_ref-Introvigne_2005_2-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Introvigne_2005-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> as the Grand Master following Cocteau's death. Plantard himself is later identified as the next Grand Master. </p><p>Pierre Plantard rejected the <i>Dossiers Secrets</i> from the late 1980s and gave the Priory of Sion a completely different pedigree. For example the link with the Knights Templar was abolished, although the connection with Godfrey of Bouillon remained. Plantard attempted to make a comeback. The second list appeared in <i>Vaincre</i> No. 3, September 1989, p. 22 <sup id="cite_ref-65" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-65"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>65<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> which included the names of the deceased Roger-Patrice Pelat, and his own son Thomas Plantard de Saint-Clair: </p> <ol><li>Jean-Tim Negri d'Albes (1681–1703)</li> <li>François d'Hautpoul (1703–1726)</li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Andr%C3%A9_Hercule_de_Rosset_de_Rocozels_de_Fleury&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="André Hercule de Rosset de Rocozels de Fleury (page does not exist)">André-Hercule de Fleury</a> (1726–1766)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prince_Charles_Alexander_of_Lorraine" title="Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine">Charles de Lorraine</a> (1766–1780)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Archduke_Maximilian_Franz_of_Austria" class="mw-redirect" title="Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria">Maximilian de Lorraine</a> (1780–1801)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_Nodier" title="Charles Nodier">Charles Nodier</a> (1801–1844)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Victor_Hugo" title="Victor Hugo">Victor Hugo</a> (1844–1885)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Claude_Debussy" title="Claude Debussy">Claude Debussy</a> (1885–1918)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean_Cocteau" title="Jean Cocteau">Jean Cocteau</a> (1918–1963)</li> <li>François Balphangon (1963–1969)</li> <li>John Drick (1969–1981)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pierre_Plantard" title="Pierre Plantard">Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair</a> (1981)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philippe_de_Ch%C3%A9risey" title="Philippe de Chérisey">Philippe de Chérisey</a> (1984–1985)</li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Roger-Patrice_Pelat&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Roger-Patrice Pelat (page does not exist)">Roger-Patrice Pelat</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger-Patrice_Pelat" class="extiw" title="fr:Roger-Patrice Pelat">fr</a>]</span> (1985–1989)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pierre_Plantard" title="Pierre Plantard">Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair</a> (1989)</li> <li>Thomas Plantard de Saint-Clair (1989)</li></ol> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-Baigent_1982-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Baigent_1982_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baigent_1982_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baigent_1982_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baigent_1982_1-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baigent_1982_1-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFBaigentLeighLincoln1982" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Michael_Baigent" title="Michael Baigent">Baigent, Michael</a>; <a href="/wiki/Richard_Leigh_(author)" title="Richard Leigh (author)">Leigh, Richard</a>; <a href="/wiki/Henry_Lincoln" title="Henry Lincoln">Lincoln, Henry</a> (1982). <i><a href="/wiki/The_Holy_Blood_and_the_Holy_Grail" title="The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail">The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail</a></i>. Jonathan Cape. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-224-01735-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-224-01735-0"><bdi>978-0-224-01735-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Holy+Blood+and+the+Holy+Grail&rft.pub=Jonathan+Cape&rft.date=1982&rft.isbn=978-0-224-01735-0&rft.aulast=Baigent&rft.aufirst=Michael&rft.au=Leigh%2C+Richard&rft.au=Lincoln%2C+Henry&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Introvigne_2005-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Introvigne_2005_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Introvigne_2005_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Introvigne_2005_2-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Introvigne_2005_2-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Introvigne_2005_2-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFMassimo_Introvigne2005" class="citation journal cs1">Massimo Introvigne (2–5 June 2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cesnur.org/2005/pa_introvigne.htm">"Beyond The Da Vinci Code: History and Myth of the Priory of Sion"</a>. <a href="/wiki/CESNUR" title="CESNUR">CESNUR</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">20 November</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Beyond+The+Da+Vinci+Code%3A+History+and+Myth+of+the+Priory+of+Sion&rft.date=2005-06-02%2F2005-06-05&rft.au=Massimo+Introvigne&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cesnur.org%2F2005%2Fpa_introvigne.