226:, the surplus of which she had hidden at Rennes-le-Château. Saunière had only found one part of it, so it was necessary to continue his investigations. Corbu also claimed Saunière had in 1892 discovered "parchments" whilst renovating his church "written in a mixture of French and Latin, which at first glance could be discerned passages from the Gospels". It has been noted by critics however that Saunière began renovating his church in 1886, not 1892, and that "there was no evidence that these parchments had ever existed". Corbu claimed that Marie Dénarnaud would confide a secret to him before she died, saying "Pray do not worry yourself, Monsieur Corbu. You shall have more money than you will be able to spend!"
505:"A real estate transaction, popular in France, in which homeowners sell their property to a buyer for an amount of cash equivalent to a down payment in addition to a lifetime of monthly payments. Under this arrangement, the homeowner remains in the home until death, at which point the buyer takes possession".
147:, Corbu met his future wife, Henriette Coll, ten years his senior and a native of the town who was then living at 16, rue J. Tastu, where she ran her business of selling poultry, eggs and cheese. The couple married on 21 January 1935. In the following years, Corbu set up a pasta factory which he named
291:
in 1962, dropping all references to
Blanche of Castile and claiming that Saunière's alleged treasure discovery relied upon two alleged inscriptions discovered in 1928: one on a gravestone in the cemetery and another on a stone found on farmland property close to Rennes-le-Château (Corbu alleged both
400:
While the local
Municipal council superficially accepts the legend of the treasure of Rennes-le-Château because it acts as a tourist magnet attracting substantial financial revenue (for example, endorsing DVDs that publicise the legend), the legend is not treated seriously by French archaeology
206:
1955 Corbu turned the Villa
Bethania into a Hotel (called L'hôtel de la Tour) and opened a restaurant located underneath the belvedere that connects the Tour Magdala to the Orangery (Corbu installed the windows). Later during the 1990s, the Villa Bethania was turned into a hotel again.
183:
dated 22 July 1946, she named Corbu and his wife her sole legatees. Marie Dénarnaud could not afford to keep up her estate, which was in need of repairs and she had run into serious debts (that were settled by Noël Corbu upon purchase). The property comprised the
174:
Through the intermediary of his children's school teacher (once Marie Dénarnaud's lodger), Corbu found out that Marie Dénarnaud was selling her estate in Rennes-le-Château. After two years of hesitation, Marie Dénarnaud finally agreed to sell her property
296:
published during the 1970s (not translated into
English), Robert Charroux added the material given in the 1962 radio interview, but also retained parts of the original chapter on Rennes-le-Château that mentioned Blanche of Castile.
360:
was hit by a truck who had failed to yield the right-of-way. Corbu who was not in the driving seat and not wearing his seat belt, was killed instantly, the driver suffered only minor injuries. Corbu was interred in a
256:
Germaine Goyard, joined Corbu in 1958 to look for the treasure, and thus began the extensive accumulation of pilgrimages to the site by many various people from all over France, that on 28 July 1965 forced the local
152:
392:
re-opened on 1 March 2009, the story of Bérenger Saunière and the history of Rennes-le-Château was presented in four different languages. The museum was re-opened and re-furbished more recently in 2016 and called
332:(as well as faking "The Cros Report") in his manuscript "Stone and Paper". The text of the document attributed to "Antoine L'Ermite" was modelled on Charroux's account found in his book,
128:
163:
It was soon afterwards that Corbu decided to send his two children, his daughter Claire and her younger brother, to a more remote and less accessible place, to the village of
218:, and which 'according to the archives' consisted of 28,500,000 gold pieces. This was the treasure of the French crown assembled by Blanche de Castile to pay the ransom of
553:("With one blow of the pick-axe in a pillar of the main altar Abbé Saunière uncovered the treasure of Blanche de Castile"), in La Dépêche du Midi 12, 13, 14 January 1956.
