Priory of Sion Misconceptions -

Robert Richardson and Steven Mizrach

Containing References

VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING on the Internet about the Priory of Sion can be described as pure hokum that cannot be treated seriously. The various
accounts found on all the websites are all similar to each other and are mostly plagiarisms of the accounts found in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
[1] and in The Messianic Legacy [2], and one is led to believe that the whole world is composed of Flat Earthers who do not want to accept the
evidence of the Hubble Telescope (Plantard was a proven charlatan and forger who lived in a world of his own [3]). Authors Baigent, Lincoln and
Leigh were obviously not competent 'critics' in the basic sense of what is expected from objective historical research and merely took all the Pierre
Plantard gobbledygook seriously - if Plantard claimed that the Priory of Sion was linked to world politics, an ‘American contingent’, the Kreisau
Circle, the Knights of Malta and the Vatican, with Roberto Calvi, etc, then this was all ‘historical fact’ and not the twisted aberrations of some fantasist.
There are a couple of exceptions to this unfortunate situation, and one of these exceptions contains basic mistakes. Robert Richardson's The Priory of
Sion Hoax, an abridged version of The Unknown Treasure: the Priory of Sion Fraud and the Spiritual Treasure of Rennes-le-Château (Houston, TX:
NorthStar, 1998) sets out to debunk all the lies, the myths, and the legends and to ‘finally prove’ that everything about the Priory of Sion was a waste of
time.
Robert Richardson's well-intended debunking contains allegations that need to be debunked. Richardson claimed, for example, that the Alpha Galates -
the 1940s precursor of the Priory of Sion ‘ was ‘founded by Georges Monti’. Closer inspection of Richardson's article reveals that he could not have
read a single issue of Vaincre, the wartime journal of the Alpha Galates edited by Pierre de France-Plantard, because nowhere in Vaincre is it claimed
that the founder of the Order was Georges Monti. What Richardson's article reveals however, is that he got his ‘information’ - which he seems to have
uncritically accepted - from Gérard de Sède's 1988 book, Rennes-le-Château - Le Dossier, Les Impostures, Les Phantasmes, Les Hypothèses. Gérard de
Sède in turn claimed to have got his ‘information’ from the ‘diaries of Émile Hoffet in 1966’ that he was not allowed to take photocopies of (here
Gérard de Sède had obviously gotten himself into the habit of copying Plantard's methods of creating fantasies, and de Sède too seems not to have read
a single issue of Vaincre).
Georges Monti is only ever mentioned once in the entire 6 issues of Vaincre - in an article by the conservative Right-Winger Professor Louis Le Fur.
Le Fur mentioned how in a state of distress following the events of 6 February 1934, he was advised by his friend Le Comte de Moncharville to see
Georges Monti for spiritual and political guidance [4].
Quoting the alleged words of Le Comte de Moncharville to Louis Le Fur: "My dear friend, this moment was ordained for you, because from now on
you won’t be able to continue your efforts alone - your path is now the same as my path, so write on my behalf to my friend Georges Monti, a man of
great ability."
Le Fur went on to describe how he became a member of the Alpha Galates six months later as a consequence of his meeting with Georges Monti.
Georges Monti died in 1936. The Statutes of the Alpha Galates are dated 1937. Georges Monti could have lived his entire life without ever knowing
about the existence of the Alpha Galates. The very first issue of Vaincre contains an article by Jean Falloux introducing the Ideal of the Order,
revealing how it had been recently founded in 1942 by Pierre de France, and who had previously in 1937 been responsible for founding another Order
called 'The French Union' [5]. The article by Louis Le Fur that described his becoming a member of the Alpha Galates in 1934 appeared in Vaincre
