Timeline

Four centuries of mystery, intrigue, and discovery

17th Century

1621

Guercino paints first version of Et In Arcadia Ego

6 Aug 1623

Pontificate Urban VIII

1627

Nicolas Poussin paints his first version of the Shepherds of Arcadia

1639

Nicolas Poussin paints his second version of Shepherds of Arcadia

1640

Rebuilding of the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rennes

14 May 1643

Death of Louis XIII, reign of Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil

15 Sep 1644

Pontificate Innocent X

23 Nov 1644

Registering of the testament of Francois Pierre d'Hautpoul by notary Captier of Espéraza

1645

A shepherd called Ignace Paris falls in a cave in search of a sheep and comes out with a large number of gold coins in his hat. He tells people he has discovered a room full of gold but when he refuses to tell where he is stoned to death on the charge of theft.

1646

Baron Blaise d'Hautpoul has the church of Rennes-le-Château restored, supported by the bishop of Alet Nicolas Pavillon

1651

Bishop of Alet Nicolas Pavillon gives a diamond the size of an egg to the city of Toulouse for fighting the plague.

1653

Discovery of the tomb of Childeric I in the Church of Saint Brice in Tournai. The treasure buried with him consists of a richly ornamented sword, a torse-like bracelet, jewels of gold and cloisonné enamel with garnets, gold coins, a gold bulls head and a ring with the inscription CHILDERICI REGIS (of Childeric the king), which identifies the tomb. Most special find are 300 golden bees, that Napoleon I later uses to decorate his mantle for the coronation as Emperor of the French

7 Apr 1655

Pontificate Alexander VII

Apr 1656

Abbé Louis Fouquet, the brother of Nicolas Fouquet, superintendent of finances to King Louis XIV of France, sent a letter to his brother describing his meeting with Nicolas Poussin. He and I discussed certain things, which I shall with ease be able to explain to you in detail – things that will give you, through Monsieur Poussin, advantages which even kings would have great pains to draw from him...

1659

François Charles Fouquet is nominated bishop of Narbonne (brother of Nicolas Fouquet, Treasurer under Louis XIV)

1659

Signing of the Treaty of the Pyrénées, the Roussillon is given back to France

1660

The church of Notre Dame de Marceille in Limoux is transferred from the diocese of Alet to the diocese of Narbonne

19 Nov 1665

Death of Nicolas Poussin in Rome

Nov 1661

Blaise d'Hautpoul goes to court against Nicolas Pavillon, bishop of Alet to prevent the King's troops to search his grounds and mines

1662

The possessions of Blaise d'Hautpoul include Rennes, St. Just, Le Bézu, Les Bains, Montferrand, Montazels, Moissan, Dent, Sainte Eugénie, Lavadieu and Belfort de Voisins

20 Jun 1667

Pontificate Clement IX

29 Apr 1670

Pontificate Clement X

1670

Mgr. François Charles Fouquet allegedly has a St. Antoine tableau by David Teniers the Younger overpainted with a St. Augustine by Ambroise Frédeau

1673

Death of Mgr. François Charles Fouquet, Louis XIV starts 4 years of trials to remove the Jansenist bishop Nicolas Pavillon from the diocese of Alet but doesn't succeed

21 Sep 1676

Pontificate Innocent XI

8 Dec 1677

Death of Nicolas Pavillon bishop of Alet

1678

Colbert, Louis XIV's new treasurer erects La Compagnie des Mines de Blanchefort, to prospect the lands of the Hautpouls

1685

Louis XIV buys the original of the second version of Shepherds of Arcadia from C.A. Herault. He puts it on display in his private quarters

5 Oct 1689

Pontificate Alexander VIII, birth of François d'Hautpoul Rennes, marquis de Blanchefort

12 Jul 1691

Pontificate Innocent XII

1694

Entry in the parish registry of the burial of a high ranking individual in the church of Rennes-le-Château registered by Abbé Vernat

18th Century

23 Nov 1700

Pontificate Clement XI

1705

Death of Dame Anne Delsol, aged 75, buried in the church of Rennes-le-Château au Tombeau des Seigneurs (Tomb of the Lords)

1713

Birth of Marie de Nègre d'Ables, daughter of François de Nègre d'Ables de Niort

1715

Death of Louis XIV, reign of Louis XV, le Bien Aimé

8 May 1721

Pontificate Innocent XIII

1724

Death of Messire Henry du Venret buried in the church of Rennes-le-Château au Tombeau des Seigneurs

