Detailed analysis of the Great Parchment of Rennes-le-Château
INDAGINI SU RENNES-LE-CHATEAU 21
(2008) • - TRANSLATION BY MARIANO TOMATIS WITH THE HELP OFMARCUS
WILLIAMSON
How was the Great Parchment (the document published for the
first time in 1967 by Gérard de Sède on page 109 of L’Or
de Rennes) created? On which texts did the author base his
work?
In order to answer these two question it is necessary to analyse
with care its structure and the messages hidden within it,
trying to determine the complete process of creation in detail.
The Great Parchment [download]
is the result of the fusion of two elements: a long Latin text
taken from the Gospel of St.John (12:1-11) in the Vulgate
translation and at least 3 shorter messages: 128, 12 and 8
letters long.
Two of the three messages (one encrypted, the other not) have
been inserted - at almost regular intervals - inside the Gospel
text. A third 8-letter message (REX MUNDI) has been written with
a smaller font. The parchment has been written with a
pseudo-uncial font, which shows some elements which are not
coherent with the style of the font used from 3rd to 8th century
(for example, the use of a question mark at line 10). The
pseudo-uncial font has been studied by Ferdinando Ferraioli (1).
The three hidden messages
One of the three messages is AD GENESARETH. In the context of
the parchment, which closes with two lines which refer to Mary
Magdalene (coming from the old - and now stolen - bas relief at
the foot of the altar inside the church at Rennes-le-Château)
the two words (“at Genesareth”) clearly refer to Mary of
Magdala; the town of Magdala is on the lake of Genesareth.
A second message is REX MUNDI: in Cathar tradition, Rex Mundi
(King of the World) was the king of Evil, opposed to the king of
Good, identified with God.
The third and more complex message - mentioned for the first
time in a small book signed by "Madeleine Blancasall" (but
probably written by Pierre Plantard) and recorded in the French
National Library in Paris on August 28, 1965 - has been created
by using 128 letters taken from two documentary sources:
1) Table 22 from Pierres
Gravées du Languedoc (a
book attributed to
Eugène Stüblein, but probably written by Pierre Plantard)
mentioned for the first time in the same Blancasall booklet (2):
we shall refer to it here by the name "REDDIS stone";
2) An image from Elie Tisseyre, "Une excursion à
Rennes-le-Château", Bulletin
de la Société d’Etudes Scientifique de l’Aude, Vol.17, 1906
(Download)
(3): we shall refer to this by the name "CT GIT stone";
On the left: Table 22 from Pierres
Gravées du Languedoc (a
book attributed to
Eugène Stüblein). The table appeared for the first time at the
end of the booklet signed "Madeleine Blancasall". On the
right: Elie Tisseyre, "Une excursion à Rennes-le-Chateau", Bulletin
de la Société d'Etudes Scientifique de l'Aude, Vol.17, 1906.
9 letters have been taken from REDDIS stone, while from the CT
GIT stone all the available letters have been used (119
letters), for a total of 128 letters. The sum has not been
chosen at random: the author wanted to scramble the message by
using a chessboard, so any multiple of 64 letters would have
been good. Probably when the author chose the CT GIT stone and
he found only 119 letters, he had
to find 9
additional letters - and he used the REDDIS stone - in order to
get 128 letters. Moreover, we have no documentary proof of the
existence of REDDIS stone except for recent pictures in some way
linked to "treasure hunters", and no one has ever seen it (the
oldest text with the PS PRAECUM letters is the report attributed
to Ernest Cros, which deals with the 1959 events). Probably the
author of this parchment is the same one who created the first
picture of the stone - possibly on the basis of older material -
needing it to get 128 letters and giving its reproduction for
the first on the booklet by Madeleine Blancasall. The CT GIT
stone has a more solid history, having been reported by a team
of archaeologists from the Société
d’études scientifique de l’Aude (SESA).
The letters from the two stones are:
CTGITNOBLEMARIEDENEGREDARLESDAMEDHAUPOULDEBLANCHEFORTAGEEDESOIX
ANTESEPTANSDECEDEELEXVIIJANVIERMDCOLXXXIREQUIESCATINPACEPSPRAECUM
The author scrambled the letters by starting with this anagram:
BERGERE PAS DE TENTATION QUE POUSSIN TENIERS GARDENT LA CLEF PAX
DCLXXXI PAR LA CROIX ET CE CHEVAL DE DIEU J’ACHEVE CE DAEMON DE
GARDIEN A MIDI POMMES BLEUES
We shall refer to it as the "BERGERE message".
