François-Bérenger Saunière was born on April 11, 1852, and died on January 22, 1917. He was a French Catholic priest who lived in the village of Rennes-le-Château in the Aude region. He became an important part in stories that people think are secret, which inspired books and documentaries, including The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail from 1982. These ideas later influenced Dan Brown’s popular book The Da Vinci Code, where a character named Jacques Saunière is based on the real priest.
Saunière worked in Rennes-le-Château from 1885 until 1909, when his bishop asked him to move to another village. He refused and then quit his position. From 1909 until his death in 1917, he was a priest who did not receive a salary from the church and was not assigned to a parish. He was suspended from the church because he refused to leave Rennes-le-Château. Starting in 1910, he held Mass at an altar he built in a special room at his home, Villa Bethania. His original gravestone from 1917 read, “priest of Rennes-le-Château 1885–1917.”
Early life
François Bérenger Saunière was born on April 11, 1852, in Montazels, in the Arrondissement of Limoux, which is part of the Aude region. He was the oldest of seven children, with three brothers (Alfred, Martial, and Joseph) and three sisters (Mathilde, Adeline, and Marie-Louise). His parents were Marguerite Hugues and Joseph Saunière (1823–1906), also called "cubié." Joseph Saunière was the mayor of Montazels (Aude), managed the local flour mill, and served as the steward of Marquis de Cazermajou's castle. Alfred became a priest; Joseph wanted to become a doctor but died at age 25. Saunière attended school at St. Louis in Limoux, went to a seminary in Carcassonne in 1874, and was ordained as a priest in June 1879.
Ministry
From July 16, 1879, to 1882, Saunière served as the vicar of Alet. From June 1882 to 1885, he worked as a priest in the deanery of the small village of Clat. He taught at the seminary in Narbonne but, because he was not well-behaved, he was assigned to another small village with about 300 people, Rennes-le-Château, which had a church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene.
For preaching sermons that opposed the French Republic during the October 1885 elections, Saunière was suspended by the French Minister of Religion. Between December 1, 1885, and July 1886, he taught again at the seminary in Narbonne. Because the villagers wanted him to return, the prefect of the Aude region allowed him to resume his duties. Between 1890 and 1891, he also said Mass on Sundays in Antugnac. Marie Dénarnaud, his maidservant, moved into the Presbytery at Rennes-le-Château with her family in 1890.
Claims that Bérenger Saunière had an unclear relationship with his maidservant, Marie Dénarnaud, are not supported by evidence. Saunière explained the rules for treating a maidservant:
- Show respect but avoid being too familiar.
- Do not allow her to discuss matters of his ministry.
- Avoid speaking to her about things that could be shared with other women.
- Use simple language and avoid trusting her age or religious devotion too easily.
- She should not enter his bedroom unless he is ill.
A key part of Saunière’s work in Rennes-le-Château was the installation and blessing of a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes on June 21, 1891. This event celebrated the First Holy Communion of 24 children from the parish and marked the end of spiritual exercises led by Reverend Father Ferrafiat, a missionary from the Family of Saint Vincent de Paul, who lived at Notre Dame de Marseille (a church in Limoux dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary).
A 'Visigothic pillar' served as a base for the statue, with the inscriptions "Mission 1891" and "Penitence! Penitence!" Its authenticity is debated. Saunière claimed it was one of two pillars that once supported the original church altar. A similar genuine Visigothic pillar is displayed in the museum of Narbonne. The original pillar supporting the statue was moved to the Saunière museum in 1993 due to erosion and replaced with a resin replica.
The presbytery was one of several projects Saunière undertook in the village. He renovated the inside and outside of the local church, following advice from architect Guiraud Cals in a report from 1853. A receipt dated June 5, 1887, shows the first renovations included re-flooring the church. In July 1887, a wealthy monarchist supporter, Mme Marie Cavailhé, donated a new altar worth 700 francs. New stained-glass windows costing 1,350 francs were installed, with Saunière paying in three installments—April 1897, April 1899, and January 1900.
In November 1896, Saunière hired the respected sculptor and painter Giscard of Toulouse (active since 1855) to decorate the church. Giscard added statues of saints, the Stations of the Cross, a baptismal font with a scene of John baptizing Jesus (with the inscription "Ecce Agnus Dei"), a bas-relief of Jesus giving the Sermon on the Mount above the confessional, and a figure of a Devil supporting a holy water stoup with angels making the sign of the cross (bearing the inscriptions "BS" and "Par Ce Signe Tu Le Vaincras" ["By this sign you will conquer him"]). Saunière selected these items from Giscard’s catalog. Although the 1896 catalog is missing and later editions omit the Devil statue, its design resembles a similar one on a dragon sculpture by Giscard. The total cost was 2,500 francs, paid in annual installments of 500 francs starting in December 1897.