1724

Abbé Bernard becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

29 May 1724

Pontificate Benedict XIII

12 Jul 1730

Pontificate Clement XII

May 1732

Abbé Bernard Mongé of Niort-de-Sault is murdered by François de Montroux, uncle and appointed tutor of Marie de Nègre

17 Nov 1732

Marriage of François d'Hautpoul (43) and Marie de Nègre (18)

1734

Birth of Marie daughter of Marie de Nègre and François Hautpoul

1735

Birth of Elizabeth daughter of Marie de Nègre and François Hautpoul

1736

Abbé Jean Bigou becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château, succeeding Abbé Verger

1737

Birth of Joseph son of Marie de Nègre and François Hautpoul

8 Mar 1739

Death of Joseph d'Hautpoul, aged 17 months. He is buried in the cemetery of Rennes "near the big cross". This marks the end of the male line of the Hautpouls-Rennes family.

1739

Birth of Gabrielle daughter of Marie de Nègre and François Hautpoul

1740

Church furnishings of Rennes are renewed, the Tombeau des Seigneurs (Tomb of the Lords) is sealed up

17 Aug 1740

Pontificate Benedict XIV

1748

Admiral George Baron Anson commissions the Shepherds Monument at Shugborough Hall, UK

26 Sep 1752

Marie d'Hautpoul Rennes marries her cousin Joseph Marie d'Hautpoul-Félines

15 May 1753

Sudden death of François d'Hautpoul-Rennes, seigneur of Rennes-le-Château, Marquis de Blanchefort

1753

Marie de Nègre sells the Seigneuries of Niort and Roquefeuil to pay her late husband's debts

6 Jul 1758

Pontificate Clement XIII

1767

Marriage of Gabrielle d'Hautpoul-Rennes and Paul Vincent de Fleury

19 May 1769

Pontificate Clement XIV

10 May 1774

Death of Louis XV, reign of Louis XVI

1774

Abbé Antoine Bigou becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

15 Feb 1775

Pontificate Pius VI

1776

Death of Abbé Jean Bigou in Rennes-le-Château

17 Jan 1781

Death of Marie de Nègre d'Ables, Dame d'Hautpoul, Marquise Blanchefort

1790

Elisabeth Hautpoul Mademoiselle de Rennes flees the Revolution to Toulouse

1790

Death of Gabrielle d'Hautpoul

1791

Abbé Jean Antoine Camp becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

31 Jul 1791

Start of the French Revolution

1791

Antoine Bigou leaves Rennes to hide in Quillan

1 Sep 1792

Last bishop of Alet, Charles de la Cropte de Chanterac flees to Spain

10 Aug 1792

Fall of Louis XVI

Sep 1792

Clandestine emigration of Antoine Bigou and Abbé Cauneille to Spain

9 Oct 1792

Charles de la Cropte de Chanterac arrives in Sabadell

21 Jan 1793

Execution of Louis XVI

21 Mar 1794

Death of Abbé Antoine Bigou in Collioure

5 Apr 1794

Execution of Danton

28 Jul 1794

Execution of Robespierre

1797

Elisabeth Hautpoul returns to Rennes, signing over the Château Hautpoul to her stewards Michel Captier and Julie Avignon

10 Nov 1799

End of the First Republic, Napoleon Bonaparte declares himself First Consul

19th Century

17 Jan 1800

Oppression of royalist revolt in the Vendée

14 Mar 1800

Pontificate Pius VII

1803

Abbé Marsan becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

1804

Napoleon Bonaparte declares himself Emperor of the French people

1805

Abbé Rouger becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

1812

Tragic end of Napoleon I's Russian campaign

1814

Abdication of Napoleon I, exile to Elba

20 Mar 1815

Napoleon I returns to power, start of the One Hundred Days

18 Jun 1815

Defeat of Napoleon I at Waterloo, second abdication and exile to St Helena

1815

Reign of Louis XVIII

1816

Michel Captier and Julie Avignon buy the possessions of Elisabeth Hautpoul

20 May 1820

Death of Elisabeth Hautpoul aged 85

1820

Abbé Sabarthes becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

1822

Louis de Coma is born in Foix

1823

Abbé Sadourny becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

28 Sep 1823

Pontificate Leo XII

1824

Death of Louis XVIII, reign of Charles X

31 Mar 1829

Pontificate Pius VIII

19 Jul 1830

The Virgin Mary appears to Catherine Labouré in the Rue du Bac in Paris

29 Jul 1830

Abdication of Charles X, reign of Louis Philippe de Bourbon, le Roi Citoyen

2 Feb 1831

Pontificate Gregory XVI

1832

French historian Labouïsse-Rochefort publishes Voyages à Rennes-les-Bains, comparing the landscape with Arcadia