The author could have chosen any other
anagram, and it is interesting to analyse the reasons why he
chose "those" words and not others. In this article we shall not
deal with this issue.
At first sight it is obvious that he chose ideas in some way
related to Rennes-le-Château and to an esoteric scenario.
However, the "structure" of the result shows clearly its nature
as an "anagram of a previous message". The CT GIT stone epitaph
was written in 1781, and it is a typical mortuary text; the
BERGERE message shows all the typical properties of an anagram.
Italian expert Stefano Bartezzaghi (the "alchemist of
alphabets") would define the complete sentence as "raccogliticcia"
(cobbled together) (4), because it is far from idiomatic,
being a mixture of terms linked together without a clear sense
and without the typical "musicality" of a well defined sentence.
Mike Morton suggests "Bad credit" as a good anagram of "Debit
card". It is a very good anagram, because both "Bad credit" and
"Debit card" are idiomatic sentences. But with the same letters
you can get "Crab Tided", which is far from a good anagram (it
is "raccogliticcio"!).
The BERGERE message shows all the limitations connected with its
nature in particular in the two words PAX DCLXXXI, which clearly
seem to be used in order to "recycle" the great number of Roman
numerals in the CT GIT stone.
Paul Saussez was very good in suggesting an alternative anagram in
this post, mixing ideas related to Rennes-le-Château
mythology:
VOICI LE SECRET DE L’EPITAPHE: JESUS ET MARIE DE MAGDALA
DORMAIENT EN PAIX AU TOMBEAU DE RENNES QUE SAUNIERE VIOLA, SION
LE FIT CHANGER DE PLACE. PS DDDCCCXXXX (6)
Here is the secret of the epitaph: Jesus and Mary of Magdala
rest in peace at the tomb in Rennes which Saunière violated,
Sion swapped them. P.S. 1840
Obviously "P.S." stands for Paul Saussez! Saussez work gives
enough evidence of the fact that the BERGERE message is one of
many which could have been chosen by using only the 128 letters
on the two stones.
Once the message was chosen, the author decided to write it on
two chessboards by following the Knight’s tour. The number of
possible Knight’s tours is enormous, but its author chose one of
them: the first "cyclic" one given by Euler in 1759 in hisMemoires
de l’Academie Royale des Sciences et Belles Lettres (Download)
(5). I am proud to be able to announce having found it, because
so far no-one has ever given any reference to Euler’s tour
published on 1766 (and, more important, there is no need of any
source for discovering it: the structure of the message speaks
for itself!).
Eulero, "Solution d'une question curieuse qui ne paroit soumise
à aucune analyse" in Memoires
de l'Academie Royale des Sciences et Belles Lettres (1759)
15, Berlin: 1766, page 312.
A cyclic tour is the one which allows you to link the ending
(64) and the starting (1) squares, in a way "closing" the path
and making it cyclic.
The first cyclic tour suggested by Euler
By choosing a cyclic path, the author granted himself the
possibility of choosing the square from which to start writing
the message. The idea of changing the starting square was
mentioned by Euler himself in the cited article. On page 313 we
read:
After having memorized a cyclic path, you will be able to solve
the problem by starting the tour from any square. For example
you can start from the square 25 by placing the knight on it,
then move to squares 26, 27, 28... until square 64. Now move to
square 1, from which you can move towards square 2, 3, 4...
until you reach square 24; you will have covered all the squares
on the chessboard.
The complete article written by Euler is a collection of
techniques which can be used to define a new path from any other
given one.
Pierre Plantard was aware of the possibility, suggested by
Euler, of changing the starting square.
According to Jean-Luc Chaumeil
(6), Pierre Plantard presented a shifted
version of the
correct (and cyclic) Knight’s Tour in his Rennes-le-Château
conference at Corbu’s Hotel
de la Tour on
juin 6th, 1964.
The same Tour can be found in Norberto, "Le symbolisme de
l’echiquer" in Vaincre 3
(septembre 1989), pages 17-19 (download).
It is the chessboard on the left (compared with Euler’s
chessboard on the right):
On the left: the Knight's Tour given by Plantard on 1964 (in
Jean-Luc Chaumeil, Le
testament du Prieuré de Sion, p.122) On the right: the
Knight's Tour given by Euler on 1759. Who inspired who?
