The Prieuré de Sion, which means "Priory of Sion" in English, was a group created in France in 1956 by a man named Pierre Plantard. He started the group to try to make a new type of knightly organization, but it was not real. In the 1960s, Plantard claimed that his group was connected to a secret society started by a medieval knight named Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099. He said this society was linked to a real monastery called the Abbey of Our Lady of Mount Zion. Plantard also said his group was part of a long plan to help a hidden royal family, the Merovingians, gain power in France and Europe. He added that he believed himself to be a special king predicted by a famous prophet named Nostradamus.

Plantard’s stories were later combined with ideas about a hidden bloodline of Jesus by authors of a book called The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, published in 1982. This book influenced a novel by Dan Brown called The Da Vinci Code, released in 2003.

From the late 1960s to the 1980s, people paid attention to the stories about the Prieuré de Sion. However, it was later shown that the group was a hoax, or a fake story, created by Plantard to gain influence and wealth. Evidence that supposedly proved the group existed before 1956, like documents called the "Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau," was found to be fake. Plantard later said these documents were made by someone else named Philippe Toscan du Plantier, who had been arrested for using a drug called LSD.

Although experts and reporters have proven that the Prieuré de Sion was a fake story, some people still believe it was a real secret group that existed for many years. A few researchers outside of schools claim, based on unconfirmed reports, that the group might still be active today. Some people worry that books, websites, and movies inspired by the hoax spread false ideas and support harmful beliefs, such as those of the far right.

History

The fraternal organization was founded in the town of Annemasse, Haute-Savoie, in eastern France in 1956. According to the 1901 French law of Associations, the Priory of Sion needed to be registered with the government. The registration documents and statutes were dated May 7, 1956. However, the actual registration occurred at the subprefecture of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois on June 25, 1956. This registration was officially recorded in the Journal Officiel de la République Française on July 20, 1956. The headquarters of the Priory of Sion and its journal, Circuit, were located in an apartment owned by Pierre Plantard, which was part of a newly built social housing block called Sous-Cassan, constructed in 1956.

The founders and signatories of the organization included Pierre Plantard, also known as "Chyren," and André Bonhomme, also known as "Stanis Bellas." Bonhomme served as the President, while Plantard was the Secretary General. The registration documents also listed Jean Deleaval as the Vice-President and Armand Defago as the Treasurer. The name "Sion" was chosen because of a local hill called Mont Sion, located south of Annemasse, where the founders planned to create a spiritual retreat center. The full name of the organization was "Chevalerie d'Institutions et Règles Catholiques d'Union Indépendante et Traditionaliste," which forms the acronym CIRCUIT. This title translates to "Chivalry of Catholic Rules and Institutions of Independent and Traditionalist Union" in English.

The statutes of the Priory of Sion stated that its purpose was to encourage members to study and support one another. The articles of the association aimed to establish a Traditionalist Catholic chivalric order. Article 7 of the statutes required members to perform good deeds, assist the Roman Catholic Church, teach the truth, and protect the weak and oppressed. By the end of 1956, the organization planned to collaborate with the local Catholic Church of Annemasse, including a joint school bus service with the church of Saint-Joseph.

Plantard was described as the President of the Tenants' Association of Annemasse in the journal Circuit. However, the activities of the Priory of Sion did not match its stated goals. Circuit, the official journal, focused on advocating for affordable housing rights rather than promoting chivalric charitable work. The first issue of Circuit was published on May 27, 1956, and a total of twelve issues were released. Some articles addressed local political issues, such as council elections, and criticized real-estate developers in Annemasse.

A letter from Léon Guersillon, the Mayor of Annemasse in 1956, noted that Plantard had been sentenced to six months in prison in 1953 for fraud. The officially registered association was dissolved sometime after October 1956 but was occasionally revived by Plantard between 1961 and 1993, though it operated only in name and on paper. The subprefecture considers the Priory of Sion dormant because it has not conducted any activities since 1956. Under French law, any later references to the Priory of Sion are not legally connected to the 1956 organization, and only the original signatories had the right to use its name officially. André Bonhomme left the association after 1956 and formally resigned in 1973 after learning that Plantard was associating his name with the group. Since Plantard’s death in 2000, no one alive is currently authorized to use the name of the Priory of Sion officially.

Myth

Plantard aimed to make the Priory of Sion appear as a respected secret Christian chivalric group. Members were supposed to be influential people in finance, politics, and philosophy who supported the idea of placing the "Great Monarch," a figure predicted by Nostradamus, on the throne of France. Plantard used the name "Chyren," which was based on an anagram of Nostradamus's name for this prophesied leader.

From 1961 to 1984, Plantard created a fake history for the Priory of Sion. He claimed it was a branch of a real Catholic religious group that had been established in the Abbey of Our Lady of Mount Zion during the First Crusade in 1099. This group was later absorbed by the Jesuits in 1617. It is important to note that an abbey and a priory are different. Plantard may have chosen the name "Priory of Sion" in 1956 to later suggest that his group had ancient roots tied to the medieval knight Godfrey of Bouillon, who was associated with Mount Zion near Jerusalem.

Plantard was inspired by a 1960 magazine article to focus his personal family claims on the Merovingian king Dagobert II, who was killed in the 7th century. He also adopted the phrase "Et in Arcadia ego…" as the motto for both his family and the Priory of Sion. This phrase appears in paintings by Nicolas Poussin. Plantard linked it to a tomb near Rennes-le-Château, which he claimed symbolized the Merovingian legacy and the idea that Dagobert II would return as a royal heir.

