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Abbé Bérenger SaunièreBut what about Abbé Bérenger Saunière? Was he really a rich man? Far from that. François-Bérenger Saunière was born April 11th, 1852 in Montazel, a village close to Rennes-Le-Château. He was one of a sharecropper´s brood of seven children. Saunière made his way through the seminary at Narbonne and became a priest in June 1879. He served for three years and then was made Professor. In 1885, against the background of a severe argument between the French State and the Catholic Church, Saunière´s lucky star seemed to fail him. He was described as a militant reactionary, and when he started to preach against the Republic, he received a penal displacement to Rennes-Le-Château, a village of not more than two hundred inhabitants. He was also deprived of all income for the following six months. Saunière arrived at Rennes-Le-Château on June 1st, 1885 and moved into the vicarage where Marie Dénarnaud acted as his housekeeper. Saunière was undoubtedly displeased by the political situation, his own personal situation, and also that of his fold. He started to refurbish "his" church - Sainte Marie-Madeleine - which was in a shabby condition - in 1886, financed by some bounties. Not least due to lack of funds, the renovation was a long haul of at least ten years. Presumably shortly after his arrival in Rennes-Le-Château, he also started to better his personal economic situation by offering "black masses". At the time, masses for the benefit of "sinners" were banned by the church and funerals for suicides, whores and children without "legal" paternity were refused. Saunière soon learned that the relatives of such sinners were grateful for his services, both in their thanks to him and in their monetary contributions. However, this little business of his was discovered in about 1908 when his bishop asked him to disclose his accounting books. Saunière resigned on February 1st, 1909 and was accused of traffic of mass. In 1914, Pope Benedict XV took office. This Pope was known for his liberality and tolerance, and so Saunière appealed and was granted a pardon. He returned to Rennes-Le-Château as its parish priest once again. In January 1917, François-Bérenger Saunière was attacked and severely injured by an unknown burglar. He passed away at 5 a.m. on January 22nd, 1917 at the age of 64 - a poor man. He would have been definitely unknown and forgotten by now if he had not been brought to the center of the story which Noel Corbu made up in 1955, and which continued to grow to monstrous proportions some years later...
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