The fact they use the same path is far from obvious, but it
becomes clear when the two tours are drawn in bold:
Another way of getting new paths is by rotating the chessboard.
The author of the parchment did it by rotating the chessboard by
180 degrees.
On the basis of Euler’s text, the author choose one of the
squares (the sixth on the third row) and followed the tour by
writing a half of the message:
BERGERE PAS DE TENTATION QUE POUSSIN TENIERS GARDENT LA CLEF PAX
DCLXXXI PAR
On the right, Euler's tour rotated by 180 degrees On the
left, the same tour used by the author of the parchment for the
first half of the message.
In order to write the second half of the message, the author
"recycled" a second time the same tour, by flipping it along the
horizontal axis (Douglas Hofstadter uses the term "lake
symmetry") and writing the last 64 letters:
LA CROIX ET CE CHEVAL DE DIEU J’ACHEVE CE DAEMON DE GARDIEN A
MIDI POMMES BLEUES
On the right, Euler's tour is rotated and lake-flipped On the
left, the same tour is used by the author for the second half of
the message.
The resulting text on the first and second chessboard consists
of an anagram of the BERGERE message (7):
XNLSPANNASITTIATEXRRPBTEUCAEENIRXTGEENDELORSIAAOELEFSDQRPEDCUPGX
AIEMUIDOCEJDNMEGMCOCEEPDSHRXAIADHATMOAESEBICELERNEEAIEEDLVEVULDC
The author was not sufficiently satisfied by this first anagram
and decided to emply two keys on the text with the help of a 25
letter Vigenère table (see
it here) (8).
The first key was the same 128 letters text taken from the CT
GIT and REDDIS stones. The author reversed it by getting:
MUCEARPSPECAPNITACSEIUQERIXXXLOCDMREIVNAJIIVXELEEDECEDSNATPESETNA
XIOSEDEEGATROFEHCNALBEDLUOPUAHDEMADSELRADERGENEDEIRAMELBONTIGTC
By applying this key to the text XNLSPANN… the author got this
new text (9)
JRINOHXTJNFSDTQZDTYMGFCZCSCGGBSOSGNZUQODBFIVKUNJZHZCNZXDOJMXBKLIZ
KUXBDZJXXIIUXYBEZABRCKZGLCGEHRZCMSIUURADXDJXGPMJZUHHQZQJGPBLEIZ
The choice of the first key was bizarre enough, because
MUCEARPS… was itself an anagram of the text to be encrypted
XNLSPANN… (as if we had applied the key COSTUMIER to the words
TOM CRUISE).
Just a short note about of how to get from X the letter J by
applying the key M; by using this
table, locate the column M, go down until you get the X and
look at the left: it is the line starting with J. So by applying
the key M to the letter X you get J.
This is a "reverse" use of the Vigenère table, which will enable
the reader to use a "direct" Vigenère table in order to start
from J and M to get X (see
here the
interaction between the string JRINOHXT... and the key
MUCEARPS... which gives XNLSPANN...).
A second (less obvious) key was defined by observing the CT GIT
stone, which in the given reproduction shows some errors. Some
letters were smaller: e, E, E, P; a M was isolated, the date of
death has an anomalous O, the R in ARLES was wrong because the
countess came from “Ables” and in the first row the T replaced
the more correct I. Properly rearranged, the eight letters
formed MORT and EPEE ("death" and "sword").
The author used the 8 letters as a key on the text JRINOHXT…,
getting (10):
VCPSJQROVYMYYDLTPEFRBOXTODJLBKNJFQUEPAJYNPPBFEIELRGHIIRYBTTCVTGDL
UCCVMTEJHPNPGSVQJHGMLFTSVJLZQMTOXANPEMUPHKORPKHVJCMCATLVQXGGNDT
At the center of these 128 letters the author inserted the first
message AD GENESARETH, which results in a final text 140 letters
long:
VCPSJQROVYMYYDLTPEFRBOXTODJLBKNJFQUEPAJYNPPBFEIELRGHIIRYBTTCVTGDADGENE
SARETHLUCCVMTEJHPNPGSVQJHGMLFTSVJLZQMTOXANPEMUPHKORPKHVJCMCATLVQXGGNDT
The Latin Gospel
The author looked for a Latin text from the Gospel in which to
hide the 140 letters and he chose a chapter from the Gospel of
John (12:1-11) with a number of connections with the church in
Rennes-le-Château, involving Lazarus, Martha and Mary, the three
brothers from Bethania. In particular, the text told the story
of the woman anointing Jesus’ feet. Some traditions identify
Mary of Magdala and Mary of Bethania, the main character of this
text, and in Rennes-le-Château there are so many references to
Magdala and Bethania. Moreover, the church hosts a stained glass
showing Lazarus’ resurrection and another one with a woman
anointing Jesus’ feet.
