8 William of Tyre, History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea, Vol. I, p. 380. See also Runciman, History of the Crusades, Vol. I, p. 292. This same bishop from Calabria was a friend of one Arnulf, a very minor ecclesiastic who, with the help of the bishop, was later elected the first Latin patriarch of Jerusalem!
A strange group survived from the earlier "people’s crusade" called Tafurs, who earned a certain notoriety when some of their members were accused of cannibalism by the emir of Antioch. Of this group there was an inner "college" presided over by a King Tafur. The contemporary chronicles present King Tafur as a man whom even the crusade princes approached with humility, even reverence. It was this King Tafur who is said to have performed the coronation of Godfroi de Bouillon. Moreover, King Tafur was said to be associated with Peter the Hermit. Could it be possible that this inner group, and the king, were the representatives from Calabria? The name Tafur could, with one letter change, be an anagram for Artus, a ritual name. For a summary of the influence of the Tafurs see Cohn, N., Pursuit of the Millennium, pp. 66ff.
9 Henri Lobineau, Dossiers secrets, planche no. 4.
10 Ibid.
11 Archives du Loiret, série D. 357. See also Rey, "Chartes ... du Mont-Sion," p. 31ff; and Le Maire, Histoire et Antiquitez, Part 2, Ch. XXVI, p. 96ff.
12 Yates, Rosicrucian Enlightenment.
13 See for example Yates, Giordano Bruno, p. 312ff.; and Yates, Occult Philosophy, p. 38. In both these works Frances Yates explores the transmission of Hermetic thought and the secret societies that grew up around the central figures involved.
14 We have this information from "Prieuré" sources. We have seen the manuscript in question at the Bibliothèque de Rouen, Histoire polytique de Gisors et du pays de Vulcsain, by Robert Denyau, 1629 (Collection Montbret. 2219. V 14a). There are major difficulties in verifying the information. Of some 575 handwritten pages, the majority are barely legible and many pages are missing while others have been cut or had sections removed or deleted. Only the Calendarium Martyrology is clearly legible.
15 Röhricht, Regesta, p. 375, no. 1440.
16 Bruel, "Chartes d’Adam," p. 1ff.
17 Henri Lobineau, Dossiers secrets, planche no. 4.
18 Oursel, Le Procès des Templiers, p. 208.
19 Rey, "Chartes ... du Mont-Sion," p. 34ff.
20 It is perhaps worth comparing the given lists of grand masters of the Knights Templar.
A The list as given in Henri Lobineau, Dossiers secrets:
Hugues de Payen 1118-31
Robert de Bourgogne 1131-50
Bernard de Tremblay 1150-53
Bertrand de Blancafort 1153-70
Janfeders Fulcherine 1170-71 (= Gaufridus Fulcherius/Geoffroy Foucher)
François Othon de St Amand 1171-79
Théodore de Glaise 1179-84 (= Theodoricus/Terricus)
François Gérard de Riderfort 1184-90
B The list as given in a modern source—Seward, Monks of War, p. 306.
Hugues de Payen 1118-36
Robert de Craon 1136-46
Everard des Barres 1146-52
Bernard de Tremelai 1152-53
André de Montbard 1153-56
Bertrand de Blanquefort 1156-69
Philippe de Milly 1169-70
Eudes de St Amand 1170-79
Arnold de Torroge 1179-85
Gérard de Ridefort 1185-91
It is worth reviewing a specimen of the evidence that supports the Prieuré list, using the first grand master as an example.
The date of death for Hugues de Payen differs. The Prieuré list puts it at 1131 while the modern list claims 1136. This latter date cannot be proved and, in fact, would appear to be wrong. The year 1136 is given in L’Art de verifier les dates, Vol. 5 (Paris, 1818), p. 338, and the normally stated day of death, May 24, is given in the thirteenth-century Obituaire de la commanderie ... de Reims (see Barthélemy, p. 321). However, this early document does not give any year of death. So scholars have been dependent upon the surviving charters signed by Hugues de Payen. These charters indicate that in fact Hugues did die around 1131 or shortly thereafter. In Albon, Cartulaire général, several charters are given that have been signed by Hugues. He uses his full name, generally given as Hugo de Pagano. The last charter signed in this way is dated 1130 (Albon, Cartulaire général, p. 23ff.). It would appear likely that he died some time following this date and before 1133, the year in which a charter appeared mentioning but not signed by Hugoni, magistro militum ... Templi (Albon, Cartulaire général, p. 42). This charter has generally been attributed to Hugues de Payen but it seems more likely that it is in fact referring to Hugues Rigaud, who appears in many other charters reproduced by M. d’Albon and, indeed, is now considered to have been the common master of Saint-Sépulchre and the Temple or the Temple in Jerusalem, from 1130 to 1133. See Gérard and Magou, Cartulaire, p. xxxviii. So the Prieuré list appears to have the evidence in its favor.
