René Descadeillas openly stated twice in his book “Mythologie du Trésor de Rennes” that he was originally a believer in the “mystery”, and that he was involved in the early digs during the 1950s. He related testimonies of witnesses who told him that a “parchment” was discovered by Abbé Saunière (Sandy Hamblett's translation):

“The text related, it was said, to the construction or repair of the church and the altar, which is plausible. We do not know what became of this document, just as we do not know where the translation went.”

We cannot tell how much (if any) of this account was inspired by Noël Corbu's initial claims. But René Descadeillas was only given hearsay evidence. He did not see nor touch the parchment. He plainly stated there was no “treasure” of Rennes-le-Château nor did he believe in the Carolingian pillar that allegedly supported the main altar of the church. He provided three church reports that did not mention the “Carolingian Pillar” in Saunière's church at Rennes-le-Château.

René Descadeillas provided the conclusion by other scholars involved in the digs of Rennes-le-Château by quoting from the report that stated there was no evidence of a hidden treasure handed down through the ages at Rennes-le-Château. This remains the position held by DRAC to this very day.

It would seem pretty reasonable that the “Carolingian pillar” was part of a religious plan by Saunière who possibly developed a ceremony in 1891 that included the Statue of the Lourdes Virgin together with the Monogram of the Virgin Mary within the inscription below the Carolingian pillar. This very same religious ceremony by Abbé Saunière was extended to include the Calvary in 1897, with the “Dalle des Chevaliers” being used as one of its stepping-stones. The statue of the Lourdes Virgin stares directly at the Calvary.

Images of Calvary, Virgin of Lourdes & Calvary Base where Dalle de Chevaliers could have been placed.

It was Abbé Saunière who originally said that the “Carolingian Pillar” was used as the support for the main altar of his church. The “Dalle des Chevaliers” was most likely contemporary with the religious plan just described as laid out by Abbê Saunière. The priest seemed to freely accept the historical allegations of the antiquarian Louis Fédié (ie, that Rennes-le-Château was Rhedae); also suggested by his writings on the reverse of his postcards.

This in all probability was a ceremony of the defeat of the heretical Visigoths by the Christian Gauls – that predictably would have been a cover for the religious conflict waged between Church and Republic within the period of Abbé Saunière. As always, the religious ceremonies and events in Rennes-le-Château reflected the historical facts of the relevant era in question.

Back to the parchments concocted by Philippe de Chérisey – Sandy Hamblett failed to provide the account by René Descadeillas in his book “Mythologie du Trèsor de Rennes” (pages 70-71; Editions Collot, 1991), that he became satisfied they were fabrications after giving them for examination to Father Giulano Gepetti (the “parchments” were called “grimoires” by Descadeillas).

The discovery of hidden parchments in a church by a priest bears all the hallmarks of a Gothic Ghost Story by Montague Rhodes James rather than historical fact – or perhaps they were only forgeries made by a couple of charlatans out to dupe the gullible in society!