Probably the author obtained the text from a book published in
Oxford in 1889: the Novum
Testamentum Latine Secundum Editionem Sancti Hieronymi by
bishop John Wordsworth and Professor Henry Julian White (download).
The hypothesis was suggested for the first time by Bill Putnam
and John Edwin Wood (11).
Having personally found a copy of the book, I could compare word
by word the Gospel and the text on the Parchment. The two are
almost the same, with the exception of the words “odore ungenti”,
which on the parchment are swapped (“ungenti odore”).
John Wordsworth and Henry Julian White (ed.), Novum
Testamentum Latine Secundum Editionem Sancti Hieronymi,
Oxford (1st ed. 1889, here in the 1950 edition).
Iesus ergo ante sex dies Paschae uenit Bethaniam, ubi fuerat
Lazarus mortuus, quem suscitauit Iesus. Fecerunt autem ei caenam
ibi : et Martha ministrabat, Lazarus uero unus erat ex
discumbentibus cum eo. Maria ergo accepit libram ungenti nardi
pistici, pretiosi, et unxit pedes Iesu, et extersit capillis
suis pedes eius : et domus impleta est ex odore ungenti. Dicit
ergo unus ex discipulis eius, Iudas Scariotis, qui erat eum
traditurus : Quare hoc ungentum non ueniit trecentis denariis,
et datum est egenis ? Dixit autem hoc, non quia de egenis
pertinebat ad eum, sed quia fur erat, et loculos habens, ea quae
mittebantur portabat. Dixit ergo Iesus : Sine illam ut in diem
sepulturae meae seruet illud. Pauperes enim semper habetis
uobiscum : me autem non semper habetis. Cognouit ergo turba
multa ex Iudaeis quia illic est : et uenerunt, non propter Iesum
tantum, sed ut Lazarum uiderent, quem suscitauit a mortuis.
Cogitauerunt autem principes sacerdotum ut et Lazarum
interficerent : quia multi propter illum abibant ex Iudaeis, et
credebant in Iesum.
The process of inserting the messages inside the Gospel text
The text from Wordsworth/White Gospel was written on 20 rows:
1. IESUS ERGO ANTE SEX DIES PASCHAE VENIT BETHANIAM UBI
2. FUERAT LAZARUS MORTUUS QUEM SUSCITAVIT IESUS FECERUNT
3. AUTEM EI CAENAM IBI ET MARTHA MINISTRABAT LAZARUS
4. VERO UNUS ERAT EX DISCUMBENTIBUS CUM EO MARIA ERGO ACCEP-
5. IT LIBRAM UNGENTI NARDI PISTICI PRETIOSI ET UNXIT PE-
6. DES IESU ET EXTERSIT CAPILLIS SUIS PEDES EIUS ET DOMUS IM-
7. PLETA EST EX ODORE UNGENTI DICIT ERGO UNUS EX DISCIPUL-
8. IS EIUS IUDAS SCARIOTIS QUI ERAT EUM TRADITURUS QUARE HOC UN-
9. GENTUM NON VENIIT TRECENTIS DENARIIS ET DATUM EST E-
10. GENIS? DIXIT AUTEM HOC NON QUIA DE EGENIS PERTINEBAT
11. AD EUM SED QUIA FUR ERAT ET LOCULOS HABENS EA QUAE MITTEBA-
12. NTUR PORTABAT DIXIT ERGO IESUS SINE ILLAM UT IN DIEM S-
