Noel Corbu
Encyclopedia
Noël Corbu is best known as a former restaurateur
in the Southern French
village of Rennes-le-Château
, who from the mid-1950s circulated the story that Bérenger Saunière
discovered the treasure of Blanche of Castile
.
due to his father being an attaché at the Embassy there, before obtaining the degree of Doctor of Science in Paris. In 1935 Corbu married Henriette Coll. By 1942 he had become a businessman who had taken up residence in Perpignan
, later moving to the village of Bugarach
during the Occupation. In 1950 Corbu returned to Morocco hoping to set up a sugar refinery, but was unsuccessful. In 1953, his novel Le Mort cambrioleur ("The Burglar's Death") was published.
It was one day while going for a picnic to Rennes-le-Château that the Corbu family met Marie Dénarnaud, the former housekeeper of Bérenger Saunière.
the former estate of Abbé Bérenger Saunière, that he constructed in her name between 1899-1905. The estate comprised the Villa Bethania
, the Tour Magdala, an Orangery
, and the Belvedere
that connects the Tour Magdala to the Orangery When Marie Dénarnaud died in 1953, Corbu inherited her archives relating to Bérenger Saunière. During Easter
1955 Corbu turned the Villa Bethania into a Hotel
and opened a restaurant
located underneath the belvedere that connects the Tour Magdala to the Orangery (Corbu installed the windows). Later during the 1990s, the Villa Bethania was turned into a Hotel again.
In January 1956, the local newspaper La Dépêche du Midi
serialised an interview with Corbu in who claimed that Father Saunière discovered the treasure of Blanche of Castile
, and which 'according to the archives' consisted of 28,500,000 gold pieces. This was the treasure of the French crown assembled by Blanche de Castile to pay the ransom of Saint Louis, a prisoner of the infidels, the surplus of which she had hidden at Rennes-le-Château. Saunière had only found one part of it, so it was necessary to continue his investigations. Corbu also claimed Saunière had in 1892 discovered "parchments" whilst renovating his church "written in a mixture of French and Latin, which at first glance could be discerned passages from the Gospels". It has been noted by critics however that Saunière began renovating his church in 1886, not 1892, and that "there was no evidence that these parchments had ever existed". Corbu claimed that Marie Dénarnaud would confide a secret to him before she died, saying "Pray do not worry yourself, Monsieur Corbu. You shall have more money than you will be able to spend!"
Corbu's story inspired author Robert Charroux
to develop an active interest and in 1958, with his wife Yvette and other members of The Treasure Seekers' Club (that he founded in 1951), scanned the village of Rennes-le-Château and its church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene for treasure using a metal detector
. The Dowsing
-by-Pendulum enthusiast and hypnotist Rolland Domergue, with medium
Germaine Goyard, joined Corbu in 1958 to look for the treasure, and thus began the extensive accumulation of pilgrimages to the site by many various people from all over France, that on 28 July 1965 forced the local Municipal council
to introduce a local By-law prohibiting excavations in the village.
In April 1961, the French Television Channel RTF
made a documentary directed by Marina Grey
entitled La Roue Tourne ("The Wheel Turns"), that cast Noël Corbu as Father Saunière.
and/or Philippe de Chérisey
". Philippe de Chérisey confessed to having forged the famous parchments that appeared in Gérard de Sède
’s 1967 book, L'Or de Rennes in his manuscript "Stone and Paper". The text of the document attributed to "Antoine L'Ermite" was modelled on Charroux's account found in his book, Trésors du Monde, where he extensively quoted Noël Corbu.
. Corbu was killed in a car accident on 20 May 1968 on the road between Carcassonne
and Castelnaudary
. He was buried in a tomb alongside his wife (who died in 1966) in the cemetery of Rennes-le-Château. The estate has been the property of the local Municipal council since 2000.
Noël Corbu's daughter Claire Corbu with her husband Antoine Captier in 1985 published L'Héritage de l’Abbé Saunière that reproduced some of the important archive documents relating to Bérenger Saunière , and in May 1989 opened the Saunière Museum in the village of Rennes-le-Château, being part of the Association Terre de Rhedae, supported by the local Municipal council. The Saunière Museum was re-opened on 1 March 2009, presenting the story of Bérenger Saunière and the history of Rennes-le-Château in four different languages.
Restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...
in the Southern French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
village of Rennes-le-Château
Rennes-le-Château
Rennes-le-Château is a commune in the Aude department in Languedoc in southern France.This small French hilltop village is known internationally, and receives tens of thousands of visitors per year, for being at the center of various conspiracy theories, and for being the location of an alleged...