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span> <span class="cs1-visible-error citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_journal" title="Template:Cite journal">cite journal</a>}}</code>: </span><span class="cs1-visible-error citation-comment">Cite journal requires <code class="cs1-code">|journal=</code> (<a href="/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#missing_periodical" title="Help:CS1 errors">help</a>)</span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Pierre Plantard, <i>Gisors et son secret...</i>, ORBIS, 1961, abridged version contained in Gérard de Sède, <i>Les Templiers sont parmi nous</i>. 1962.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Brown_2003-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Brown_2003_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Brown_2003_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFDan_Brown2003" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Dan_Brown" title="Dan Brown">Dan Brown</a> (2003). <i><a href="/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code" title="The Da Vinci Code">The Da Vinci Code</a></i>. Doubleday. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-385-50420-9" title="Special:BookSources/0-385-50420-9"><bdi>0-385-50420-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Da+Vinci+Code&rft.pub=Doubleday&rft.date=2003&rft.isbn=0-385-50420-9&rft.au=Dan+Brown&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Chapter 21 by Cory James Rushton, "Twenty-First-Century Templar", p. 236, in Gail Ashton (editor), <i>Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture</i> (Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4411-2960-4" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-4411-2960-4">978-1-4411-2960-4</a>).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Putnam_2003-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Putnam_2003_6-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFBill_Putnam,_John_Edwin_Wood2003" class="citation book cs1">Bill Putnam, John Edwin Wood (2003). <i>The Treasure of Rennes-le-Château. A Mystery Solved</i>. Sutton Publishing. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0750930810" title="Special:BookSources/0750930810"><bdi>0750930810</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Treasure+of+Rennes-le-Ch%C3%A2teau.+A+Mystery+Solved&rft.pub=Sutton+Publishing&rft.date=2003&rft.isbn=0750930810&rft.au=Bill+Putnam%2C+John+Edwin+Wood&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Bradley_2006-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Bradley_2006_7-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Bradley_2006_7-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Bradley_2006_7-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFBradley2006" class="citation journal cs1"><a href="/wiki/Ed_Bradley" title="Ed Bradley">Bradley, Ed</a> (2006). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-priory-of-sion/">"The Priory Of Sion: Is The "Secret Organization" Fact Or Fiction?"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">16 July</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=The+Priory+Of+Sion%3A+Is+The+%22Secret+Organization%22+Fact+Or+Fiction%3F&rft.date=2006&rft.aulast=Bradley&rft.aufirst=Ed&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Fthe-priory-of-sion%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span> <span class="cs1-visible-error citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_journal" title="Template:Cite journal">cite journal</a>}}</code>: </span><span class="cs1-visible-error citation-comment">Cite journal requires <code class="cs1-code">|journal=</code> (<a href="/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#missing_periodical" title="Help:CS1 errors">help</a>)</span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Katsoulis_2009-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Katsoulis_2009_8-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFMelissa_Kasoutlis2009" class="citation book cs1">Melissa Kasoutlis (2009). <i>Literary Hoaxes: An Eye-Opening History of Famous Frauds</i>. Skyhorse. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1602397941" title="Special:BookSources/978-1602397941"><bdi>978-1602397941</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Literary+Hoaxes%3A+An+Eye-Opening+History+of+Famous+Frauds&rft.pub=Skyhorse&rft.date=2009&rft.isbn=978-1602397941&rft.au=Melissa+Kasoutlis&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Baigent_1987-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Baigent_1987_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baigent_1987_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baigent_1987_9-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Baigent_1987_9-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFMichael_Baigent,_Richard_Leigh,_Henry_Lincoln1987" class="citation book cs1">Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln (1987). <i>The Messianic Legacy</i>. Henry Holt & Co. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780805005684" title="Special:BookSources/9780805005684"><bdi>9780805005684</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Messianic+Legacy&rft.pub=Henry+Holt+%26+Co&rft.date=1987&rft.isbn=9780805005684&rft.au=Michael+Baigent%2C+Richard+Leigh%2C+Henry+Lincoln&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span><span class="cs1-maint citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_book" title="Template:Cite book">cite book</a>}}</code>: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (<a href="/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list" title="Category:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list">link</a>)</span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Picknett_1997-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Picknett_1997_10-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFLynn_Picknett,_Clive_Prince1997" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Lynn_Picknett" title="Lynn Picknett">Lynn Picknett</a>, Clive Prince (1997). <i><a href="/wiki/The_Templar_Revelation" title="The Templar Revelation">The Templar Revelation</a>: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ</i>. Bantam Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0593038703" title="Special:BookSources/0593038703"><bdi>0593038703</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Templar+Revelation%3A+Secret+Guardians+of+the+True+Identity+of+Christ&rft.pub=Bantam+Press&rft.date=1997&rft.isbn=0593038703&rft.au=Lynn+Picknett%2C+Clive+Prince&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Gardner_2005-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Gardner_2005_11-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFLaurence_Gardner2005" class="citation book cs1">Laurence Gardner (2005). <i>The Magdalene Legacy: The Jesus and Mary Bloodline Conspiracy</i>. Harpercollins Pub Ltd. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0007200846" title="Special:BookSources/0007200846"><bdi>0007200846</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Magdalene+Legacy%3A+The+Jesus+and+Mary+Bloodline+Conspiracy&rft.pub=Harpercollins+Pub+Ltd&rft.date=2005&rft.isbn=0007200846&rft.au=Laurence+Gardner&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Picknett_2006-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Picknett_2006_12-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Picknett_2006_12-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFLynn_Picknett,_Clive_Prince2006" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Lynn_Picknett" title="Lynn Picknett">Lynn Picknett</a>, Clive Prince (2006). <i>The Sion Revelation. The Truth About the Guardians of Christ's Sacred Bloodline</i>. Touchstone. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7432-6303-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-7432-6303-0"><bdi>0-7432-6303-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Sion+Revelation.+The+Truth+About+the+Guardians+of+Christ%27s+Sacred+Bloodline&rft.pub=Touchstone&rft.date=2006&rft.isbn=0-7432-6303-0&rft.au=Lynn+Picknett%2C+Clive+Prince&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Howells_2011-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Howells_2011_13-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFRobert_Howells2011" class="citation book cs1">Robert Howells (2011). <i>Inside the Priory of Sion: Revelations from the World's Most Secret Society</i>. Watkins Publishing. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-78028-136-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-78028-136-0"><bdi>978-1-78028-136-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Inside+the+Priory+of+Sion%3A+Revelations+from+the+World%27s+Most+Secret+Society&rft.pub=Watkins+Publishing&rft.date=2011&rft.isbn=978-1-78028-136-0&rft.au=Robert+Howells&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Mondschein_2014-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Mondschein_2014_14-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFMondschein2014" class="citation web cs1">Mondschein, Ken (11 November 2014). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nypress.com/news/holy-blood-holy-grail-MXNP1020040720307209982">"Holy Blood, Holy Grail"</a>. <i>Straus Media</i>. Straus News<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">7 October</span> 2020</span>. <q>Likewise, there's an entire cottage industry devoted to disseminating crazy conspiracy theories about the Knights Templar, from Richard Metzger's Disinfo.com (which seems to be more interested in the believers than the belief) to Dagobert's Revenge, the New Jersey-based conspiracy zine to which industrial musician Boyd Rice is a prominent contributor (it's named for a murdered Merovingian king). I've heard everything from the Templars having hidden the Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia to their having built a supposed medieval tower in Connecticut a hundred years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. The sad truth is that, while remnants survived in such groups as the Knights of Christ in Portugal, the Templars have about as much effect on the modern world as does the Empire of Trebezonia.</q></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Straus+Media&rft.atitle=Holy+Blood%2C+Holy+Grail&rft.date=2014-11-11&rft.aulast=Mondschein&rft.aufirst=Ken&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nypress.com%2Fnews%2Fholy-blood-holy-grail-MXNP1020040720307209982&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Klinghoffer_2006-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Klinghoffer_2006_15-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">David Klinghoffer, "The Da Vinci Protocols: Jews should worry about Dan Brown’s success" <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090907001650/http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDY0YmNhMjc5YThmZWIxY2VjNmM3MWE0YjU1MDFhYTg=">Archived</a> 7 September 2009 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, <i>National Review Online</i>, 2006. Retrieved on 28 March 2008.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFNewman" class="citation book cs1">Newman, Sharan. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140909171253/http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/PDF/Book/The_Real_History_Behind_The_Da_Vinci_Code.pdf"><i>The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code</i></a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. New York: Berkley Books. pp. <span class="nowrap">243–</span>245. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7865-5469-X" title="Special:BookSources/0-7865-5469-X"><bdi>0-7865-5469-X</bdi></a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/PDF/Book/The_Real_History_Behind_The_Da_Vinci_Code.pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on 9 September 2014<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">8 March</span> 2013</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Real+History+Behind+the+Da+Vinci+Code&rft.place=New+York&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E243-%3C%2Fspan%3E245&rft.pub=Berkley+Books&rft.isbn=0-7865-5469-X&rft.aulast=Newman&rft.aufirst=Sharan&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elcaminosantiago.com%2FPDF%2FBook%2FThe_Real_History_Behind_The_Da_Vinci_Code.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://jhaldezos.free.fr/lespersonnages/plantard/images/extraitdejo.html">Extrait du Journal Officiel du 20 juillet 1956 (p. 6731)</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120324102225/http://jhaldezos.free.fr/lespersonnages/plantard/images/extraitdejo.html">Archived</a> 24 March 2012 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120324102225/http://jhaldezos.free.fr/lespersonnages/plantard/images/extraitdejo.html">"Pierre Plantard Extrait du Journal Officiel du 20 juillet 1956"</a>. Jhaldezos.free.fr. 16 February 2008. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://jhaldezos.free.fr/lespersonnages/plantard/images/extraitdejo.html">the original</a> on 24 March 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">20 November</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Pierre+Plantard+Extrait+du+Journal+Officiel+du+20+juillet+1956&rft.pub=Jhaldezos.free.fr&rft.date=2008-02-16&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fjhaldezos.free.fr%2Flespersonnages%2Fplantard%2Fimages%2Fextraitdejo.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Guy Gavard, <i>Histoire d'Annemasse et des communes voisines: les relations avec Genève de l'époque romaine à l'an 2000</i> (Montmélian: la Fontaine de Siloé, impr. 2006).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Bernardo Sanchez Da Motta, <i>Do Enigma de Rennes-le-Château ao Priorado de Siao – Historia de um Mito Moderno</i>, Esquilo, 2005, p. 322, reproducing the Priory of Sion Registration Document showing the group was based in Plantard's apartment.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Jean-Luc_Chaumeil-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Jean-Luc_Chaumeil_21-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Jean-Luc_Chaumeil_21-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">"Les Archives du Prieuré de Sion", <i>Le Charivari</i>, N°18, 1973. Containing a transcript of the 1956 Statutes of the Priory of Sion.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">J. Cailleboite, "A Sous-Cassan et aux pervenches un missionnaire regarde la vie ouvriere", <i>Circuit</i>, Numéro spécial, October 1956.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The History of a Mystery</i>, BBC 2, transmitted on 17 September 1996</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Pierre Jarnac, <i>Les Archives de Rennes-le-Château</i>, Tome II, Editions Belisane, 1988, p. 566.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Marie-France Etchegoin & Frédéric Lenoir, <i>Code Da Vinci: L'Enquête</i>, p. 61 (Robert Laffont, 2004).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jean-Luc Chaumeil, <i>La Table d'Isis ou Le Secret de la Lumière</i>, Editions Guy Trédaniel, 1994, pp. 121–124.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Madeleine Blancassall, "Les Descendants Mérovingiens ou l’énigme du Razès wisigoth" (1965), in: Pierre Jarnac, <i>Les Mystères de Rennes-le-Château, Mélanges Sulfureux</i>, CERT, 1994.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Jean_Delaude_1994-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Jean_Delaude_1994_28-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Jean_Delaude_1994_28-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Jean Delaude, <i>Le Cercle d’Ulysse</i> (1977), in: Pierre Jarnac, <i>Les Mystères de Rennes-le-Château, Mélanges Sulfureux</i>, CERT, 1994.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">A photograph of a young Thomas Plantard de Saint-Clair standing next to the Les Pontils tomb was published in Jean-Pierre Deloux, Jacques Brétigny, <i>Rennes-le-Château – Capitale Secrète de l'Histoire de France</i>, 1982.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-ChaumTest-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-ChaumTest_30-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-ChaumTest_30-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Jean-Luc Chaumeil (Goeroe of speculative freemason), <i>Rennes-le-Château – Gisors – Le Testament du Prieuré de Sion. Le Crépuscule d’une Ténébreuse Affaire</i>, Éditions Pégase, 2006.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The History of a Mystery</i>, BBC 2, transmitted on 17 September 1996.