13. EPULTURAE MEAE SERVET ILLUD PAUPERES ENIM SEMPER HA-
14. BETIS VOBISCUM ME AUTEM NON SEMPER HABETIS COGNO-
15. VIT ERGO TURBA MULTA EX IUDAEIS QUIA ILLIC EST ET VENE-
16. RUNT NON PROPTER IESUM TANTUM SED UT LAZARUM VIDER-
17. ENT QUEM SUSCITAVIT A MORTUIS COGITAVERUNT AUTEM P-
18. RINCIPES SACERDOTUM UT ET LAZARUM INTERFICERENT Q-
19. UIA MULTI PROPTER ILLUM ABIBANT EX IUDAEIS ET CRED-
20. EBANT IN IESUM
During the copying process, there have been some
irregularities: 27
errors, 2 [additional letters] and 12
omitted letters _
1. IESUS ERGO ANTE SEX DIES PASCHAE VENIT BETHANIAM UAI
2. FUERAT LAZARUS MORTUUS QUEM SUSCITAVIT IESUS FECERUNT
3. AUTEM EI CAENAM IBI ET MARTHA MINISTRABAT LAZARUS
4. VERO UNUS ERAT EX DISCUMLENTILUS CUM _ _ MARIA
ERGO ACCEP-
5. IT LIBRAM UNGENTI NARDI PISTICI PRETIOSI ET UNXIT PE-
6. DES IERU ET EXTERSIT CAPIIRIS SUIS PEDES ERTT ET
DOMES IM-
7. PLETA EST EX UNGENTI ODARE DIXAT ERGO UNUM EX
DISCIPUL-
8. IS EIUX IUDDX SCARIOTIS
QUI ERAT CUM
TRADITURUS QUARE HOC UN-
9. BENTUM NON
VENIIT TRECENPIS DENARIIS ET DATUM EST E-
10. GENIS? DIXI_ _UTEM HOC NON QUIA DE EGENIS PERTINEBAT
11. AD EUM SED QUIA FUR ER_T ET LOCULOS HABENS EA QUAE MITTEBA-
12. NTUR POR_ABET DIXIT ERGO IESUS SINE ILLAM UT IX DIEM
S-
13. EPULTURAE MEAE SERNET ILLUD PAUPERES ENIM SEMPER HA-
14. BETIS NOB[I]ISCUM
ME AUTEM NON SEMPER HABETIS COGNO-
15. VIT ER_O TURBA MULTA EX IUDACIS QUIA ILLIC EST ET
VENE-
16. RUNT NON PRO_TER IESUM TANTUM SED UT L_ZARUM VIDER-
17. ENT QUEM SUSC_TAVIT A MORTUIS COGITAVERUNT AUTEM P-
18. RINCIPES SACERDOTUM UT ET LAZARUM INTERFICERENT Q-
19. UIA MULTI PROPTER ILHUM ABIB_NT CX
_U[T]DAEIS ET CRCD-
20. EBANT IN IESUM
The text was divided into groups of 6 letters each, with seven
irregularities (stressed with an asterisk *)
1. IESUSE RGOANT ESEXDI ESPASC HAEVEN ITBETH ANIAMU AI...
2. ...FUERA* TLAZAR USMORT UUSQUE MSUSCI TAVITI ESUSFE CERUNT
3. AUTEME ICAENA MIBIET MARTHA MINIST RABATL AZARUS
4. VEROUN USERAT EXDISC UMLENT ILUSCU MMARIA ERGOAC CEP...
5. ...ITL IBRAMU NGENTI NARDIP ISTICI PRETIO SIETUN XITPE...
6. ...D ESIERU ETEXTE RSITCA PIIRIS SUISPE DESERT TETDOM ESIM...
7. ...PL ETAEST EXUNGE NTIODA REDIXA TERGOU NUMEXD ISCIPU L...
8. ...ISEIU XIUDDX SCARIO TISQUI ERATCU MTRADI TURUSQ UAREHO
CUN...
9. ...BEN TUMNON VENIITT* RECENP ISDENA RIISETD* ATUMES TE...
10. ...GENI S?DIXI UTEMHO CNONQU IADEEG ENISPE RTINEB AT...
11. ...ADEU MSEDQU IAFURE RTETLO CULOSH ABENSE AQUAEM ITTEBA...
12. ...N* TURPO RABET DIXITE RGOIES USSINE ILLAMU TIXDIE MS...
13. ...EPUL TURAEM EAESER NETILL UDPAUP ERESEN IMSEMP ERHA...
14. ...BE TISNOB IISCUM MEAUTE MNONSE MPERHA BETISC OGNO...