405:). For example, when the then village mayor gave the go-ahead to excavate the Tour Magdala in 2003 he was subsequently threatened with legal action by the local body of
407:
269:
365:
alongside his wife (who died in 1966) in the cemetery of Rennes-le-Château. The estate has been the property of the local
Municipal council since 2000.
880:
853:
785:
704:
304:, commonly called "The Cros Report" (one of them is said to have originated on Corbu's typewriter, the other is attributed to René Chesa).
801:
La DRAC a porté plainte contre le Maire de Rennes-le-Château pour 'Fouilles illicites" suite aux fouilles entreprises sous la Tour
Magdala
244:(that he founded in 1951), scanned the village of Rennes-le-Château and its church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene for treasure using a
508:
302:
Recherches de Mons. L'Ingenieur en chef Ernest Cros; entreprises dans la Haute Vallée de l'Aude, surtout durant les années 1920 à 1943
868:
845:
837:
751:
631:
597:
432:
292:"artifacts" were discovered by a retired amateur archaeologist, Ernest Cros, who died in 1946). In the revised edition of his book
120:
776:
See for example, Christiane Amiel, "L’abîme au trésor, ou l’or fantôme de Rennes-le-Château" in, Claudie
Voisenat (editor),
427:(1943), Imprimerie du Midi, 14 rue de la loge, Perpignan. Facsimile reprint, Paris: Les Éditions de l'Oeil du Sphinx, 2005.
916:
647:(Mémoires de la Société des Arts et des Sciences de Carcassonne, Années 1971-1972, 4me série, Tome VII, 2me partie; 1974).
911:
402:
151:
after his eldest child, his daughter Claire, situated at route d'Elne, Perpignan. By the end of 1942, Perpignan became
106:
906:
780:, pages 61–86 (Ethnologie de la France, Number 22, Paris: Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, 2008).
127:. Corbu had an elder brother, ten years his senior named Charles-Pierre Corbu, an airline pilot employed by the
551:
D'un coup de pioche dans un pilier du maître-autel, l'abbé Saunière met à jour le trésor de
Blanche de Castille
345:
211:
813:
372:
of the church of Rennes-le-Château, when Bérenger Saunière was the local priest), first published their book
455:
321:
312:
Noël Corbu's account of the discovery of the parchments by Father Saunière was later quoted in the document
90:
229:
Corbu provided a tape-recording of his story for his guests, a transcript of which was deposited in the
193:
376:
in 1985, reproducing a selection of archives relating to Bérenger Saunière, and in May 1989 opened the
316:(1966) attributed to "Antoine L'Ermite", that for "stylistic reasons suggest that this was written by
202:
When Marie Dénarnaud died in 1953, Corbu inherited her archives relating to Bérenger Saunière. During
115:
Rousseau), the granddaughter of François-de-Sales-Narcisse
Rousseau (1810-1866), an attorney based in
901:
896:
450:
344:
Noël Corbu sold the Saunière estate in 1964 to Henri
Buthion (1924–2002) and moved to the Château of
325:
86:
744:
Rennes-le-Château – Gisors – Le Testament du Prieuré de Sion, Le Crépuscule d’une Ténébreuse Affaire
411:(or DRAC) for doing so without gaining prior official permission and therefore breaching the French
362:
60:
Businessman, author, restaurateur, publicist of the alleged treasure of Rennes-le-Château 1955-1964
214:
serialised an interview with Corbu in who claimed that Father Saunière discovered the treasure of
219:
215:
143:
at the Embassy there, before obtaining the degree of Doctor of Science in Paris. While living in
136:
94:
695:
The documents are reproduced in the revised edition of Claire Corbu and Antoine Captier's book,
645:
Mythologie du Trésor de Rennes: Histoire Veritable de L'Abbé Saunière, Curé de Rennes-Le-Château
116:
368:
Noël Corbu's daughter Claire Corbu with her husband Antoine Captier (whose grandfather was the
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These references to inscriptions by Corbu inspired two documents of unknown provenance called
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883:. Municipal council of Rennes-le-Château website endorsing the legend of Bérenger Saunière.