It should also be noted that at no point does William of Tyre ever list Everard des Barres or André de Montbard as grand master of the Knights Templar—which subsequent historians, on a highly questionable basis, do.
6 The Grand Masters and the Underground Stream
1 Henri Lobineau, Dossiers secrets, planche no. 4., Ordre de Sion.
2 Loyd, Origins of Anglo-Norman Families, p. 45ff. And Powicke, Loss of Normandy, p. 340.
3 Roger de Hoveden, Annals, Vol, I, p. 322. It reads, "Thomas, the archbishop of Canterbury, and some of his fellow-exiles, came to an interview with the legates, on the octave of Saint Martin, between Gisors and Trie ..." This meeting place between the two adjacent castles is the site of the famous elm tree that was later cut down. In his Voyages Pittoresques (Normandy, Vol. 2, p. 138) Charles Nodier says that "St Thomas de Canterbury had there (under the Gisors elm) prepared for his martyrdom.’’ It is unclear exactly what he is implying here but it’s provocative.
4 Lecoy de la Marche, Le Roi René, Vol. I, p. 69. The Duke of Lorraine had no son and by the conventions of the times it was to René that Jeanne was referring.
5 Staley, King René d’Anjou, p. 153ff.
6 Staley, King René d Anjou, p. 29. René himself carved the inscription.
7 Sir Philip Sidney was an associate of Jean Dee and also steeped in Hermetic thought. Frances Yates considered John Dee to be the source of the Rosicrucian manifestos—Yates, Occult Philosophy, p. 170ff. For further information on Sidney and Dee see French, John Dee. Sidney then was well aware of the "underground stream" flowing through European culture.
8 All the manifestos are printed in Waite, Real History of the Rosicrucians.
9 Yates, Rosicrucian Enlightenment, p. 125.
10 Ibid., p. 192.
11 Some letters exist, which are held by the Royal Society, written to Robert Boyle regarding a group called the Sacred Cabalistic Society of Philosophers, who admitted him as a member. It appears to be based in France. See Maddison, Life of . . . Robert Boyle, p. 166ff.
12 Yates, Rosicrucian Enlightenment, p, 223ff. Frances Yates explains the connecting links between the Rosicrucian movement and the Royal Society.
13 For further information on Ramsay, see Walker, The Ancient Theology, p. 231ff; and Henderson, Chevalier Ramsay.
14 The text of the Oration is published in Gould, History of Freemasonry, Vol. 5, p. 84ff.
15 Waite, New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry. Vol. 2, p. 353ff.; and Le Forestier, La Franc-Maçonnerie, p. 126ff.
16 This list is reproduced in Thory, Acta Latomorum. Vol. 2, p. 282. The list follows Sion’s list only until the split in 1188. The grand master at that time was Gérard de Ridefort.
17 Nodier, Voyages Pittoresques, Normandy, Vol. 2, p. 137ff.
18 Pingaud, La Jeunesse de Charles Nodier, p. 39.
19 Ibid., p. 231ff., contains the rules of the society. Some are curious. Rule 18 states, "The brothers of the Society of the Philadelphes have a particular liking for the color sky-blue, the figure of the pentagram and the number 5."
> 20 Ibid., p. 47.
21 Nodier, Contes, p. 4ff.
22 Nodier, History of Secret Societies, p. 105.
23 Ibid., p. 116.
24 The most significant figure in secret societies of the period was Filippo Michele Buonarroti (a descendant of Michelangelo’s brother), who began his career as a page to the archduke of Tuscany (son of François de Lorraine) and became involved in Freemasonry. At the outbreak of the French Revolution he went to Corsica, where he stayed until 1794 and became acquainted with Napoleon. From the early 1800s he set up a succession of secret societies. He founded so many that historians have no idea of the actual number founded. One comments that "Buonarroti was a true divinity, if not omnipotent—at least omnipresent.’’ Eisenstein, The First Professional Revolutionist . . . Buonarroti, p. 48, quoting Lehning. He shared many mutual friends with Nodier and Hugo—Petrus Borel, Louis Blanc, Célestin Nanteuil, Jehan Duseigneur, Jean Gigoux— so it is most likely that they knew each other. In fact, the absence of any record of their meeting is highly suspicious, given the status Buonarroti commanded later in his life in Paris. See also Roberts, Mythology of the Secret Societies, p. 233ff., "for thirty years without ever stopping, like a spider in his hole, spinning the threads of a conspiracy that all the governments have broken, each in turn, and that he never tires of renewing.’’ Eisenstein, p. 51.
