This is the account of arch-sceptic Paul Smith [not his real name, another hiding behind a facade] regarding how he got in to the Rennes-le-Chateau 'mystery'. It is from his very old website, back in 2006, documented via the Way Back Machine [described on their web page as thus; The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, people with print disabilities, and the general public. Our mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge.We began in 1996 by archiving the Internet itself, a medium that was just beginning to grow in use. Like newspapers, the content published on the web was ephemeral - but unlike newspapers, no one was saving it. Today we have 28+ years of web history accessible through the Wayback Machine and we work with 1,200+ library and other partners through our Archive-It program to identify important web pages].
Background Information
I first came across the subject matter of Rennes-le-Château in 1979, after watching one of Henry Lincoln’s documentaries. It was also during the late 1970s that I developed an interest in researching Christian origins, which touched upon matters like the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Texts and the Gnostics, the latter sect being similar to the mediaeval dualist sect the Cathars, featured on Lincoln’s documentary – which was the main reason behind my watching it.I had to confine myself entirely upon English material relating to the subject matter of Rennes-le-Château between 1979-1982, believing this to be wholly trustworthy and totally devoid of any mistakes relating to Bérenger Saunière and to Pierre Plantard.However, when ‘The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail’ was published in 1982 I experienced disappointment: I immediately recognised that the so-called researches on the New Testament were very much a 'rush job' and that the authors did not even know some of the basic facts relating to Christianity (all of this was documented by the critics in 1982 at the time of its publication, and by 'critics' I am not just referring here to the academic establishment).
During the course of my researches into Rennes-le-Château between 1979-1982 I met the acquaintance of two supporters of Henry Lincoln, one of whom suggested that it would be a good idea to meet Jean-Luc Chaumeil, a French researcher who was considered to be a spokesman of Pierre Plantard. It seemed like a good idea after reading ‘The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail’ – "was this what the Priory of Sion and Rennes-le-Château was really all about?" I kept asking myself…I first met Jean-Luc Chaumeil in Paris in September 1982 – and the meeting was an eye-opener! There he showed me a lot of the evidence demonstrating that the Priory of Sion was a hoax, that the parchments as allegedly discovered by Saunière were really Philippe de Chèrisey fakes, and that Plantard was an outright charlatan. Not only this, but Chaumeil had actually informed Henry Lincoln about all of this prior to the publication of ‘The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail’. Jean-Luc Chaumeil was a very disappointed man.
My French contact had become established - I soon got to know about the various French books on this subject-matter by authors like René Descadeillas and Jacques Rivière: all of which were mainly based on primary source material - I spotted that these authors let the facts speak for themselves and that theories were minimal in their scheme of things. I was highly impressed by this approach.The French material gives a totally different account of the activities of Bérenger Saunière, and is far more critical of the part played by Pierre Plantard and his Priory of Sion.
Consequently, I decided to tabulate and to collate all the facts together to some of the subject matters found in 'The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail' - favourites that included Rennes-le-Château, the Priory of Sion, Christianity, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Freemasonry. I realised that the best way of doing this was by way of Chronological framework, because by doing so the evolution and development of the various subject matters was also produced in the process. So the idea behind my chronologies was born - they are shorthand information databases based upon facts devoid of theories - just like the best French books on Rennes-le-Château that most of the English-speaking world is not aware of.
Paul Smith.