15. ...VI TEROT* URBAMU LTAEXI UDACIS QUIAIL LICEST ETVENE
16. RUNTNO NPROTE RIESUM TANTUM SEDUTL ZARUM* VIDER...
17. ...E NTQUEM SUSCTA VITAMO RTUISC OGITAV ERUNTA UTEMP...
18. ...R INCIPE SSACER DOTUMU TETLAZ ARUMIN TERFIC ERENTQ
19. UIAMUL TIPROP TERILH UMABIB NTCXU* TDAEIS ETCRCD
20. EBANTI NIESUM
Between the six-letters-groups, 140 letters from the message
were added (but with another three errors). The letters should
have been:
VCPSJQROVYMYYDLTPEFRBOXTODJLBKNJFQUEPAJYNPPBFEIELRGHIIRYBTTCVTGDADGENE
SARETHLUCCVMTEJHPNPGSVQJHGMLFTSVJLZQMTOXANPEMUPHKORPKHVJCMCATLVQXGGNDT
8 letters were put in superscript, so coding a new message (REX
MUNDI).
1. IESUSEVRGOANTCESEXDIPESPASCSHAEVENJITBETHQANIAMURAI
2. FUERAOTLAZARVUSMORTYUUSQUEMMSUSCIYTAVITIYESUSFEDCERUNT
3. LAUTEMETICAENAPMIBIETOMARTHAHMINISTRRABATLBAZARUSO
4. VEROUNXUSERATTEXDISCOUMLENTDILUSCUJMMARIALERGOACBCEP
5. ITLKIBRAMUNNGENTIJNARDIPFISTICIQPRETIOUSIETUNEXITPE
6. DPESIERUAETEXTEJRSITCAYPIIRISNSUISPEPDESERTPTETDOMBESIM
7. PLFETAESTEEXUNGEINTIODAEREDIXALTERGOURNUMEXDGISCIPUHL
8. ISEIUIXIUDDXISCARIORTISQUIYERATCUBMTRADITTURUSQTUAREHOCCUN
9. BENVTUMNONXVENIITTGRECENPDISDENAARIISETDDATUMESGTE
10. GENIES?DIXINUTEMHOECNONQUSIADEEGAENISPERRTINEBEAT
11. ADEUTMSEDQUHIAFURELRTETLOUCULOSHCABENSECAQUAEMVITTEBA
12. NMTURPOTRABETEDIXITEJRGOIESHUSSINEPILLAMUNTIXDIEPMS
13. EPULGTURAEMSEAESERVNETILLQUDPAUPJERESENHIMSEMPGERHA
14. BEMTISNOBLIISCUMFMEAUTETMNONSESMPERHAVBETISCJOGNO
15. VILTEROTZURBAMUQLTAEXIMUDACISTQUIAILOLICESTXETVENE
16. ARUNTNONNPROTEPRIESUMETANTUMMSEDUTLUZARUMPVIDER
17. EHNTQUEMKSUSCTAOVITAMORRTUISCPOGITAVKERUNTAHUTEMP
18. RVINCIPEJSSACERCDOTUMUMTETLAZCARUMINATERFICTERENTQ
19. LUIAMULVTIPROPQTERILHXUMABIBGNTCXUGTDAEISNETCRCD
20. DEBANTITNIESUM
The final text was written without spaces and completed by:
- two small symbols at the top and at the bottom which seem to
be rudders;
- a sort of signature “NOIS” which can be read as SION when
inverted;
- the text taken from the inscription at the foot of the altar
in the church of Rennes-le-Château before someone stole it.
The inscription at the foot of the altar, now stolen
Here is the final parchment:
Gérard de Sède, L'Or
de Rennes, Paris: Julliard, 1967, p. 109.
In order to complete the analysis of the parchment I wrote a
line by line transcription which compares the pseudo-uncial text
(line 1), the transcription (line 2) and the text of the Gospel
in the edition "Wordsworth and White".
In line 2 the letters taken from the 140 letters message are
written with a larger font.