issue number 4 - the historical pedigree of the Order obviously became more and more ancient with every successive issue of the journal (the Order's
history also became involved with Atlantis and the Druids in other later issues of Vaincre).
The events of 6 February 1934 mentioned by Louis Le Fur seem crucial. That same date was given prominence in another article found in Vaincre,
linked with anti-semitism ("Preparations for the coming of Hitler to France had been going on since 1934, following the setback of 6 February...") [6].
It was a key date in France in relation to the Right Wing. It referred to the ‘Stavisky Affair’. Riots in Paris were staged on 6 February 1934 by the Right
Wing (and Monarchists) in opposition to the Radical Socialist government which they accused of having corrupt dealings with a Russian Jew named
Serge Alexandre Stavisky - who had been caught dealing in financial fraud in 1933 and then escaped - and following his capture and death in January
1934, the Right had accused the Police of killing Stavisky in order to cover-up the involvement of government officials in the scandal. A long trial in
1935-1936 acquitted all those accused of being involved in the scandal which placed French politics in total disrepute [7].
That the Alpha Galates were anti-semitic in nature is specified in Article Seven of their Statutes: "The Order is rigorously closed to Jews and to any
member who is recognised as belonging to a Judaeo-Masonic order." [8]
The part stating "belonging to a Judeo-Masonic order" is a reference to the Grand Orient - the French Masonic Body that was accused by the Right of
causing the French Revolution and the downfall of the French Monarchy through the manipulations of Adam Weishaupt (a German Jew) following the
Masonic Congress of Wilhemsbad in 1782, which was responsible for introducing rationalism into Freemasonry [9]. This created the Tradition of the
Grand Occident in France (the word ‘Occident’ is frequently found in the pages of Vaincre) - involving Right Wing Roman Catholicism, anti-semitism
and Counter-Revolutionary objectives in general - this Tradition manifested itself into Orders of Chivalric Knighthoods in France by World War Two
following the dissolution of French Freemasonry and the Grand Orient by Marshal Pétain in 1940.
Dr Steven Mizrach, Professor of Anthropology at a Florida University, a Fortean, a believer in Flying Saucers and a Jewish American, has several
online articles about the Priory of Sion. His stance concerning it can only be described as being severely gullible. The various silly claims linking the
Priory of Sion with world politics he is prepared to take quite seriously ("If it really exists, it may be one of the most powerful secret societies of all
time."). Steven Mizrach never mentions the anti-semitic nature of Pierre Plantard. Mizrach's pattern of behaviour on the ‘Priory of Sion Mailing List’
was to take a peek at what was written in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and in The Messianic Legacy before committing himself to any
conclusive comments in his messages about the Priory of Sion. He seems to accept that the Alpha Galates were founded by Georges Monti (only on
Richardson's say-so) and that Monti was Péladan's Secretary (which needs verifying).
The ‘Constitution de la Rose-Croix: le Temple et le Graal’ [10] reveals that Joséphin Péladan was a Conservative Catholic who believed in the True
Presence in the Eucharist and who revered Joseph of Arimathea, Hugues de Payens and Dante. Péladan certainly aimed at transforming society by
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integrating the mystical into it through works of Art, Plays and Music (Robert Richardson was correct about this point). The activities of Joséphin ‘Sar’
Péladan complement the Tradition of the Grand Occident nicely.
Steven Mizrach also has a high regard for Maurice Barrès, without ever mentioning his Nationalism and anti-semitism:

The Nancy Program

http://www.cooper.edu/humanities/core/hss3/m_barres.html

An article in the Historical Dictionary of the Third French Republic 1870-1940 [11] places the name of Maurice Barrès alongside Charles Maurras
(Action Française) and Edouard Drumont (owner of the anti-semitic newspaper, La Libre Parole and author of the best-selling book, La France juive).
Steven Mizrach makes the most basic mistakes about the Priory of Sion, claiming that it registered its existence in 1956 in ‘Annemasse’ - when in
actual fact this was done at St Julien-en-Genevois:

http://priory-of-sion.com/psp/posd/regdoc.html

Here lies the historical evidence that the Priory of Sion was founded in 1956 and named after the nearby hill to Saint Julien-en-Genevois called Mont
Sion - and had nothing whatever to do with the ‘Sion’ in Jerusalem - the alleged ‘history’ of the Priory of Sion dating from the period of the Crusades
and Godfrey de Bouillon as mentioned in the Priory Documents is a historical fiction concocted by Pierre Plantard during the 1960s - and here again,
Steven Mizrach refuses to comment upon the virulent anti-semitism of Godfrey de Bouillon (and this ‘history’ was revoked, rejected and replaced by
another ‘Priory of Sion history’ concocted by Pierre Plantard during the late 1980s/early 1990s).
Steven Mizrach claims that the Priory of Sion is ultimately linked to the 19th century Parisian artistic circles the Symbolists and the Surrealists [12] -
without providing the slightest bit of historical evidence to support that theory: so where does it originate from? We know that Philippe de Chérisey
was interested in surrealism, and his surrealist ideas found expression in the Priory Documents that were composed by him - but this cannot be used as
‘evidence’ that the Priory of Sion has its origins in the Surrealist Art Movements of 19th century France! And Philippe de Chérisey was not even
connected with Plantard's activities before the early 1960s. So this particular theory by Steven Mizrach is very easy to debunk.
Pierre Plantard's main thrust lay in the field of genealogies, not in surrealism, and in his claim to be descended from Dagobert II [13]. Plantard was a
Merovingian Pretender and Philippe de Chérisey assisted Plantard with his deceptions - and because Philippe de Chérisey was a lover of surrealism he
decorated his support for Plantard in surrealist form. That's all it amounts to. The "parchments" we know were concocted by Philippe de Chérisey at the
request of Pierre Plantard [14] - and Philippe de Chérisey was entitled to a share of the profits from the sales of Gérard de Sède's 1967 book L'Or de
Rennes for providing the "parchments". The book contract contains the name of Philippe de Chérisey [15].
Steven Mizrach still seems to cling to the List of Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion as given in the Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau (1967) and that
the Priory had links with the Knights Templar - despite the fact that Plantard had scrapped both these claims during the late 1980s and had replaced
them with a new set of beliefs: a new List of Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion was produced with it being linked with the ‘Children of St Vincent’
instead of with the Knights Templar. [16] Pierre Plantard had also denounced Philippe Toscan, the author of the Dossiers Secrets as someone who had
concocted everything under the influence of LSD. [17] Steven Mizrach does not seem to be interested in any of this.
Robert Richardson and Steven Mizrach operated from different perspectives in relation to the Priory of Sion - and both of them made mistakes. Both of
them took for granted that the Alpha Galates were founded by Georges Monti and linked with Joséphin 'Sar' Péladan - for which there is no historical
evidence whatsoever. This is why it is always important to go back to the original source material, and to always put things to the critical test. The
evidence contained within the pages of Vaincre contradicts the claims made by both Robert Richardson and Steven Mizrach.
Pierre Plantard was later bitten badly for creating his deceptions. During the 1980s he claimed that Roger-Patrice Pelat had been a ‘Grand Master of the
Priory of Sion’. [18] This claim was to catch up with him. During the 1990s, when the French Judge Thierry Jean-Pierre began investigating the
financial scandals involving Roger-Patrice Pelat (linked to President Mitterand) he had to order the search of Plantard's house as part of those
investigations because of his claims concerning Pelat [19] - Plantard was given a severe warning in 1993 and consequently terminated all of his
activities relating to his imaginary Priory of Sion from that point on.
Nor was this the only time that Pierre Plantard was in trouble with French Law. He was imprisoned several times during the 1950s. [20]

References :