1832

Abbé Pagès becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

1834

Abbé Blanc becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

1836

Abbé Pons becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

16 Nov 1837

Birth of Jean-Jacques Henri Boudet in Quillan

1840

Birth of Edmond Boudet, brother of Henri Boudet

16 Jun 1846

Pontificate Pius IX

Sep 1846

The Virgin Mary appears to Mélanie Calvet in La Salette

24 Feb 1848

2nd revolution in Paris, Second Republic proclaimed

10 Dec 1848

Louis Napoleon elected President de la République

1851

Coup d'État of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon III), proclamation of the Second Empire

11 Apr 1852

Bérenger Saunière is born in Montazels as the first of 7 children

1855

Alfred Saunière is born in Montazels

1856

Louis de Coma starts construction of the Carol Estate

Feb 1858

The Virgin Mary appears to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes

1860

A piece of gold weighing over 50 kilos is found near Bézu

25 Dec 1861

Henri Boudet is ordained a priest

1 Jan 1862

Henri Boudet becomes the curé of Durban

16 Jun 1862

Henri Boudet becomes the curé of Caunes (Minervois)

1 Nov 1866

Henri Boudet becomes the curé of Frestes

1867

Château Hautpoul is sold to the Dalbiès family of Couiza

12 Aug 1868

Birth of Marie Dénarnaud

21 May 1870

Napoleon III capitulates

31 Aug 1870

French Republic is proclaimed, start of the Third Republic

17 Feb 1871

Thiers President de la République

1 Jul 1872

Death of Jean Vié curé of Rennes-les-Bains

1872

Henri Boudet becomes curé of Rennes-les-Bains

1873

Failed attempt to restore the monarchy by Henry V, Comte de Chambord

1873

Start of the great depression

Feb 1876

The Virgin Mary appears to Estelle Faguette in Pellevoisin

20 Feb 1878

Pontificate Leo XIII

1879

Abbé Cézac becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

1879

A new sacristie is built against the Church at Rennes

16 Jul 1879

Bérenger Saunière becomes chaplain of Alet-les-Bains

1880

Discovery of a Neolithic graveyard, proving man's presence in the area for at least 3,000 years

1880

Henri Boudet finishes his book La Vraie Langue Celtique

1881

Mgr. Billard becomes Bishop of Carcassonne

1881

Abbé Mocquin becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

1881

Antoine Gélis is assaulted in his house by two masked men

16 Jun 1882

Bérenger Saunière becomes curé of Le Clat

8 Feb 1884

Papal Encyclical Nobilissima Gallorum Gens

1884

Abbé Croc becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

1885

Louis de Coma completes construction of the Carol Estate

1 Jun 1885

Bérenger Saunière becomes curé of Rennes-le-Château

4 Oct 1885

Bérenger Saunière preaches against the Republicans

2 Dec 1885

Bérenger Saunière is suspended because of his anti-republican speech

1886

Henri Boudet's book La Vraie Langue Celtique is published, 500 copies

1 Jul 1886

Bérenger Saunière returns to Rennes-le-Château as curé

27 Jul 1887

Bérenger Saunière installs a new altar from Maison Monna for 770FF

Jul 1887

Antoine Captier finds a small glass tube with parchment in a Wooden Baluster

30 Sep 1887

Bérenger Saunière installs new stained glass window - blue apples - 1350FF

1888

Emergency reparations carried out in the church

1889

Mgr. Billard visits Rennes-le-Château, thanks Saunière

Jan 1890

Village council approves Saunière's request to refurbish the public square

Feb 1890

Bérenger Saunière is visited by Archduke Johann von Habsburg

1891

Mgr. Billard inherits 1,200,000FF of Victorine Sabatier of Coursan

21 Jun 1891

24 children of Rennes-le-Château do a mission tour through the village

21 Sep 1891

Saunière Journal: Lettre de Granes. Découverte d'un tombeau, le soir pluie (Discovery of a tomb)

