is priory of sion a real organisation ?

is priory of sion a real organisation ?

History - 12 Answers - 2006-07-13 03:37:55

Best Answer
The Alleged Priory If the claims had been proven to be true, they would have described the Priory of Sion as a secret society that was founded in the 11th century, to protect and preserve a secret involving the bloodline of Jesus Christ. The Priory allegedly created the medieval order of Knights Templar as its military arm, and had a series of Grand Masters which included such notable (and real) historical figures as Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci. The existence of the thousand-year-old Priory was supposedly "revealed" in the 1970s, via a series of documentaries and books by pseudohistory writers Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, such as in their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, which allegedly pieced together evidence from documents which had been found in the French National Library, as well as documents which were supposedly found in the late 1800s, hidden inside a pillar of a small church in southern France. Further attention came to the Priory when it was referred to as a factual society by the 2003 bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code. [edit] The Actual Priory The real Priory of Sion is an association that was founded in 1956, in the French town of Annemasse, as the beginning of a massive hoax. As with all associations, French law required the association to be registered with the government. It was registered with its Statutes at the Sub-Prefecture of Saint Julien-en-Genevois, in May 1956, and its registration was noted on 20 July 1956, in the Journal Officiel de la République Française. The founders and signatories are inscribed with their pseudonyms as Pierre Plantard (known as "Chyren"), André Bonhomme (known as "Stanis Bellas"), Jean Delaval, and Armand Defago. The purpose of the association according to its Statutes was entered as, "Études et entraide des membres" ("education and mutual aid of the members"). In practice, the originator of the association and its key protagonist was Pierre Plantard, its General Secretary, although its nominal head ("President") was André Bonhomme. The choice of the name, "Sion" was based on a popular local feature, a hill south of Annemasse in France, known as 'Mont Sion'.[2] The accompanying title, or subtitle to the name was, Chevalerie d'Institutions et Règles Catholiques d'Union Independante et Traditionaliste: this forms the acronym CIRCUIT and translates as "Knighthood of Catholic Rule and Institution and of Independent Traditionalist Union." The Statutes and Registration Documents of the Priory of Sion were deposited on 7 May 1956, while the first issue of its journal Circuit is dated 27 May 1956 (in total, twelve numbers of the journal appeared). Considering the political instability of the French Fourth Republic, the objectives of the journal were regarded with suspicion by the local authorities. It was indicated as a "Bulletin d'Information et Défense des Droits et de la Liberté des Foyers HLM" ("News Bulletin for the Defence of the Rights and the Freedom of Council Housing"). Indeed, some of the articles took a political position in the local Council elections. Others attacked and criticized property developers of Annemasse. It also opposed the gentrification of the area. The offices of the Priory of Sion and the journal were at Plantard's council flat. The articles of the Priory of Sion as indicated in its Statutes also desired the creation of a monastic order, but the activities of the Priory of Sion bore no resemblance whatsoever to the objectives as outlined in its Statutes. Article VII says that its members are expected, "to carry out good deeds, to help the Catholic Church, teach the truth, defend the weak and the oppressed". There is ample evidence that it had several members, as indicated by the numerous articles contained in its journal Circuit, written by a number of different people. Towards the end of 1956 the association had aims to forge links with the local Catholic Church of the area involving a school bus service run by both the Priory of Sion and the church of St Joseph in Annemasse. [edit] The Hoax Plantard hoped that the Priory of Sion would become an influential cryptopolitical irregular masonic lodge (similar to P2) dedicated to the restoration of chivalry and monarchy, which would promote Plantard's own claim to being a legitimate pretender to the throne of France. Between 1961 and 1984 Plantard contrived a mythical pedigree of the Priory of Sion claiming that it was the offshoot of the monastic order