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Thompson_2008-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Thompson_2008_32-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Damian_Thompson" title="Damian Thompson">Damian Thompson</a>, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1575347/How-Da-Vinci-Code-tapped-pseudo-fact-hunger.html">How Da Vinci Code tapped pseudo-fact hunger</a>", <i>Daily Telegraph</i>. 13 January 2008. Retrieved on 28 March 2008.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Conspiracies On Trial: The Da Vinci Code</i> (The Discovery Channel); transmitted on 10 April 2005.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Pierre Jarnac, <i>Les Mystères de Rennes-le-Château: Mèlange Sulfureux</i> (CERT, 1994).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Moench_1995-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Moench_1995_35-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Doug Moench, <i>Factoid Books. The Big Book of Conspiracies</i>, Paradox Press, 1995. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-56389-186-7" title="Special:BookSources/1-56389-186-7">1-56389-186-7</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Marie-France Etchegoin & Frédéric Lenoir, <i>Code Da Vinci: L’Enquête</i>, p. 61 (Robert Laffont; 2004).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Aho_1997-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Aho_1997_37-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Barbara Aho, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://watch.pairsite.com/merovingian.html">The Merovingian Dynasty. Satanic Bloodline of the Antichrist and False Prophet</a>, watchpair.com, 1997. Retrieved on 5 October 2020.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Martin Kemp, Professor of Art History at Oxford University, on the documentary <i>The History of a Mystery</i>, BBC Two, transmitted on 17 September 1996, commenting on books like <i>The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail</i>: "There are certain historical problems, of which the Turin Shroud is one, in which there is 'fantastic fascination' with the topic, but a historical vacuum – a lack of solid evidence – and where there's a vacuum – nature abhores a vacuum – and historical speculation abhors a vacuum – and it all floods in...But what you end up with is almost nothing tangible or solid. You start from a hypothesis, and then that is deemed to be demonstrated more-or-less by stating the speculation, you then put another speculation on top of that, and you end up with this great tower of hypotheses and speculations – and if you say 'where are the rocks underneath this?' they are not there. It's like the House on Sand, it washes away as soon as you ask really hard questions of it."</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Franck Marie, <i>Rennes-le-Château: Etude Critique</i> (SRES, 1978).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Pierre Jarnac, <i>Histoire du Trésor de Rennes-le-Château</i> (1985).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-41">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Pierre Jarnac, <i>Les Archives de Rennes-le-Château</i> (Editions Belisane, 1988). Describing <i>The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail</i> as a "monument of mediocrity".</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-42">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jean-Luc Chaumeil,<i>La Table d'Isis ou Le Secret de la Lumière</i> (Editions Guy Trédaniel, 1994).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-43">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Marie-France Etchegoin & Frédéric Lenoir, <i>Code Da Vinci: L'Enquête</i> (Robert Laffont, 2004).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-44">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Massimo Introvigne, <i>Gli Illuminati E Il Priorato Di Sion – La Verita Sulle Due Societa Segrete Del Codice Da Vinci Di Angeli E Demoni</i> (Piemme; 2005).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-45">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jean-Jacques Bedu, <i>Les sources secrètes du Da Vinci Code</i> (Editions du Rocher, 2005).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-46">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Bernardo Sanchez Da Motta, <i>Do Enigma de Rennes-le-Château ao Priorado de Siao – Historia de um Mito Moderno</i> (Esquilo, 2005).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Miller_2004-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Miller_2004_47-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Miller_2004_47-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFMiller2004" class="citation journal cs1">Miller, Laura (22 February 2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07E0DD103AF931A15751C0A9629C8B63">"The Last Word; The Da Vinci Con"</a>. <i>The New York Times</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">16 July</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=The+New+York+Times&rft.atitle=The+Last+Word%3B+The+Da+Vinci+Con&rft.date=2004-02-22&rft.aulast=Miller&rft.aufirst=Laura&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fgst%2Ffullpage.html%3Fres%3D9B07E0DD103AF931A15751C0A9629C8B63&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-48">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The ley line is from "Fauteil du Diable" to "Fortin de Blanchefort", intersected by a sunrise line of 17 January from the church of Rennes-les-Bains to the church of Rennes-le-Château, in <i>Vaincre</i>, page 19 (June 1989). This was first given, in much more complex form, in Philippe de Chérisey's 1975 document <i>L'Or de Rennes pour un Napoléon</i> (Bibliothèque Nationale; Tolbiac – Rez-de-jardin – magasin 4- LB44- 2360).