Jesus' descendants live in the South of France
Some argue that Jesus' family secretly emigrated to France, where they eventually formed the Merovingian dynasty of Kings. Their secrets are protected by the mysterious Priory of Sion.
Christianity
Conspiracy
Religion
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Context
Dan Brown's novel "The Davinci Code" names the Priory of Sion as a secret society that was formed in 1099 and was known as one of the oldest secret societies with members such as Leonardo Davinci and Victor Hugo over the years. The organization, according to the novel, was founded by a French king who tasked the Priory of Sion with protecting his family's secrets; this included protecting hidden documents. However, scholars have found evidence that suggest that the Priory of Sion is a hoax.
[1]
The Argument
Luke's Gospel (8:2) identifies Mary Magdalene as the leader of Jesus's group of female followers and was present Christ's crucifixtion. She also, according to John and Mark, was the first person to witness Christ's resurrection. The books "Holy Grail" and "Holy Blood" uses text from the Gospel of Mary, which portrays Mary Magdalene as Jesus's lover and that she was more respected and loved than Jesus's other female followers. The Gospel of Phillip reinforces the hypothesis of marriage through the symbolic imagery of the bridal chambers. Both books "Holy Grail" and "Holy Blood" suggest that Christ may have survived his crucifixition and that Mary Magdalene, who was also rumored to be pregnant at the time, fled to the south of France where she recieved protection within a Jewish Kingdom in Narbonne.
[2]
The Priory of Sion was started in the late 1890s by Father Sauniere in the south of France, which is where Mary Magdalene was rumored to have fled following Christ's crucifixtion. Father Sauniere either discovered proof of the marriage between Christ and Mary Magdalene or stumbled upon Mary Magdalene's tomb. Father Sauniere was a priest in a remote village known as Rennes-le-Chateau; a village similar to the places that were rumored to have harbored Christ's followers that fled there after his crucifixtion. The most important of these locations to the priest was the village of Saint-Maries-de-la-Meri, which was the rumored location of where Mary Magdalene had exiled herself.
[3]
Father Sauniere himself had garnered a lot of mystique amongst the locals as well. While he lived in an isolated French village, the priest seemed to have an unlimited amount of wealth to throw around to fix up both the village and the church as well as provide lavish entertainment for the villagers. This spending both made him a celebrity and endeared him to his parishoners. The stories about his wealth included late night trips where he would returned ladened down with gold. There were also rumors that the priest had discovered hidden scrolls under the altar of the church and that there was a hidden door that led to a secret room in the church. Father Sauniere had also written in his journal "DISCOVERY OF A TOMB". [3]
Counter arguments
There is no evidence that Father Sauniere ever found any valuable treasure. There is evidence, however, that he was charismatic enough to convince wealthy people to help with decorating his Church. He also collected lots of money from his parishioners for saying masses and prayers. Father Sauniere discovered a directory from a clergyman in 1899 that he used to contact other priests as well as monastaries and convents all over Europe. In exchange for these donations, Father Sauniere would say a special mass or prayer for whatever was needed from these benefactors. Father Sauniere was later investigated by Bishop Beausejour for selling masses; this investigation from 1901 to 1908 and discovered that the priest had placed ads all over France and Europe and that there was no way that he could have said all of the masses that he was paid for. This suggests that Father Sauniere had been responsible for a massive prayer-selling scheme that was the source of his mysterious wealth.
[4]
Premises
Rejecting the premises
References
- https://www.cesnur.org/2004/mi_davinci_en.htm
- https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-149462149/mary-magdalen-and-the-kings-of-france-susan-haskins
- https://www.literarytraveler.com/articles/dan_brown_france/
- https://medium.com/storiusmag/a-tiny-town-a-problematic-priest-and-a-massive-mystery-85f9837e0ed7