It is most likely that Buonarroti and Nodier were both in the Prieuré de Sion—especially as one of Buonarroti’s organizations was the Philadelphes, the same name Nodier used for his order.
25 See Chapter 7, n. 35.
26 Lucie-Smith, Symbolist Art, p. 110. For Péladan’s life and associates see Pincus-Witten, Occult Symbolism in France.
27 Lucie-Smith, Symbolist Art, p. 111.
28 This was his comment when asked to do the painting that now forms part of a chapel in the church of Notre Dame de France, London.
29 See Bander, Prophecies of St. Malachy, p. 93. The Latin phrase is Pastor et Nauta—the word nauta, can mean either "seaman" or "navigator," which in old French is nautonnier.
30 "Inde a primis" published in L’Osservatore Romano (July 2, 1960), p. 1. An English translation can be found in Review for Religious, Vol. 20 (1961), p. 3ff.
7 Conspiracy Through the Centuries
1 Henri Lobineau, Dossiers secrets, planche no. 4, Ordre de Sion.
2 De Sède, Les Templiers, p. 220ff. For the story of Lhomoy see de Sède, p. 20ff. and 231ff. See also Chaumeil, Triangle d’or, p. 19ff.
3 Le Maire, Histoire et Antiquitez, Part 2, Ch. XXVI, p. 96ff.
4 The cardinal of Lorraine was behind the amnesty in favor of Huguenots given at Amboise on March 7, 1560. The cardinal also secretly gave money to certain Protestant groups.
5 It was through René d’Anjou that the double-barred cross became associated with Lorraine. René had adopted this cross as his emblem, using it on his seals and coinage. The popularity of the cross dates from its use by René II, duke of Lorraine at the battle of Nancy in 1477. See Marot, Le Symbolisme, p. 1ff.
6 Nostradamus moved in circles connected with the house of Lorraine. He lived for some years in Agen, and Jean de Lorraine was bishop of Agen at the time, as well as head of the Inquisition in France. Research indicates that Nostradamus received warning of the Inquisition’s interest in him, and all factors point to Jean, cardinal of Lorraine, having been the source of that warning. Moreover, Nostradamus’ friend Scaliger in Agen was a friend of the cardinal and also acquainted with the Hermeticist and creator of the "Memory Theatre," Giulio Camillo. (See Yates, Art of Memory, Ch. 6). The cardinal of Lorraine was well acquainted with Camillo. Also two court poets, Pierre de Ronsard and Jean Dorat, were friends of Nostradamus. Ronsard wrote several poems in praise of Nostradamus and the cardinal. The cardinal supported both these poets. It was Jean Dorat who sent Jean-Aimé de Chavigny to Nostradamus as his secretary. Much research into these connections is presented in the novel The Dreamer of the Vine, by Liz Greene (London, 1979).
7 Quatrain V:74, for example, relates probably to Charles Martel driving back the Saracens and beating them at the battle of Poitiers in 732. Quatrain III:83 may well refer to the long-haired Merovingian kings taking the kingdom of Aquitaine, which they did after 507. Many of the quatrains and presages mention the Rases, which seems to be a pun both on the area of the Razes and the exiled counts, the "shaven ones," the Merovingian descendants.
8 De Sède, La Race fabuleuse, p. 106ff. De Sède’s credibility in this book tends to be somewhat undercut by his rather unlikely claim that the Merovingians were extraterrestrials! In conversation he was asked the source for his assertion that Nostradamus spent time at Orval. He replied that Eric Muraise (Colonel Suire) had a manuscript proving this, which de Sède had personally viewed.
We questioned some of the monks at the Abbey of Orval about the possibility of Nostradamus’ having been there. They shrugged and said it was a tradition but they had no evidence either to prove or disprove it. It was possible, one said wearily.
9 Allier, La Cabale, p. 99ff. The author states that it was the compagnie which suggested to Olier that he found Saint Sulpice.