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-49"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-49">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Quoting from Plantard's letter dated 4 April 1989: "Our Treasure, that of the Priory of Sion, is the Secret of the Roc Noir. Venerated since high antiquity by those who believed in its immense power..."</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-50"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-50">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Quoting Pierre Plantard: "If anyone can claim to be a descendant of Sigisbert IV in the direct line it can only be Otto von Habsburg, and he alone. To all those people who write to me I have given this same reply." From <i>Vaincre – Reprend le titre d'un périodique paru en 1942–1943</i>, Number 1, April 1990 <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110818232934/http://jhaldezos.free.fr/lespersonnages/plantard/images/Vaincre%20avril%201990.pdf">"Archived copy"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://jhaldezos.free.fr/lespersonnages/plantard/images/Vaincre%20avril%201990.pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on 18 August 2011<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">18 August</span> 2011</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Archived+copy&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fjhaldezos.free.fr%2Flespersonnages%2Fplantard%2Fimages%2FVaincre%2520avril%25201990.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span><span class="cs1-maint citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_web" title="Template:Cite web">cite web</a>}}</code>: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (<a href="/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_archived_copy_as_title" title="Category:CS1 maint: archived copy as title">link</a>)</span> The April 1989, June 1989, September 1989, April 1990 issues of <i>Vaincre</i> were compiled together (with some of the articles modified) in 1992 and entitled <i>Le Cercle: Rennes-le-Château et le Prieuré de Sion</i>, consisting of 86 pages. This material was published in December 2007 by Pierre Jarnac in <i>Pégase, No 5 hors série, Le Prieuré de Sion – Les Archives de Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair – Rennes-le-Chateau – Gisors – Stenay</i> (90 pages) <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120425051656/http://www.rennes-le-chateau.tv/back/images_article/03010918115990.jpg">"Archived copy"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.rennes-le-chateau.tv/back/images_article/03010918115990.jpg">the original</a> on 25 April 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">25 April</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Archived+copy&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rennes-le-chateau.tv%2Fback%2Fimages_article%2F03010918115990.jpg&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span><span class="cs1-maint citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_web" title="Template:Cite web">cite web</a>}}</code>: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (<a href="/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_archived_copy_as_title" title="Category:CS1 maint: archived copy as title">link</a>)</span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-51"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-51">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Quoting Plantard: "We would like to repeat that in no case have we found any trace of the son of Dagobert II in the list of the Visigothic Razes. This Sigibert IV found refuge with his abbess sister at Oeren and was the cousin of Sigebert de Rhedae, who was alive more or less around the same time. Historians conflate these two Sigiberts into one person. When did Sigebert IV die? We don't know. Some think that he was the founder of the Habsburg family."</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-lepoint-52"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-lepoint_52-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-lepoint_52-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">"Affaire Pelat: Le Rapport du Juge", <i>Le Point</i>, no. 1112 (8–14 January 1994), p. 11.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-53"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-53">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Les Cahiers de Rennes-le-Chateau</i>, Nr. IX, page 59, Éditions Bélisane, 1989.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-54"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-54">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jean-Jacques Bedu, <i>Les sources secrètes du Da Vinci Code</i>, Editions du Rocher, 2005.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Philippe_Laprévôte_1996_p._140-55"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Philippe_Laprévôte_1996_p._140_55-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Philippe Laprévôte, "Note sur l’actualité du Prieuré de Sion", in: <i>Politica Hermetica</i>, Nr. 10 (1996), pp. 140–151.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Octonovo-56"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Octonovo_56-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Octonovo_56-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Laurent "Octonovo" Buchholtzer, "Pierre Plantard, Geneviève Zaepfell and the Alpha-Galates", in: <i>Actes du Colloque 2006</i>, Oeil-du-Sphinx, 2007.