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512:
324:". Philippe de Chérisey confessed to having forged the famous parchments that appeared in
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139:, on 10 December 1927. The young Noël Corbu lived in Morocco due to his father being an
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In 1950 Corbu returned to Morocco hoping to set up a sugar refinery, without success.
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861:
L'histoire rêvée de Rennes-le-Château: Eclairages sur un récit collectif contemporain
240:
to develop an active interest and in 1958, with his wife Yvette and other members of
89:
who, between 1955 and 1962 circulated the story that the 19th-century French priest
369:
284:
78:
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566:, p.220 (Frederick Muller Limited, 1966; English translation by Gloria Cantù).
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123:, had been forced to flee into exile into Belgium to escape deportation to
135:, during a test flight of a commercial aircraft carrying no passengers at
349:
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673:, Number 2, pages 22-41, 2005 (privately published by Patrick Mensior).
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124:
592:, p.112 (Sutton Publishing Limited, revised paperback edition, 2005,
262:
203:
82:
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Corbu then changed his story about Saunière on an interview for the
622:
Archives départmentales, côte 2J248; Bill Putnam, John Edwin Wood,
767:(Editions Bélisane, 1985 reprinted in 2000, revised edition 2012).
233:, Carcassonne on 14 June 1962 by Maurice Tous of Alet-les-Bains.
280:("The Wheel Turns"), that cast Noël Corbu as Father Saunière.
97:. Corbu changed his story about Saunière in 1962 (see below).
252:-by-pendulum enthusiast and hypnotist Rolland Domergue, with
669:
The full transcript of Corbu's radio interview was given in
348:
which he recently acquired. On 20 May 1968, on his way to
109:
to Désiré-Victor-Henri Corbu and Marguerite-Marie Corbu (
660:("Today, the treasure of the priest with the billions").
77:(27 April 1912 – 20 May 1968) is best known as a former
848:; revised edition, Éditions de l'Oeil du Sphinx, 2012,
656:
Broadcast on France Inter radio on 30 July 1962 called
613:(Paris: Fayard, 1962). Translated into English in 1967.
52:
Between Fanjeaux and Montpellier, France (car accident)
483:(Perpignan, Impr. du Midi, 1943). Republished in 2005.
804:
Les Zéchos de Rhedae, N°24/25 - Octobre/Novembre 2003
718:
Les Mystères de Rennes-le-Château, Mélanges Sulfureux
684:
Trésors du monde, trésors de France, trésors de Paris
624:
The Treasure of Rennes-le-Château: A Mystery Solved
590:
The Treasure of Rennes-le-Château, A Mystery Solved
380:in the village of Rennes-le-Château as part of the
64:
56:
42:
25:
18:
626:, pages 19; 255 (Revised paperback edition, 2005.
196:that connects the Tour Magdala to the Orangery.
538:Rennes-le-Château, Le Trésor de l'Abbé Saunière
611:Trésors du monde: enterrés, emmurés, engloutis
268:In April 1961, the French Television Channel
8:
496:(Editions Bélisane, 1985 reprinted in 2000).
408:Direction régionale des affaires culturelles
658:Aujourd’hui Le Trésor du curé aux milliards
336:, where he extensively quoted Noël Corbu.
15:
314:Un Trésor Mérovingien à Rennes-le-Château
265:prohibiting excavations in the village.
525:Histoire du Trésor de Rennes-le-Château
472:
167:. Corbu published his detective novel,
129:Société Générale des Transports Aériens
814:Code du Patrimoine, Legifrance.gouv.fr
577:Rennes-Le-Château: Autopsie d'un mythe
699:(Éditions de l'Oeil du Sphinx, 2012.