29 Sep 1891

Saunière Journal: Vu curé de Névian-Chez Gélis-Chez Carrière-Vu Cros et Secret

2 Mar 1892

Bérenger Saunière allegedly visits Paris, attends mass at Saint-Sulpice

1892

Saunière and Marie Dénarnaud are seen digging in the churchyard at night

1893

Saunière buys new confessional 700FF

17 Jan 1893

Mgr. Billard buys the Sanctuary of Notre-Dame de Marceille

12 Mar 1895

Official complaint filed against Saunière's nightly excavations

3 Jan 1897

Death of Abbé Emile Cayron

11 Feb 1897

The Cross of the Calvaire is erected

6 Jul 1897

Eglise Madeleine inaugurated by Mgr. Billard

1 Nov 1897

Antoine Gélis curé of Coustaussa is brutally murdered

Dec 1898

Saunière buys terrains around his church in the name of Marie Dénarnaud

20th Century

1900

Village council approves Saunière's request to build a caveau

May 1901

Start of construction of Villa Bethania (finished in 1905)

Jul 1901

Start of building a caveau (crypt) for Bérenger Saunière

3 Dec 1901

Death of Mgr. Billard in the Monastery of Prouilhe

1902

Mgr. Beuvain de Beauséjour becomes bishop of Carcassonne

1902

Bérenger Saunière loses sight in one eye, replaced with a glass eye

1903

Tomb of les Pontils built by Jean Galibert at Serres

1903

Start of construction of Tour Magdala (finished in 1906)

1905

Split of church and state in France

19 Sep 1905

Alfred Saunière dies from effects of alcohol abuse

1906

Bulletin SESA appears with transcript of tomb of Marie de Nègre d'Ables

1907

Bérenger Saunière starts collecting stamps, amounting to 100,000 pieces at death

5 May 1907

Death of Edmund Boudet (at the age of 67)

1908

Workmen discover a giant mass-grave while working on the access road

1908

Much of the year dedicated to Saunière's vast library in Tour Magdala

28 Jan 1909

Bérenger Saunière resigns as curé of Rennes-le-Château

9 Jul 1909

Abbé Marty arrives to replace Saunière

27 May 1910

Mgr. de Beauséjour starts official investigations into Saunière's finances

5 Dec 1910

Saunière refuses to reveal evidence for sources of his spending and is sentenced

1 Feb 1911

Bérenger Saunière is relieved of the priesthood suspens a divinis

14 Nov 1911

Louis de Coma is found dead

1912

Eglise Notre-Dame de Marceille is made a Basilique by Pius X

1914

The remaining 102 copies of The True Celtic Language are destroyed

30 Apr 1914

Henri Boudet leaves Rennes-les-Bains to return to Axat

28 Jun 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand is killed in Sarajevo, start of World War I

30 Mar 1915

Death of Henri Boudet from intestinal cancer (at 78)

17 Jan 1917

Bérenger Saunière is found by Marie Dénarnaud, lying on the Belvedere after a stroke

22 Jan 1917

Bérenger Saunière dies. His last words are said to be "Jean 23" (Jean Vingt-Trois)

24 Jan 1917

Bérenger Saunière is buried

1917

Saunière's parchments allegedly inherited by Madame James de Montazels

1918

End of World War I

1929

A half melted golden statuette is found in the region of Rennes-le-Château

1929

German author Otto Rahn settles in Lavelanet to explore Montségur

1931

Otto Rahn discovers chambers in the grottoes of Sabarthes with Templar and Cathar symbols

1934

Otto Rahn publishes Kreuzzug gegen Gral (Crusade Against the Grail)

1936

Otto Rahn joins the Waffen SS Heritage Bureau the Ahnenerbe

1937

Otto Rahn publishes Luzifers Hofgesind (Lucifer's Court)

13 Mar 1939

Otto Rahn is found dead in the Tyrolean mountains

16 Mar 1944

German Nazis fly swastika patterns over Montségur 700 years after its fall

1946

The Château Hautpoul is sold to Monsieur Fatin

22 Jul 1946

Marie Dénarnaud sells the entire property to the Corbu family

1948

The library of Emile Hoffet is allegedly acquired by the International League of Antiquarian booksellers

29 Jan 1953

Death of Marie Dénarnaud in Rennes-le-Château

15 Mar 1955

The Villa Bethania is transformed into Hotel La Tour

12 Jan 1956

Noel Corbu publishes the story of Saunière in Dépêche du Midi

1956

Monastère de Carol is destroyed with dynamite by Henri Baure

28 Oct 1958

Pontificate of Angelo Roncalli or John XXIII

1965

Madame James de Montazels allegedly sells Saunière's parchments

2 Jul 1966

International League of Antiquarian booksellers sends letter claiming documents proving Dagobert II left a son Sigisbert IV

1967

Gérard de Sède publishes l'Or de Rennes ou la vie insolite de Bérenger Saunière