In a message dated 2/3/00 2:54:37 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
A most interesting book, that I couldn't put down for a couple of days, I
followed up by getting "Massacre at Oradour", which certainly gives a new
insight into the event.
This review, although interesting, doesn't do the book justice at all.
-Roger
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"CURSE OF HERODS GOLD"
by Peter Donnelly
Torture, heretics burned alive, a Nazi massacre and a 2,000-year trail of
greed and intrigue still haven't solved one of the greatest mysteries of
history: Where is the fabulous treasure hoard of the Temple of Jerusalem!
Of all the legends of huge hidden hoards of wealth. I none has attracted as
much sustained interest as that of the priceless haul looted nearly 2,000
years ago from the Temple of Jerusalem.
Men have been tortured, slaughtered even burned alive by those greedy for
it's wealth and power, and around it has been spun a web of scandal and
intrigue subterfuge and deception, drawing in monarchs and monks, secret
occult societies, a famous film star and a pool parish priest who became
suddenly rich.
The fabled treasure was desperately sought by Adolf Hitler's henchmen in
the dying days of the war, and may have sparked an appalling massacre,
which still haunts France.
And, in more recent years, it is said to have ensnared a British
businessman - one of the co-authors of an intriguing new book about the
treasure - in a nightmare of interrogation and imprisonment.
The story begins less than 40 years after the Crucifixion, when Roman
legions attacked Jerusalem and the Temple, built by King Herod on the site
of the Temple of Solomon. They are reputed to have taken away tons of gold,
silver, precious gems and priceless sacred treasures.
The haul was held in Rome's imperial treasury, with wealth looted from an
over the world, until the city fell in AD410 to invading barbarians, the
Visigoths, heralding the disintegration of the Roman Empire.
The Visigoths set off further west, establishing a kingdom occupying most
of modern Spain and South-West France, with its capital at Toulouse and one
of its fortified centres of power at Rhedae, now the charming hilltop
visage of Rennes-le-Chateau in the Pyrenees.
It is here, legend claims, that the Temple treasure is buried in ancient
mines, subterranean galleries and an extensive network of caves - and it is
not the only fabulous fortune believed to be hidden in the region.
Queen Blanche of Castille, regent of France in the mid-13th century, is
said to have moved much of the royal wealth from Paris to Rennes because of
the growing power of her nobles.
Meanwhile, such was the greed for the fabled Temple treasure that two
distinct religious groups were suspected of keeping the secret of its
whereabouts.
In 1244, Crusaders cornered the heretic Cathars, a religious sect condemned
by the Church, on the mountaintop of Montsegur not far from Rennes, in the
name of defending 'orthodox' Christianity, but more probably to try to find
the treasure. The Cathars refused to reveal their secret and were burned alive.
More horror came in 1307 when King Philip IV had warrior-monks of the
Knights Templar order tortured and killed in a vain attempt to discover the
source of the wealth they had inexplicably amassed.
But the treasures remained uncovered until just over 100 years ago, when
the sudden lavish pending of a village priest triggered an upsurge of
interest in the area, and a virtual industry of mystery and speculation.
When the Abbe Berenger Sauniere arrived in his parish of Rennes in 1885,
the once mighty Visigoth fortress was a small neglected village of 300 souls.
He borrowed money for repairs to the dilapidated church of St Mary
Magdalene, and fell deeply debt to local tradesmen.
Then, after apparently finding a tomb containing a pot of gold coins
(worthless medallions, he told workmen) and a small parchment in a glass
vial, the once poor priest completed work on the church and created a
magnificent private estate, with a luxurious, finely furnished villa and
ornamental gardens. He lived, and spent, like a lord, said villagers, and
entertained visitors with lavish hospitality.
His bishop demanded to know the source of his new-found wealth, but
Sauniere declined to answer. He refused to move to another parish and was
suspended, but villagers still attended his services at the villa.
Even when the Church authorities tried to confiscate his property they
failed. Everything was held in the name of the priest's housekeeper, Marie
Denarnaud and so could not be touched.
Eventually, the battle of wills took its toll on Sauniere's health and he
died of a heart attack in 1917. He was given the Last Rites by an old
priest friend, who was said to have been so shocked by Sauniere's last
confession that he became a changed man.
Villagers had no doubt that their priest had stumbled across a fortune - a
theory supported when - Marie