After Saunière’s renovations and decorations, the church was re-dedicated on the feast of Pentecost in 1897 by his bishop, Monsignor Billard.
Between 1898 and 1905, Saunière built a large estate, purchasing several plots of land. This included the Renaissance-style Villa Bethania, the Tour Magdala (used as his personal library) connected to an orangery by a belvedere with rooms underneath, a garden with a pool and a monkey cage—all named after his maidservant, Marie Dénarnaud.
Ecclesiastical trials, punishment and suspension
Saunière’s work to repair his church and build large structures in his small village on a hill drew attention and caused complaints. These complaints were sent to the Bishopric of Carcassonne. In 1899, Saunière bought a list of priests and religious groups in France to ask for Mass requests. The bishop had warned Saunière about selling Masses and sent him two written warnings in May 1901. These warnings were repeated again in June 1903 and August 1904.
Monsignor Paul-Félix Beuvain de Beauséjour became the new Bishop of Carcassonne in 1902. In 1909, he moved Saunière to a village called Coustouge. Saunière refused the move and quit his position on January 28, 1909, becoming a free priest. On May 27, 1910, Monsignor Beauséjour started an official religious investigation and created a formal accusation against Saunière for selling Masses and accepting more money than he could perform Masses for.
Saunière had to attend a religious trial to answer these charges. He did not appear for the first hearing on July 16, 1910, or the second hearing on July 23, 1910, when he was sentenced in his absence. He was suspended for one month and told to return money he had earned from selling Masses. He also missed the third hearing on August 23, 1910, but attended the rescheduled hearing on November 5, 1910. At that hearing, he was ordered to stay in a monastery for ten days to do spiritual exercises for selling Masses and taking more money than he deserved. He completed this punishment at the monastery of Prouille.
On December 17, 1910, Saunière asked the Sacred Congregation of The Council in Rome to allow him to return to his position as priest in Rennes-le-Château. This request was shared with the Bishopric of Carcassonne. The bishop warned Saunière in 1911 not to perform religious ceremonies and published this warning in newspapers on February 3 and 9, 1911.
The bishopric demanded Saunière provide his financial records by March 2, 1911, in a letter dated February 18, 1911. A Commission of Enquiry was formed to examine his finances further.
On March 13, 1911, Saunière gave 61 invoices showing expenses for repairing his church and building his estate, totaling 36,250 francs. On March 25, 1911, he sent a letter explaining his income, listing donors who had given him money, claiming a total of 193,150 francs. In a letter dated July 14, 1911, he listed expenses for church repairs and his estate, claiming he had spent 193,050 francs, including 90,000 francs for a villa and 40,000 francs for a tower.
On October 4, the Commission of Enquiry reported that only about 36,000 francs of the 193,050 francs Saunière claimed to have spent could be proven. The report noted Saunière refused to cooperate with the investigation. Another hearing was scheduled for Saunière to provide his financial records for review.
Saunière did not attend the third hearing on November 21, 1911, and was sentenced in his absence on December 5, 1911, to three months of suspension. His return to his position depended on returning misused funds to their rightful owners according to church law, which Saunière could not do.
Later years
After his church trial, Saunière lived in poverty for the rest of his life. He sold religious medals and rosaries to wounded soldiers who were stationed in Campagne-les-Bains.
Any money he earned from selling Masses was used to support his appeal to Rome, which his lawyer, Abbé Jean-Eugène Huguet (a doctor of canon law), was working on. In May 1914, Saunière planned to build a summer house, but he stopped the project because he could not afford the 2,500 francs needed.
François Bérenger Saunière died on 22 January 1917. At the moment of his death, his suspension was lifted by Abbé Jean Rivière, who performed the last rites. His death certificate, dated 23 January 1917, was signed by Victor Rivière, the mayor of Rennes-le-Château. Saunière was buried on 24 January 1917. Marie Dénarnaud paid for his coffin on 12 June 1917.
In September 2004, the mayor of Rennes-le-Château removed Saunière’s body from the cemetery and reburied it in a concrete sarcophagus to protect it from grave robbers. Since then, the cemetery of Rennes-le-Château has been closed to the public.