, who from the mid-1950s circulated the story that Bérenger Saunière
Bérenger Saunière
François Bérenger Saunière was a Roman Catholic priest in the French village of Rennes-le-Château, in the Aude region, officially from 1885 until he was transferred to another village in 1909 by his bishop, a nomination he declined and subsequently resigned...
discovered the treasure of Blanche of Castile
Blanche of Castile
Blanche of Castile , was a Queen consort of France as the wife of Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX....
.
Early life
Born in Paris in 1912, the young Noël Corbu lived in MoroccoMorocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
due to his father being an attaché at the Embassy there, before obtaining the degree of Doctor of Science in Paris. In 1935 Corbu married Henriette Coll. By 1942 he had become a businessman who had taken up residence in Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...
, later moving to the village of Bugarach
Bugarach
Bugarach is a commune in the Aude department in southern France.-Geography:Bugarach is at the foot of Pic de Bugarach, a mountain peak and the highest summit in the Corbières mountains...
during the Occupation. In 1950 Corbu returned to Morocco hoping to set up a sugar refinery, but was unsuccessful. In 1953, his novel Le Mort cambrioleur ("The Burglar's Death") was published.
It was one day while going for a picnic to Rennes-le-Château that the Corbu family met Marie Dénarnaud, the former housekeeper of Bérenger Saunière.
Rennes-le-Château
In 1946, Marie Dénarnaud bequeathed to Noël Corbu by Holographic willHolographic will
A holographic will is a will and testament that has been entirely handwritten and signed by the testator. Normally, a will must be signed by witnesses attesting to the validity of the testator's signature and intent, but in many jurisdictions, holographic wills that have not been witnessed are...
the former estate of Abbé Bérenger Saunière, that he constructed in her name between 1899-1905. The estate comprised the Villa Bethania
Villa Bethania
The Villa Bethania was constructed in the French village of Rennes-le-Château between 1901-1905 as part of the former estate of the Abbé Bérenger Saunière, in the name of his maidservant Marie Dénarnaud.-History:...
, the Tour Magdala, an Orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
, and the Belvedere
Belvedere (structure)
Belvedere is an architectural term adopted from Italian , which refers to any architectural structure sited to take advantage of such a view. A belvedere may be built in the upper part of a building so as to command a fine view...
that connects the Tour Magdala to the Orangery When Marie Dénarnaud died in 1953, Corbu inherited her archives relating to Bérenger Saunière. During Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
1955 Corbu turned the Villa Bethania into a Hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
and opened a restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
located underneath the belvedere that connects the Tour Magdala to the Orangery (Corbu installed the windows). Later during the 1990s, the Villa Bethania was turned into a Hotel again.
In January 1956, the local newspaper La Dépêche du Midi
La Dépêche du Midi
La Dépêche du Midi is a regional daily newspaper published in Toulouse in south-west France, with 17 editions for different areas of the Midi-Pyrénées region.The paper first appeared on 2 October 1870, when it was called La Dépêche de Toulouse...
serialised an interview with Corbu in who claimed that Father Saunière discovered the treasure of Blanche of Castile
Blanche of Castile
Blanche of Castile , was a Queen consort of France as the wife of Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX....
, and which 'according to the archives' consisted of 28,500,000 gold pieces. This was the treasure of the French crown assembled by Blanche de Castile to pay the ransom of Saint Louis, a prisoner of the infidels, the surplus of which she had hidden at Rennes-le-Château. Saunière had only found one part of it, so it was necessary to continue his investigations. Corbu also claimed Saunière had in 1892 discovered "parchments" whilst renovating his church "written in a mixture of French and Latin, which at first glance could be discerned passages from the Gospels". It has been noted by critics however that Saunière began renovating his church in 1886, not 1892, and that "there was no evidence that these parchments had ever existed". Corbu claimed that Marie Dénarnaud would confide a secret to him before she died, saying "Pray do not worry yourself, Monsieur Corbu. You shall have more money than you will be able to spend!"
Corbu's story inspired author Robert Charroux
Robert Charroux
Robert Charroux was the best-known pen-name of Robert Grugeau .-Early career:Robert Charroux worked for the French post office until becoming a full-time writer of fiction in the early 1940s...
to develop an active interest and in 1958, with his wife Yvette and other members of The Treasure Seekers' Club (that he founded in 1951), scanned the village of Rennes-le-Château and its church dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene for treasure using a metal detector
Metal detector
A metal detector is a device which responds to metal that may not be readily apparent.The simplest form of a metal detector consists of an oscillator producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating magnetic field...
. The Dowsing
Dowsing
Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and materials, as well as so-called currents of earth radiation , without the use of scientific apparatus...