housed in the Abbey of Sion, which had been founded in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the First Crusade and later absorbed by the Jesuits in 1617. The mistake is often made that this Abbey of Sion was a "Priory of Sion", but there is a difference between an abbey and a priory. Calling his original 1956 group "Priory of Sion" undoubtedly gave Plantard the later idea to claim that his organization had been historically founded in Jerusalem during the Crusades. [citation needed] [edit] Forged documents Le Tresor Maudit de Rennes-le-Chateau, 1967In order to give credibility to the fabricated lineage and pedigree, Plantard and his friend Philippe de Cherisey needed to create "independent evidence". So during the 1960s, they deposited a series of forged documents, the so-called Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau or "Secret Dossiers of Henri Lobineau", at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, in Paris. Also in the 1960s, Plantard began writing a manuscript and had a series of "medieval parchments" forged by de Cherisey which contained encrypted messages that referred to the Priory of Sion. The story that they concocted claimed that Father Bérenger Saunière had supposedly discovered these seemingly ancient parchments inside of a pillar while renovating his church in Rennes-le-Château in 1891. The story and existence of the parchments was intended to prove Plantard's claims about the Priory of Sion being a medieval society. Plantard then enlisted the aid of author Gérard de Sède to write a book based on Plantard's manuscript and forged parchments, alleging that Sauniere had discovered a link to a hidden treasure. The 1967 book, entitled L'Or de Rennes (The Gold of Rennes) and Le Tresor Maudit de Rennes-le-Chateau (The Accursed Treasure of Rennes Castle), became a popular read in France. It included copies of the "found" documents (the originals were of course never produced), though it provided them without any kind of translation. [edit] Expansion of the story In 1969, English actor and science-fiction script-writer Henry Lincoln read Le Tresor Maudit, and became intrigued. He discovered one of the encrypted messages, which read A Dagobert II Roi et a Sion est ce tresor, et il est là mort. (Trans: "To King Dagobert II and to Sion does this treasure belong, and he is there dead."). This was an allusion to a treasure belonging to the Merovingian line of Frankish kings, the last one of which, Dagobert II, had been assassinated in the 7th century, thereby ending the dynasty. Lincoln continued to do his own research and expansion on the conspiracy theories, writing his own books on the subject, and creating a series of BBC Two documentaries in the 1970s about the mysteries of the Rennes-le-Chateau area. In response to a tip from De Sede, Lincoln claims he was also the one who "discovered" the Dossiers Secrets, a series of (planted) genealogies which appeared to further confirm the link with the line of Merovingians. The documents claimed that the Priory had been founded in 1099, and had founded the organization of the Knights Templar. [edit] Proof of the conspiracy Letters in existence dating from the 1960s written by Plantard, de Cherisey and de Sede to each other confirm that the three were engaging in an out-and-out confidence trick, describing schemes on how to combat criticisms of their various allegations and how they would make-up new allegations to try and keep the whole thing going. These letters (totalling over 100) are in the possession of French researcher Jean-Luc Chaumeil, who has also retained the original envelopes. Jean-Luc Chaumeil during the 1970s was part of the Priory of Sion cabal, and wrote books and articles about Plantard and the Priory of Sion before splitting from it during the late 1970s and exposing Plantard's past in French books. A letter later discovered at the Sub-Prefecture of St. Julien-en-Genevois also indicated that Plantard had a criminal conviction as a con man. [edit] The disposition of the "real" Priory The formally registered association was dissolved sometime after October 1956 but intermittently revived for different reasons by Plantard between 1962 and 1993, though in name and on paper only. The Priory of Sion is considered "dormant" by the Sub-Prefecture 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 are entitled to use its name in an official capacity. André Bonhomme played no part since 1956. He officially resigned in 1973 when he heard that Plantard was linking his name with the association, so as of last report, there is no one who is currently around who has official permission to use the name.