Controversy
The controversy around Saunière originally focused on parchments he is said to have found hidden in the old altar of his church, which were connected to the treasure of Blanche of Castile, a possible source of his income.
After opening his restaurant in Rennes-le-Château in the mid-1950s, Noël Corbu shared a story that in 1891, Saunière discovered parchments inside a hollow pillar beneath his altar. These parchments were linked to the treasure of Blanche of Castile, which, according to historical records, included 28,500,000 gold pieces. This treasure was collected by Blanche to pay the ransom of Saint Louis, who was captured by the Egyptians during the Seventh Crusade. Blanche had hidden the extra gold at Rennes-le-Château. Saunière, however, found only part of the treasure, and more investigation was needed.
Corbu’s story became famous through newspaper articles and eventually caught the attention of Pierre Plantard. This inspired the 1967 book L'Or de Rennes by Gérard de Sède, which included Plantard’s secret help.
The book included details about a made-up secret society called the Priory of Sion, along with "parchments" that suggested the survival of the Merovingian line of Frankish kings, which included Dagobert II. Plantard claimed to be descended from this king. Later, Plantard and de Sède had a disagreement over money when the book was published in 1967. Plantard’s friend, Philippe de Chérisey, admitted that the parchments were fake.
In 1969, an English writer named Henry Lincoln read the paperback version of L'Or de Rennes and created three BBC documentaries between 1972 and 1979 about the topic. Lincoln was shown a fake document called "Les Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau" in a Paris library. Later, Lincoln worked with two other authors to write the 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (published in the U.S. as Holy Blood, Holy Grail). These authors unknowingly relied on fake documents and claimed the Priory of Sion had existed. The book suggested that Saunière may have found evidence that Jesus of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene were married and had children who became the Merovingian dynasty. The authors also said Saunière might have had financial dealings with a man they claimed was Archduke Johann Salvator of Austria. They suggested Saunière could have been a representative of the Priory of Sion, and his income might have come from the Vatican, which could have been involved in political blackmail by the Priory and the Habsburgs. The book became a worldwide bestseller and inspired Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code.
Over the past few decades, many theories about Saunière have been created, with different authors adding details about his activities and discoveries during the 1887 renovations of his church.
The first scholarly book about Saunière was written by René Descadeillas, a local historian and librarian in Carcassonne. He studied Saunière’s financial records, personal letters, and church trial documents. In his 1974 book Mythologie du trésor de Rennes: histoire véritable de l'abbé Saunière, curé de Rennes-le-Château, Descadeillas concluded that there was no treasure or mystery, and Saunière’s wealth came from selling Masses and accepting donations. This view was also supported by Abbé Bruno de Monts, a local priest and author, and other French writers like Jean-Jacques Bedu and David Rossoni.
In 2005, a Channel 4 documentary titled The Real Da Vinci Code, hosted by Tony Robinson, reached the same conclusion. A 2006 CBS News documentary, Priory of Sion, presented by Ed Bradley, stated: "The source of the wealth of the priest of Rennes-le-Château was not some ancient mysterious treasure, but good old fashioned fraud."
According to church rules, priests are usually allowed to say one Mass per day, with permission to say more on special days like Sundays or feast days. However, they may only accept payment for one Mass each day. Saunière, however, asked people to send money via mail to say thousands of Masses, charging one franc per Mass. Some people sent payments for hundreds of Masses, but Saunière never actually performed them. The reason why people would ask a poor priest in a rural church to say Masses has not been fully explored.
In 1976, church historian Raymond Darricau reviewed Descadeillas’ book Mythologie du trésor de Rennes and noted: "At first, there was nothing: Saunière was just a trickster. Now, however, we see a real mystical idea: Rennes-le-Château has become the 'mystical capital' of the Languedoc." He also said, "The way the Rennes-le-Château myth has grown to its current status is certainly worth studying and could provide material for a discussion on how stories like this begin."
Details of expenditure
Surviving receipts and account books that still exist from Saunière, kept safe by his servant Marie Dénarnaud and later inherited by Noël Corbu, show that the church renovation, including work on the presbytery and cemetery, cost 11,605 francs over ten years from 1887 to 1897. Due to inflation, this amount is equal to about 4.5 million Euros in 2019. The construction of Saunière's estate, which included the Tour Magdala and Villa Bethania, as well as land purchases, between 1898 and 1905 cost 26,417 francs, or more than 10 million Euros today.