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-57"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-57">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Bulletin <i>Pégase</i> N°06, Janvier/Mars 2003.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Buccholtzer,_2008-58"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Buccholtzer,_2008_58-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Buccholtzer,_2008_58-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Laurent "Octonovo" Buchholtzer, <i>Rennes-le-Château, une Affaire Paradoxale</i>, Oeil-du-Sphinx, 2008.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-59"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-59">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prieure-de-sion.com/4/the_grand_master_1131456.html">"The Grand Master | Priory of Sion"</a>. <i>www.prieure-de-sion.com/</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.prieure-de-sion.com%2F&rft.atitle=The+Grand+Master+%7C+Priory+of+Sion&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prieure-de-sion.com%2F4%2Fthe_grand_master_1131456.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APriory+of+Sion" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-60"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-60">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Bloodline</i> DVD (Cinema Libre, 2008, 113 minutes). The documentary was originally released in cinemas on 9 May 2008.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-61"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-61">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ronald H. Fritze, <i>Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-Religions</i>, pp. 8–9 (Reaktion Books, 2009). <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-86189-430-9" title="Special:BookSources/1-86189-430-9">1-86189-430-9</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-62"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-62">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Robert Howells, <i>Inside The Priory of Sion: Revelations From The World's Most Secret Society – Guardians of The Bloodline of Jesus</i> (Watkins Publishing, 2011). <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-78028-017-3" title="Special:BookSources/1-78028-017-3">1-78028-017-3</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-63"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-63">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"In <a href="/wiki/Holy_Blood,_Holy_Grail" class="mw-redirect" title="Holy Blood, Holy Grail">Holy Blood, Holy Grail</a> Plantard claimed that the key to the mystery of Rennes-le-Château was that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had children." Howells, page 2.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-64"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-64">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://latalkradio.com/Rene.php"><i>NightVision Radio</i></a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120320110246/http://latalkradio.com/Rene.php">Archived</a> 20 March 2012 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, entry dated Wednesday, 21 March 2012</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-65"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-65">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jean-Jacques Bedu, <i>Les Sources Secrets du Da Vinci Code</i>, page 250, Editions du Rocher, 2005.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Official website of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prieure-de-sion.com">Priory of Sion – Ordre de la Rose-Croix Véritas O.D.L.R.C.V.</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Massimo_Polidoro" title="Massimo Polidoro">Polidoro, Massimo</a>. <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://skepticalinquirer.org/2004/11/the-secrets-of-rennes-le-chateau/">The Secrets of Rennes-le-Château: Notes on a Strange World</a></i>. <i><a href="/wiki/Skeptical_Inquirer" title="Skeptical Inquirer">Skeptical Inquirer</a></i>, Volume 28, No 6. (November-December 2004) Retrieved on 2020-09-21</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Massimo_Introvigne" title="Massimo Introvigne">Introvigne, Massimo</a>. <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cesnur.org/2005/mi_02_03d.htm">The Da Vinci Code FAQ, or Will the Real Priory of Sion Please Stand Up?</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/CESNUR" title="CESNUR">CESNUR</a> (2005) Retrieved on 2008-06-20</li> <li>Netchacovitch, Johan. <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20061119161053/http://www.portail-rennes-le-chateau.com/chaumeil_plantard_english.htm">Chaumeil – Plantard</a></i>. <i>Gazette of Rennes-le-Château</i> (12 April 2006). Retrieved on 2008-06-20</li> <li>Netchacovitch, Johan. <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141020044824/http://www.portail-rennes-le-chateau.com/survivor_chaumeil.htm">Sole survivor of the Priory of Sion</a></i>. <i>Gazette of Rennes-le-Château</i> (4 November 2006). Retrieved on 2008-06-20</li> <li>Netchacovitch, Johan. <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170902091654/http://www.portail-rennes-le-chateau.com/priory-of-sion.html">The Priory of Sion today</a>. </i>Gazette de Rennes-le-Château<i> (27 March 2017) Retrieved on 2020-09-21</i></li></ul>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&oldid=1274118893">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Priory_of_Sion&oldid=1274118893</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a 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