All Answers
Answer 1
aha
2006-07-13 03:38:38

Answer 2
mind your own bussiness
2006-07-13 03:39:35

Answer 3
yes...
2006-07-13 03:40:40

Answer 4
No. It was made up by a French fraud who admitted it. The book is fiction.
2006-07-13 03:41:50

Answer 5
yup! hunny
2006-07-13 03:41:52

Answer 6
I've watched about it on discovery channel... And i do believe it really existed.
2006-07-13 03:42:17

Answer 7
Define real.... There was one that was invented by two Frenchmen in the 20th century. Now whether or not their invention was based on anything more than imagination is a different question. Maybe you mean to ask...is there an organization called the Priory of Sion which has been around since the time of Christ and is tasked with protecting the holy bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdelene. And I don't know the answer to that question.
2006-07-13 03:43:27

Answer 8
It's a real hoax from some French guys back in the 50's. From Dan Brown's perspective, it's real because he didn't make it up. However, it doesn't go back to the time of Christ as it says in the Da Vinci Code. It's only about 50 years old, and it doesn't do anything. It's actually kind of a funny story. These French dudes decided it would be funny to convince people they were descended from the Merovingians, a French royal family from the middle ages. They didn't realize that the Merovingians claimed to be descended from Christ through Mary Magdalene. When other people made the connection and said "Hey, if you're a Merovingian, then you're a descendent of Christ", they realized that they had stumbled into blasphemy and backpedaled as fast as they could. This naturally made other conspiracy theorists believe it even more. Fact is, in family trees, they either explode or die out in a few generations. If Christ (or anyone alive 2000 years ago) has a descendant that's alive today, it's not just one or two people. It's half of Europe and the Middle East, and probably a fair chunk of the world population overall. They wouldn't need protecting and they wouldn't be secret. Consider how many people you might know who are related to George Washington, and he was only 200 years ago.
2006-07-13 03:46:00

Answer 9
no. it's created by a frenchman called plantard. d orignal one during d crusades dun exist. i dun even know if their knights of templar exist?!also,it's a figment of dan brown's imagination.
2006-07-13 04:53:35

Answer 10
There was no ancient priory of scion. Three Frenchmen started a group by that name in the 1950's. One claimed that he was descended from the early kings of France, and believed that he should be the lawful king of France (the other 2 later said they went along with it as a joke). Once theories used in The DaVinci Code became popular, he quickly distanced himself from the idea--he said he claimed to be a descendant of kings, not Jesus.
2006-07-13 06:21:41

