The True Story Behind the Da Vinci Code

The Priory of Sion - Shedding Light on the Treasure and Legacy of Rennes-Le-Chateau and the Priory of Sion by Jean-Luc Chaumeil
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ever since the publication and subsequent movie ‘The Da Vinci Code” the world has been obsessed with Rene Le Chateaux and the surrounding legend. Most people believe that the official legend is that Mary Magdalene married Jesus and fled to the Languedoc area after he was crucified. This child was called the Holy Grail and would spread the line of Jesus, the real king of Israel. Some would say that the Merovingian’s were from the line of Jesus.

Of course, the legend do not stop there. In reality there was a Jewish kingship that was established in France to someone from the line of David. But in reality that is neither here nor there. The real legend according to this book is something entirely different.

One must remember that Southern France has always been a hotbed of spiritual and political activity. The Cathars dwelt there until they were wiped out by the Albigensian Crusades. It was also a place were Druids and Celts dwelt and it was an area of contact between Arab and European culture. The real legend revolves around the Merovingians.

Rene Le Chateaux used to be called Rhada which meant chariot in Visigoth language. The Merovingians were Visogoths who descended by Cicambrians who ended up settling in the Northern regions of Poland. Part of their historiography claims that they came from the tribe of Benjamin. In any case it was when the Roman empire was in decline that the Visigoths sacked Rome and took a bunch of treasure with themselves. Among those treasures was the looted menorah from the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. As the Merovingian fortunes fell they would move their treasures about to different parts of France.

It was with the fall of the Merovingians that things got set into motion. The Carolingians and other so called royal family wanted to wipe out the Merovingian line. They tried to kill Dagobert the last son but he was rescued by Levi Moreaux. Dagobert would later have a son named Sigbert and a daughter.

The Priory of Zion was dedicated to keeping these royal heir alive and their identity hidden. The Priory of Zion and the Templars at first started out as being unified. It was only after the defeat of the Christians during the Crusades that they split apart. Godefoy De Boullion was of Merovingian descent and he was the Crusader king of Jerusalem.

Now through all of this there was Father Saunier who supposedly found gold and used it to enrich himself and build up his church. This is subject to some debate as some say that the treasure is not gold but scrolls. Father Saunier built a tower dedicated to Mary Magdalene and had installed a guardian named Asmodeus, a Solomonic Demon.

The book is loaded with tons of symbolism, of which the explanation is a challenge to grab. Translating over from French makes following along rather difficult and the writing style is choppy. It seems like instead of writing a narrative the author chose to put different documents together in an attempt to make a book. There are plenty of references spliced throughout the book of further reading material but no bibliography. Most of these sources are in French so good luck. Good book that is very enlightening but the writing style is hard to follow.


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