[1] First published in 1982, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail contained nothing new about the Priory of Sion that had not been published in France
years beforehand - except a new set of alleged 'Statutes of the Priory of Sion signed by Jean Cocteau'. Its account of Bérenger Saunière was debunked
in 1974 by René Descadeillas in his Mythologie du Trésor de Rennes.
[2] Published in 1986, The Messianic Legacy contained more Priory of Sion hokum treated seriously, linking it with Guardian Assurance (and
capitalising on accounts first started by Louis Vazart in 1983). It omitted the proper conflict between Pierre Plantard and Jean-Luc Chaumeil, and
various documentation relating to this conflict found in the 1984 Priory Document L'Affaire Jean-Luc Chaumeil (Rennes-le-Château) by Philippe de
Chérisey (BN Code EL 4 Z Piece 245). The book also omitted the Statutes of the Alpha Galates.
[3] Pierre Plantard's re-written history of Bérenger Saunière and Rennes-le-Château as found in the Priory Documents was debunked in Descadeillas'
Mythologie du Trésor de Rennes (1974). The fraudulent nature of the "parchments" and Plantard's claim to be descended from Dagobert II was exposed
in a 1996 British television documentary, The History of a Mystery, using primary evidence provided by the French author Jean-Luc Chaumeil.
[4] Article, In The Service of the Alpha by Professor Louis Le Fur, in Vaincre Nr 4, 21 December 1942, pp3-4.
[5] Article, Our Goal... by Jean Falloux, in Vaincre Nr 1, 21 September 1942, page 2.
[6] Article, Prologue to 'Here's The Truth' by Auguste Brisieux, in Vaincre Nr 5, 21 January 1943, page 3.
[7] A. Werth, France In Ferment (1935, reprinted 1968).
[8] Statutes of the Alpha Galates (1937) in Vaincre Nr 1, 21 September 1942, page 4).
[9] Article by Paul Le Cour, The True Freemasonry (in Atlantis Nr 68, 21 November 1938; 'Eglise Maçonnerie Tradition' edition) - "There had been
the Masonic Congress of Wilhemsbad in 1782, and the malign influence of a German Jew called Weischaupt, who set in train the rationalist movement

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in the lodges and brought about the bloody revolution of 1793" - these may not have been historical facts but they certainly represented the belief-
system of the Tradition of the Grand Occident. Pierre Plantard was an admirer of Paul Le Cour and based many of his allegations on his ideas.
[10] Péladan's ‘Constitution de la Rose-Croix: le Temple et le Graal’ is dated 10 March 1893.
[11] Historical Dictionary of the Third French Republic, 1870-1940; Patrick H. Hutton, Editor-In-Chief (Aldwych Press, London; 1986).
[12] Several French authors - Michael Lamy, Patrick Ferte, and Richard Khaitzine entertain the 'connection' between the Priory of Sion and artistic
societies that Steven Mizrach takes seriously.
[13] Henri Lobineau, Généalogie des Rois Mérovingiens et Origine des diverses Familles Françaises et Etrangères de Souche Mérovingienne d’Après
L’Abbé Pichon, le Docteur Hervé et les Parchemins de l’Abbé Saunière de Rennes-le-Château (Aude). Dated 1956, but its Deposition-date in the
Bibliothèque Nationale is 18 January 1964. (*Quoting Mizrach about this: "One thing is certain about Msr. Plantard: his geneaology as presented in
the 'dossiers secretes' appears to be an utter fabrication" - without realising that his statement just dismantled the whole edifice of the Priory of Sion,
such being his naivety.)
[14] The "original parchments" are in the possession of Jean-Luc Chaumeil, presented on the 1996 television documentary The History of a Mystery
with Plantard's annotation found on one of the "parchments" (written in red ink): "This is the original document faked by Philippe de Chérisey which
Gérard de Sède reproduced in his book, ‘The Gold at Rennes’."
[15] In the Private Archives of Jean-Luc Chaumeil.
[16] Article, Some Archives of the Priory of Sion Discovered in Barcelona... by ‘Ursanne’ (in Vaincre Nr 3, September 1989, page 22). *See also the
article by Pablo Norberto, The Origin of the Priory of Sion (in Le Cercle: Rennes-le-Château et le Prieuré de Sion, 1992, pp49b-49t; edited by Thomas
Plantard de Saint-Clair).
[17] An Interview with Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair by Noel Pinot (in Vaincre Nr 1, April 1989, pp 5-6).
[18] ‘Internal Circular’ of the Priory of Sion dated 8 March 1989, appearing in Les Cahiers de Rennes-Le-Château Nr IX (1989).
[19] Articles in the French Papers Le Figaro, Tribune Desfossés and Minute of September/October 1993.
[20] Letter dated 8 June 1956 from the Mayor of Annemasse to the Sous-Préfet of St-Julien-en-Genevois. See here.

Paul Smith