For a correct reading it is necessary to keep in mind these
notes:
1) On the parchments the letters I and T and the letters V and U
are almost the same; during the transcription, priority was
given to the letters on the Gospel "Wordsworth and White", with
the exception of the U which is always copied as V when the
meaning is clear;
2) Sometimes also the letters C and E are very similar: in these
cases the error is emphasised;
3) When two letters (from the parchment and from the Gospel) are
different, in both lines 2 and 3 the letters are underlined, in
order to locate them with ease;
4) Some letters on the parchment are written with a
smaller font: in the transcription they have been put in
superscript. When read in sequence, they give REX MUNDI (rows 2,
3, 4, 16, 17, 19, 20);
5) On two occasions the parchment misses some letters from the
Gospel: in these cases the omitted letters are between [square
brackets] on line 2 (rows 14 and 19);
6) Sometimes the parchment misses some letters from the Gospel:
in these cases the omitted letters are between [square brackets]
on line 3 (i.e. at row 4 where the letters EO are omitted from
the parchment).
A final note: the author of the parchment did many
errors in creating it, but the worse was certainly the one made
during the copy of the 140 letters of the hidden message; three
letters were mis-copied (two letters EF became OH and a letter T
became X).
With those errors, the 140 letters produce a message like this:
BERGETE PAS DE
TENTATION QUE POUSSIN TENIERS GARDENT LA CLEF SAX
DCLXHXI PAR LA CROIX ET
CE CHEVAL DE DIEU J’ACHEVE CE DAEMON DE GARDIEN A MIDI POMMES
BLEUES
The one given above is the message really hidden
inside the Great Parchment. It is interesting to note that since
1965 the message was always mentioned with the three corrections
(BERGERE, PAX and DCLXXXI), although the parchment is wrong
(being the words BERGETE, SAX and DCLXHXI). The correct reading
is arbitrary and based only on an interpretation driven by the
sense of the final message, but not justified by any other
element on the parchment.
1.Ferdinando Ferraioli, "Indagine paleografica sulle due
pergamene" in Indagini
su Rennes-le-Château 14
(2007) pages 694-698.
2.See: Mariano Tomatis Antoniono, "Le fonti di Pierre Gravées du
Languedoc - Storia e controstoria di un intricato falso" in Indagini
su Rennes-le-Château 20
(2008), pages 982-994.
3.See: Marco Cipriani e Mariano Tomatis Antoniono, "La stele
tombale di Marie de Nègre d’Ables - Approfondimento storico
documentale" in Indagini
su Rennes-le-Château 6
(2006) pages 293-303.
4.Stefano Bartezzaghi, Lezioni
di enigmistica, Torino: Einaudi, 2001, p.119.
5.Eulero, "Solution d'une question curieuse qui ne paroit
soumise à aucune analyse" in Memoires de l’Academie Royale des
Sciences et Belles Lettres (1759) 15, Berlin: 1766, page 312.
6.Jean-Luc Chaumeil, Le
testament du Prieuré de Sion, pages
115-122.
7.The same sequence can be found on the manuscript attributed to
Philippe de Chérisey "Pierre
et Papier". The same sequence - in an inverted form - can be
found also on "Circuit",
by the same author.
8.The process has been fully explained by Mariano Tomatis
Antoniono in The
Rennes-le-Château Observer, volume 50 (2007)
9.The same sequence (with three differences) can be found on the
manuscript attributed to Philippe de Chérisey "Pierre
et Papier" and on
the book by the same author "Circuit".
The differences are underlined here: JRINOHXTJNFSDTQZDEAMGFCZCSCGGBSO
SGNZUQODBFIVKUNJZHZCNZXDOJMXBNLI
ZKUXBDZJXXIIUXYBEZABRCKZGLCGEHRZ
CMSIUURADXDJXGPMJZUHHQZQJGPBLEIZ With these corrections
(otherwise unjustified), the final text is correct, but De
Chérisey offers no justification for the use of these correct
letters.
10.The same sequence (with three differences) can be found on
the manuscript attributed to Philippe de Chérisey "Pierre
et Papier" and on
the book by the same author "Circuit".
The differences are underlined here: VCPSJQROVYMYYDLTPOHRBOXTODJLBKNJ
FQUEPAJYNPPBFEIELRGHIIRYBTTCVXGD
LUCCVMTEJHPNPGSVQJHGMLFTSVJLZQMT
OXANPEMUPHKORPKHVJCMCATLVQXGGNDT With these corrections
(otherwise unjustified), the final text is correct, but De
Chérisey offers no justification for the use of these correct
letters.
11.Bill Putnam and John Edwin Wood, The
Treasure of Rennes-le-Chateau - A Mystery Solved, Sutton
Publishing, 2005
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