About the Model known as
"Sauniere's Model"
Picture caption: The model, general view
Copyright - Private collection
Having acquired an indepth knowledge of the books of correspondence of Abbé Saunière, many people often ask me if there exists amongst these documents anything which would confirm or deny the thesis of the so-called “Saunière’s Model”, on which a large part of Mr André Douzet’s research about Rennes le Château [1] relies.
Picture caption: The label on the model
Copyright - Private collection
REVIEW OF THE FACTS
It was at the conference which he gave
in the grounds of Saunière’s house at Rennes le Château in August
1995, that Mr Douzet presented this model and his first work on it.
He claimed to have found the object at the home of a metal-founder,
together with several letters in Saunière’s own hand. Although the
model clearly illustrates holy sites such as they were shown at the
beginning of our [Christian] era, he presented this model more or
less as a “Treasure map of Rennes le Chateau” which would have been
left behind by the priest at the end of his life.
There were
numerous speakers, of whom M. Boumendil, M. Tappa and M. Feral
launched a real scandal, accusing the author of being a forger and,
in short, of producing convincing elements to prop up his statements.
A meeting was arranged for the presentation of certain items but Mr
Douzet did not appear at this meeting and did not find it convenient
to arrange a new meeting to clear the serious accusations brought
against him [2].
The matter seemed therefore to be agreed for the
followers of Rennes le Chateau, all the more so when Patrick Mensior
succeeded in proving that the so-called model, if it really did date
from the 1900’s, had nothing to do with Rennes le Château and that
it could not have been ordered by Abbé Saunière (see the section of
the conclusion in his article published by the “Amis de
l’Insolite”). To come to this conclusion he relied on elements of
correspondence known at the time, namely the correpondence of
1915-1917, published by Pierre Jarnac [3].
In comparison, through a
completely personal interpretation, Mr Douzet recognised, in the
reversed relief of a mould of the so-called model, a region closer
to his home [Durban-Corbières] and continued his work in the area of
Périllos (in the Pyrénées Orientales). He recently created an
association [according to the French law of 1901] in order to
promote this research, amongst other activities. To this day Mr
Douzet has never produced the documents requested which would be
able to clear the serious doubts which overshadow the sincerity of
his research.
Picture caption: The model seen from above
Copyright - Private collection
ABBE SAUNIERE’S FILES
Since the annoucement of the
discovery of the files of correspondance and financial accounts
of Abbé Saunière, many people have asked if there was any
mention of the famous letters which were supposed to have been
exchanged between Abbé Saunière and the designer of the model.
From the beginning, Mr Douzet has stated that he preferred not
to make these letters available because they contained
information which he wanted to keep to himself; I therefore
asked him to inform me of the dates of the letters, to see
whether they were recorded in the priest’s files.
This solution
would be advantageous because it would not require him to
produce the documents, just for him to provide the details of
their dates, and if the information was confirmed, he would no
longer be the target of the accusations which had followed him
for more than 10 years.
Therefore, with methods which to me have
seemed to be delaying tactics (in particular his tendancy to
respond with incredibly convoluted answers to simple questions
which would normally only require a Yes or a No), and in spite
of the formal promise which he had made to me in public, Mr
Douzet did not finally wish to provide me with these dates.
Since then I have completed my study of Abbé Saunière’s files
and I can state that I have not found a trace of any element
which would be able to confirm the M.Douzet’s statements.
In
relation to the accounts books:
* There exists no invoice relating to
the supposed model.
* There exists no invoice for the
measuring tools or optical tools such as those described by Mr
Douzet, which Abbé Saunière would have needed in order to create the
topographic model.
* There exists no
invoice for the hire of a carriage or for a property rental in Lyon,
in particular in the Rue de Macchabées.
* There exists no
trace of an invoice for a voyage to Lyon, Durban-Corbières
or Périllos.
In relation to the files of
correspondance:
* There exists no trace of the letters
cited by Mr Douzet relating to a supposed topographic model.
* There exists no trace of the journeys
to Lyon which Abbé Saunière is alleged to have made, although his
journeys to other destinations are often very clear.
* There exists no trace of his supposed
journeys to Durban-Corbières or to Périllos, nor the maintenance of
a continued connection of any kind with this place.
* There exists no trace of an order for
optical or measuring equipment which Abbé Saunière would have needed
for the creation of his topographic model.
* There exists no trace of an order for
a carriage or for accomodation rental in Lyon, especially on the Rue
de Macchabées.
Additionally, I have not
found any link between Bérenger Saunière and the real people who
ordered this model, which had originally an educational purpose
and which had been created in reality in many tens of examples
at that time.
To the anticipated objection that, as these
matters were secret, Abbé Saunière would not have mentioned them
in his notebooks, I reply that from his trial, Abbé Saunière
denied having kept such notebooks and that this had worked
against him during his sentencing. As a result, that which the
priest wanted to hide from the inquisitors of the time is more
than likely written in his notebooks
.
One of the other examples of the model such as used in Jerusalem for its educational purpose
Copyright - Private collection