210:In January 1956, the local newspaper
110:
7:
746:, p.184-228 (Editions Pégase, 2006,
68:Degree of Doctor of Science in Paris
881:Bérenger Saunière Museum and Domain
395:Le Musée Domaine de l'Abbé Saunière
863:(Books on Demand Editions, 2010).
828:Claire Corbu and Antoine Captier,
14:
731:Rennes-le-Château, A Bibliography
340:Heritage, tourism and archaeology
733:, p. 28 (Mercurius Press, 1985).
763:Claire Corbu, Antoine Captier,
671:Parle-moi de Rennes-le-Château!
492:Claire Corbu, Antoine Captier,
272:made a documentary directed by
588:Bill Putnam, John Edwin Wood,
236:Corbu's story inspired author
171:("The Burglar Dead") in 1943.
1:
830:L'Héritage de l’Abbé Saunière
765:L'Héritage De L’Abbé Saunière
697:L'héritage de l'Abbé Saunière
494:L'Héritage De L’Abbé Saunière
374:L'Héritage de l’Abbé Saunière
119:who, in the aftermath of the
105:Born on 27 April 1912 in the
729:John Saul, Janice Glaholm,
382:Association Terre de Rhedae
107:7th arrondissement of Paris
93:discovered the treasure of
933:
832:(Éditions Bélisane, 1985,
778:Imaginaires archéologiques
527:(Éditions Bélisane, 1985).
403:French Ministry of Culture
384:, also part of the local
242:The Treasure Seekers' Club
121:French coup d'état of 1851
179:to the Corbus and by her
131:, who died alongside his
720:, p. 20-21 (CERT, 1994).
579:(Ed. Loubatières, 1990).
540:(Paris: Marabout, 1996).
188:, the Tour Magdala, an
686:(Paris: Fayard, 1972).
564:Treasures of the World
294:Treasures of the World
346:Saint-Félix-Lauragais
261:to introduce a local
917:Pseudoarchaeologists
401:(itself part of the
322:Philippe de Chérisey
222:, a prisoner of the
912:Priory of Sion hoax
742:Jean-Luc Chaumeil,
643:René Descadeillas,
575:Jean-Jacques Bedu,
481:Le Mort cambrioleur
425:Le Mort cambrioleur
308:Priory of Sion hoax
287:radio programme to
169:Le Mort cambrioleur
511:2016-04-23 at the
413:Code du patrimoine
231:Archives de l'Aude
216:Blanche of Castile
212:La Dépêche du Midi
155:by German troops.
137:Le Bourget Airport
95:Blanche of Castile
854:978-2-914405-94-2
786:978-2-7351-1210-4
705:978-2-914405-94-2
609:Robert Charroux,
562:Robert Charroux,
456:Bérenger Saunière
451:Rennes-le-Château
386:Municipal council
356:, Corbu's car, a
259:Municipal council
159:Rennes-le-Château
91:Bérenger Saunière
87:Rennes-le-Château
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390:Saunière Museum
378:Saunière Museum
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238:Robert Charroux
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48:(1968-05-20)
902:1968 deaths
897:1912 births
388:. When the
354:Montpellier
274:Marina Grey
220:Saint Louis
85:village of
46:20 May 1968
891:Categories
823:References
358:Renault 16
192:, and the
101:Early life
75:Noël Corbu
57:Occupation
32:1912-04-27
20:Noël Corbu
276:entitled
194:Belvedere
177:en viager
145:Perpignan
65:Education
840:; 1995,
509:Archived
440:See also
350:Fanjeaux
224:Saracens
190:Orangery
165:Bugarach
153:occupied
133:mechanic
320:and/or
250:dowsing
141:attaché
125:Cayenne
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263:By-law
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248:. The
204:Easter
83:French
467:Notes
352:from
865:ISBN
850:ISBN
842:ISBN
834:ISBN
782:ISBN
748:ISBN
701:ISBN
628:ISBN
594:ISBN
429:ISBN
43:Died
26:Born
270:RTF
112:née
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