Answer 11
The Alleged Priory If the claims had been proven to be true, they would have described the Priory of Sion as a secret society that was founded in the 11th century, to protect and preserve a secret involving the bloodline of Jesus Christ. The Priory allegedly created the medieval order of Knights Templar as its military arm, and had a series of Grand Masters which included such notable (and real) historical figures as Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci. The existence of the thousand-year-old Priory was supposedly "revealed" in the 1970s, via a series of documentaries and books by pseudohistory writers Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, such as in their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, which allegedly pieced together evidence from documents which had been found in the French National Library, as well as documents which were supposedly found in the late 1800s, hidden inside a pillar of a small church in southern France. Further attention came to the Priory when it was referred to as a factual society by the 2003 bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code. [edit] The Actual Priory The real Priory of Sion is an association that was founded in 1956, in the French town of Annemasse, as the beginning of a massive hoax. As with all associations, French law required the association to be registered with the government. It was registered with its Statutes at the Sub-Prefecture of Saint Julien-en-Genevois, in May 1956, and its registration was noted on 20 July 1956, in the Journal Officiel de la République Française. The founders and signatories are inscribed with their pseudonyms as Pierre Plantard (known as "Chyren"), André Bonhomme (known as "Stanis Bellas"), Jean Delaval, and Armand Defago. The purpose of the association according to its Statutes was entered as, "Études et entraide des membres" ("education and mutual aid of the members"). In practice, the originator of the association and its key protagonist was Pierre Plantard, its General Secretary, although its nominal head ("President") was André Bonhomme. The choice of the name, "Sion" was based on a popular local feature, a hill south of Annemasse in France, known as 'Mont Sion'.[2] The accompanying title, or subtitle to the name was, Chevalerie d'Institutions et Règles Catholiques d'Union Independante et Traditionaliste: this forms the acronym CIRCUIT and translates as "Knighthood of Catholic Rule and Institution and of Independent Traditionalist Union." The Statutes and Registration Documents of the Priory of Sion were deposited on 7 May 1956, while the first issue of its journal Circuit is dated 27 May 1956 (in total, twelve numbers of the journal appeared). Considering the political instability of the French Fourth Republic, the objectives of the journal were regarded with suspicion by the local authorities. It was indicated as a "Bulletin d'Information et Défense des Droits et de la Liberté des Foyers HLM" ("News Bulletin for the Defence of the Rights and the Freedom of Council Housing"). Indeed, some of the articles took a political position in the local Council elections. Others attacked and criticized property developers of Annemasse. It also opposed the gentrification of the area. The offices of the Priory of Sion and the journal were at Plantard's council flat. The articles of the Priory of Sion as indicated in its Statutes also desired the creation of a monastic order, but the activities of the Priory of Sion bore no resemblance whatsoever to the objectives as outlined in its Statutes. Article VII says that its members are expected, "to carry out good deeds, to help the Catholic Church, teach the truth, defend the weak and the oppressed". There is ample evidence that it had several members, as indicated by the numerous articles contained in its journal Circuit, written by a number of different people. Towards the end of 1956 the association had aims to forge links with the local Catholic Church of the area involving a school bus service run by both the Priory of Sion and the church of St Joseph in Annemasse. [edit] The Hoax Plantard hoped that the Priory of Sion would become an influential cryptopolitical irregular masonic lodge (similar to P2) dedicated to the restoration of chivalry and monarchy, which would promote Plantard's own claim to being a legitimate pretender to the throne of France. Between 1961 and 1984 Plantard contrived a mythical pedigree of the Priory of Sion claiming that it was the offshoot of the monastic order housed in the Abbey of Sion, which had been founded in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the First Crusade and later absorbed by the Jesuits in 1617. The mistake is often made that this Abbey of Sion was a "Priory of Sion", but there is a difference between an abbey and a priory. Calling his original 1956 group "Priory of Sion" undoubtedly gave Plantard the later idea to claim that his organization had been historically founded in Jerusalem during the Crusades. [citation needed] [edit] Forged documents Le Tresor Maudit de Rennes-le-Chateau, 1967In order to give credibility to the fabricated lineage and pedigree, Plantard and his friend Philippe de Cherisey needed to create "independent evidence". So during the 1960s, they deposited a series of forged documents, the so-called Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau or "Secret Dossiers of Henri Lobineau", at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, in Paris. Also in the 1960s, Plantard began writing a manuscript and had a series of "medieval parchments" forged by de Cherisey which contained encrypted messages that referred to the Priory of Sion. The story that they concocted claimed that Father Bérenger Saunière had supposedly discovered these seemingly ancient parchments inside of a pillar while renovating his church in Rennes-le-Château in 1891. The story and existence of the parchments was intended to prove Plantard's claims about the Priory of Sion being a medieval society. Plantard then enlisted the aid of author Gérard de Sède to write a book based on Plantard's manuscript and forged parchments, alleging that Sauniere had discovered a link to a hidden treasure. The 1967 book, entitled L'Or de Rennes (The Gold of Rennes) and Le Tresor Maudit de Rennes-le-Chateau (The Accursed Treasure of Rennes Castle), became a popular read in France. It included copies of the "found" documents (the originals were of course never produced), though it provided them without any kind of translation. [edit] Expansion of the story In 1969, English actor and science-fiction script-writer Henry Lincoln read Le Tresor Maudit, and became intrigued. He discovered one of the encrypted messages, which read A Dagobert II Roi et a Sion est ce tresor, et il est là mort. (Trans: "To King Dagobert II and to Sion does this treasure belong, and he is there dead."). This was an allusion to a treasure belonging to the Merovingian line of Frankish kings, the last one of which, Dagobert II, had been assassinated in the 7th century, thereby ending the dynasty. Lincoln continued to do his own research and expansion on the conspiracy theories, writing his own books on the subject, and creating a series of BBC Two documentaries in the 1970s about the mysteries of the Rennes-le-Chateau area. In response to a tip from De Sede, Lincoln claims he was also the one who "discovered" the Dossiers Secrets, a series of (planted) genealogies which appeared to further confirm the link with the line of Merovingians. The documents claimed that the Priory had been founded in 1099, and had founded the organization of the Knights Templar. [edit] Proof of the conspiracy Letters in existence dating from the 1960s written by Plantard, de Cherisey and de Sede to each other confirm that the three were engaging in an out-and-out confidence trick, describing schemes on how to combat criticisms of their various allegations and how they would make-up new allegations to try and keep the whole thing going. These letters (totalling over 100) are in the possession of French researcher Jean-Luc Chaumeil, who has also retained the original envelopes. Jean-Luc Chaumeil during the 1970s was part of the Priory of Sion cabal, and wrote books and articles about Plantard and the Priory of Sion before splitting from it during the late 1970s and exposing Plantard's past in French books. A letter later discovered at the Sub-Prefecture of St. Julien-en-Genevois also indicated that Plantard had a criminal conviction as a con man. [edit] The disposition of the "real" Priory The formally registered association was dissolved sometime after October 1956 but intermittently revived for different reasons by Plantard between 1962 and 1993, though in name and on paper only. The Priory of Sion is considered "dormant" by the Sub-Prefecture 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 are entitled to use its name in an official capacity. André Bonhomme played no part since 1956. He officially resigned in 1973 when he heard that Plantard was linking his name with the association, so as of last report, there is no one who is currently around who has official permission to use the name.
2006-07-13 09:29:38

Answer 12
It was real at one time.
2006-07-13 16:35:54