-by-Pendulum enthusiast and hypnotist Rolland Domergue, with medium
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
Germaine Goyard, joined Corbu in 1958 to look for the treasure, and thus began the extensive accumulation of pilgrimages to the site by many various people from all over France, that on 28 July 1965 forced the local Municipal council
Municipal council
A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...
to introduce a local By-law prohibiting excavations in the village.
In April 1961, the French Television Channel RTF
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française was the French national public broadcasting organization established on 9 February 1949 to replace the post-war "Radiodiffusion Française" , which had been founded in 1945...
made a documentary directed by Marina Grey
Marina Denikina
Marina Antonovna Denikina was a Russian-born French writer and journalist. She was the daughter of Russian general Anton Denikin, leader of the counter-revolutionary White movement in the civil war....
entitled La Roue Tourne ("The Wheel Turns"), that cast Noël Corbu as Father Saunière.
Priory of Sion hoax
Noël Corbu's account of the discovery of the parchments by Father Saunière was later quoted in the document Un Trésor Mérovingien à Rennes-le-Château (1966) attributed to "Antoine L'Ermite", that for "stylistic reasons suggest that this was written by Pierre PlantardPierre Plantard
Pierre Athanase Marie Plantard was a French draughtsman, best known for being the principal perpetrator of the Priory of Sion hoax, by which he claimed from the 1960s onwards that he was a Merovingian descendant of Dagobert II and the "Great Monarch" prophesied by Nostradamus.-Surname:Pierre...
and/or Philippe de Chérisey
Philippe de Chérisey
The marquess Philippe de Chérisey was a French writer, radio humorist, and actor...
". Philippe de Chérisey confessed to having forged the famous parchments that appeared in Gérard de Sède
Gérard de Sède
Géraud Marie de Sède de Liéoux was born in Paris to parents who supported the right-wing politics of Action Française....
’s 1967 book, L'Or de Rennes in his manuscript "Stone and Paper". The text of the document attributed to "Antoine L'Ermite" was modelled on Charroux's account found in his book, Trésors du Monde, where he extensively quoted Noël Corbu.
Heritage
Noël Corbu sold the estate in 1964 to Henri Buthion (1924-2002), moving to Saint-Félix-LauragaisSaint-Félix-Lauragais
Saint-Félix-Lauragais is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.-History:The village was previously called Saint-Félix-de-Caraman or Carmaing...
. Corbu was killed in a car accident on 20 May 1968 on the road between Carcassonne
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a fortified French town in the Aude department, of which it is the prefecture, in the former province of Languedoc.It is divided into the fortified Cité de Carcassonne and the more expansive lower city, the ville basse. Carcassone was founded by the Visigoths in the fifth century,...
and Castelnaudary
Castelnaudary
Castelnaudary is a commune in the Aude department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in south France. It is in the former province of the Lauragais and famous for cassoulet of which it claims to be the world capital, and of which it is a major producer....
. He was buried in a tomb alongside his wife (who died in 1966) in the cemetery of Rennes-le-Château. The estate has been the property of the local Municipal council since 2000.
Noël Corbu's daughter Claire Corbu with her husband Antoine Captier in 1985 published L'Héritage de l’Abbé Saunière that reproduced some of the important archive documents relating to Bérenger Saunière , and in May 1989 opened the Saunière Museum in the village of Rennes-le-Château, being part of the Association Terre de Rhedae, supported by the local Municipal council. The Saunière Museum was re-opened on 1 March 2009, presenting the story of Bérenger Saunière and the history of Rennes-le-Château in four different languages.
See also
- Villa BethaniaVilla BethaniaThe Villa Bethania was constructed in the French village of Rennes-le-Château between 1901-1905 as part of the former estate of the Abbé Bérenger Saunière, in the name of his maidservant Marie Dénarnaud.-History:...
- Rennes-le-ChâteauRennes-le-ChâteauRennes-le-Château is a commune in the Aude department in Languedoc in southern France.This small French hilltop village is known internationally, and receives tens of thousands of visitors per year, for being at the center of various conspiracy theories, and for being the location of an alleged...
- Bérenger SaunièreBérenger SaunièreFrançois Bérenger Saunière was a Roman Catholic priest in the French village of Rennes-le-Château, in the Aude region, officially from 1885 until he was transferred to another village in 1909 by his bishop, a nomination he declined and subsequently resigned...
- Priory of SionPriory of SionThe Prieuré de Sion, translated from French as Priory of Sion, is a name given to multiple groups, both real and fictitious. The most notorious is a fringe fraternal organisation, founded and dissolved in France in 1956 by Pierre Plantard...