To make his fake history seem real, Plantard and his friend Philippe de Chérisey created false documents. In the 1960s, they placed a set of forged papers titled "Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau" in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. They also had de Chérisey create two medieval-style parchments with encrypted messages about the Priory of Sion.

They used earlier false claims by Noël Corbu, who said a priest named Bérenger Saunière had found ancient parchments in a church in Rennes-le-Château in 1891. Inspired by media interest in the Dead Sea Scrolls, they hoped their fake parchments would attract attention. Their goal was to claim the Priory of Sion was a medieval secret society that influenced European esoteric traditions.

Plantard asked author Gérard de Sède to write a book based on his fake documents and manuscripts. The 1967 book, L'or de Rennes, claimed Saunière had discovered a hidden treasure. It included copies of the forged parchments, though the hidden texts were not decoded. Some Latin texts in the parchments were copied from books published in 1889 and 1895, which made it clear the documents were not centuries old as claimed.

In 1969, Henry Lincoln, an English writer, read Le Trésor Maudit and found an encrypted message in the parchments. The message mentioned Dagobert II and a treasure, possibly linked to a tomb believed to be connected to a son of the king. Lincoln later wrote books and produced BBC documentaries about the mysteries of Rennes-le-Château. He also claimed to have discovered the "Dossiers Secrets," which linked the Priory of Sion to the Merovingian bloodline and the Knights Templar.

Letters from the 1960s between Plantard, de Chérisey, and de Sède show they were working together on a hoax. They planned ways to defend their claims and create new stories to keep the deception going. These letters, along with original envelopes, are now in the possession of researcher Jean-Luc Chaumeil. A letter found in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois also mentioned Plantard had a criminal record as a fraudster.

As Lincoln's documentaries gained popularity, he collaborated with Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. They used the forged "Dossiers Secrets" from the Bibliothèque nationale de France to write The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail in 1982. This book presented the Priory of Sion as a secret society with a long history, claiming it created the Knights Templar and aimed to restore the Merovingian dynasty. The authors used the documents to suggest the Priory protected descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, tracing their lineage back to King David.

Alleged Grand Masters

The idea of the Priory of Sion first appeared in the 1960s. It was said to be led by a "Nautonnier," a French word meaning "navigator," which the group used as a special term for "Grand Master." A list of Grand Masters was created from a book called Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau, written by Pierre Plantard under the name "Philippe Toscan du Plantier" in 1967. All the people named on this list had died before 1967. Most of them also appear on lists of claimed "Imperators" (supreme leaders) and "distinguished members" of the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, a group active in France during that time. Many of these individuals were known for their interest in the occult or heresy.

According to Dossiers Secrets, the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar shared the same Grand Master until a split happened during an event called the "Cutting of the elm" in 1188. After this, the Priory of Sion’s Grand Masters were listed as:

• Jean de Gisors (1188–1220)
• 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 until her death.
• Guillaume de Gisors (1266–1307)
• Edouard de Bar (1307–1336)
• Jeanne de Bar (1336–1351)
• Jean de Saint-Clair (1351–1366)
• Blanche d'Évreux (1366–1398)
• Nicolas Flamel (1398–1418)
• René d'Anjou (1418–1480)
• Iolande de Bar (1480–1483)
• Sandro Botticelli (1483–1510)
• Leonardo da Vinci (1510–1519)
• Connétable de Bourbon (1519–1527)
• Ferrante I Gonzaga (1527–1575)
• Ludovico Gonzaga (1575–1595)
• Robert Fludd (1595–1637)
• J. Valentin Andrea (1637–1654)
• Robert Boyle (1654–1691)
• Isaac Newton (1691–1727)
• Charles Radclyffe (1727–1746)
• Charles de Lorraine (1746–1780)
• Maximilian de Lorraine (1780–1801)
• Charles Nodier (1801–1844)
• Victor Hugo (1844–1885)
• Claude Debussy (1885–1918)
• Jean Cocteau (1918–1963)

A later document, Le Cercle d'Ulysse, claimed that François Ducaud-Bourget, a Catholic priest who worked with Plantard during World War II, became the Grand Master after Cocteau’s death. Plantard himself was later named the next Grand Master.

In the late 1980s, Pierre Plantard stopped using Dossiers Secrets and changed the Priory of Sion’s history. He removed the link to the Knights Templar but kept the connection to Godfrey of Bouillon. Plantard later tried to return to prominence. A new list in Vaincre No. 3, September 1989, included the names of Roger-Patrice Pelat (who had died) and his son, Thomas Plantard de Saint-Clair:

• Jean-Tim Negri d'Albes (1681–1703)
• François d'Hautpoul (1703–1726)
• André-Hercule de Fleury (1726–1766)
• Charles de Lorraine (1766–1780)
• Maximilian de Lorraine (1780–1801)
• Charles Nodier (1801–1844)
• Victor Hugo (1844–1885)
• Claude Debussy (1885–1918)
• Jean Cocteau (1918–1963)
• François Balphangon (1963–1969)
• John Drick (1969–1981)
• Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair (1981)
• Philippe de Chérisey (1984–1985)
• Roger-Patrice Pelat (1985–1989)
• Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair (1989)
• Thomas Plantard de Saint-Clair (1989)