Kephra just don't know where to put this - move to where you think it fits
Allright, I admit it, I stole this idea from another forum. It is just too delicious. And with all the strange inner ?earth? changes happening lately, and we all know ?Journey to the Center of the Earth? (if you don?t have a clue here?s a link to the original book on line in English
http://jv.gilead.org.il/vt/c_earth/ ).
Here?s how I first ran across this ?
http://www.templarhistory.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=494Rennes le Chateau is surrounded by a few places of interest:
- the castle of Blanchefort (?Blanca fort? in old French meant "white castle"); some have claimed that the 6th Grand Master of the Templars, Bertrand de Blanchefort (or Blanquefort) was born there.
- Rennes les Bains (a second "Rennes") located a few miles east of Rennes le Chateau; it is an old town with several hot springs where people bathe in to get healthier. A local old legend claims that one of the springs was called the Queen's Bath because Queen Blanche of Castille (King Louis IX's mother) made several visits there. The Queen's Bath is known for its water which is salty and smells like sulphur.
- and finally Bugarach Peak, the highest mountain of the area; it is located exactly to the east of the castle of Montsegur some fifty miles away.
In 1897, Jules Verne, the famous 19th century science fiction writer, published a novel called "Clovis Dardentor". It wasn't one of his most well known novel, but the story is very puzzling.
First the title is interesting: Clovis was the name of one of the first Merovingian kings. The plot of the novel is about the hunt for a treasure. It doesn't take place in France but curiously near the city of Oran in Algeria.
At some point the heroes of the story find themselves at the old castle of Blanca (... Blancafort?...). Surprised
In the novel, a certain place is described; it is located near an Algerian town and called the Queen's Bath. Jules Verne specified that the water of the spring was salty and smelled like sulphur (... Rennes les Bains?...). Surprised
And finally the name of the main heroe of the story is "Captain Bugarach"! Surprised
The similarity between the names of the novel and the names of the locations near Rennes le Chateau is too obvious to be a coincidence.
The connection between Rennes le Chateau and the Merovingians didn't come to light until the early 1970s. That was when Pierre Plantard and Jean-Luc Chaumeil started spreading their stories and ultimately inspired Henry Lincoln, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh to write "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". So how could Jules Verne have known about the connections between Rennes le Chateau and the Merovingians some 80 years earlier?
His allusions to the Merovingians, to a treasure in the camouflaged region of Rennes are very intriguing... Some have said that Jules Verne belonged to a secret brotherhood. Could it explain his interest for the region of Rennes le Chateau? Did his brotherhood already know of the existence of a treasure and of its link with the Merovingians?
The most puzzling thing is that ?Clovis Dardentor? was published in 1897, the very same year abbot Berenger Sauniere restored the church dedicated to Mary Magdalene in Rennes le Chateau.
A few years earlier, in 1892, Sauniere had made the discovery of a crypt under the church. It contained the tombs of the lords of Rennes, a key element of the secret that apparently made him rich. Right after that, the priest went to Paris. Did Berenger Sauniere meet Jules Verne in Paris and tell him about his discovery?
Here is a link to the ?Clovis Dardentor? story online.
http://jv.gilead.org.il/zydorczak/dar00.htm - Unfortunately it?s in French. But here are the illustrations from the book ?
And a copy of this book sells for $1,500. Still looking for an English version online
More from the original thread -
And FYI. I have read that Jules Verne took his inspiration for 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' from Mt. Bugarach. I've been to Rennes le Chateau 4 times and a few locals told me this interesting tale of Jules Verne and Bugarach. I also heard local myths of a sleeping giant man who was under Mt. Bugarach. There are legends of a sleeping old man in Pech Cardou too. Perhaps there is some merit to this sleeping man story and Bugarach as the passage to the underworld/Halls of Amenti.
Intrigued?