10 Allier, La Cabale, p. 33.
11 Auguste, La Compagnie à Toulouse, p. 20ff.
12 Allier, La Cabale, p. 3.
13 Henri Lobineau, Dossiers secrets, planche no. 1, 1100-1600, planche no. 19, 1800-1900.
14 Sainte-Marie, Recherches historiques, p. 243.
15 Soultrait (ed.), Dictionnaire topographique . . . de la Nièvre, pp. 8, 146. The hamlet of Les Plantards was near to Sémelay, later the birthplace of Jean XXII des Plantard.
16 See the Bulletin de la société nivernais des lettres, sciences et arts, 2eme série, tome VII (1876), pp. 110, 139, 140-41, 307. See also Chaumeil, Triangle d’Or, p. 80ff. and his illustrations of coins discovered on the site.
17 These are examples of the factors that have led subsequent authors to regard Fouquet as being the likely candidate for the Man in the Iron Mask. Much persuasive evidence exists to support the assertion.
18 Blunt, Poussin, Vol. 1, p. 170.
19 This painting is illustrated in Ward, Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods, facing p. 134. It is in the possession of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland, Edinburgh.
20 Delaude, Cercle d’Ulysse, p. 3.
21 Gout, Mont Saint-Michel, p. 141ff. Robert de Torigny, Abbé 1154-86, wrote some 140 volumes during his life, a large number of which were dedicated to the history of the region. During his rule the number of monks at the abbey doubled and it became a "sanctuary of science." He was a close friend of both Henry II and Becket, and given their close association with the Prieuré de Sion, the Templars, and Gisors, it would be surprising if Robert were not also au fait with them. If the Plantard family did indeed use the motto as suggested, one would expect Robert to have recorded it, since the Plantard family not only seems to have been resident in Brittany at the time, but Jean VI des Plantard in 1156 (according to Henri Lobineau) married Idoine de Gisors, the sister of Jean de Gisors, ninth grand master of the Ordre de Sion, founder of the Ordre de la Rose-Croix. History records Idoine but not her husband— which does not allow us to find which title the Plantard family was using in the twelfth century.
We were not able to find any mention of the Plantard family or any trace of Robert’s genealogical surveys. His manuscripts have been scattered but lists of them exist, though none of them includes obviously genealogical material. We were later told that the relevant manuscript was in the "private" archives of Saint Sulpice, Paris, hardly a satisfactory ending to this line of investigation.
22 Myriam, "Les Bergers d’Arcadie," Le Charivari, no. 18, p. 49ff.
23 Thory, Acta Latomorum, Vol. 2, p. 15ff. Gould, History of Freemasonry, Vol. 2, p. 383.
24 Erdeswick, A Survey of Staffordshire, p. 189.
25 Peyrefitte, "La Lettre Secrète," p. 197ff. The letter in question was attached to a bull of excommunication issued by the Pope on April 28, 1738.
> 26 The Oriental Rite of Memphis first appeared in 1838 when Jacques Etienne Marconis de Negre established the Grand Lodge Osiris in Brussels. The underlying legend of the rite was that it descended from the Dionysian and Egyptian mysteries. The sage Ormus is said to have combined the mysteries with Christianity to produce the original Rose-Croix. The Oriental Rite of Memphis was a system of ninety-seven degrees, producing such august titles as Commander of the Luminous Triangle, Sublime Prince of the Royal Mystery, Sublime Pastor of the Hutz, Doctor of the Planispheres, and so on. See Waite, New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry, Vol. 2, p. 241ff. The rite was eventually reduced to thirty-three degrees, calling itself the Ancient and Primitive Rite. It was taken to the United States circa 1854-56 by H. J. Seymour, and to England in 1872 by John Yarker. It was later associated with the Ordo Templi Orientis. The magazine of the Rite of Memphis, the Oriflamme, advertised the O. T. O. in its issues. In 1875 the rite was amalgamated with the Rite of Misraim. In History of the Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry (London, 1875) the Rite of Memphis is said to derive from that of the Philadelphians of Narbonne, established in 1779.
27 See also Genesis 28:18, where Jacob anoints a stone pillar.
28 Pitois, as librarian to the Ministry of Public Education, was given the task of sorting through all the books from the monasteries and provincial libraries brought to Paris. He and Charles Nodier pored over them and claimed to have made interesting discoveries daily.
29 Jean-Baptiste Hogan.
30 It is quite possible that the doctrine of papal infallibility, formally stated for the first time on July 18, 1870, was part of the Roman Catholic Church’s reaction to Modernist tendencies, as well as to Darwinian thought and the increasing continental power of Lutheran Prussia.
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