Priory of Sion
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2 Alleged Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion 3 Cryptic motto 4 Cultural Influences 5 External links and references |
There is much speculation on just what the PrieurÃÂé de Sion or Sionis Prioratus is. In its English translation it is usually rendered as Priory of Sion, or even Priory of Zion. It is an elusive protagonist in many works of non-fiction and fiction, and has been characterized as anything from the most covertly powerful secret society in Western history, to a modern Rosicrucian-like ludibrium or an elaborate hoax.
The Priory of Sion was officially established in Saint-Julien-en-Genevoise in 1956 by AndrÃÂé Bonhomme and Pierre Plantard as an organization devoted to charity work. It was dissolved in 1957 but intermittently revived by Plantard between the years 1962 to 1993 as an initiatory order and crypto-political vanguard party dedicated to the revival of chivalry and monarchy in France to further his impostor royalty bid.
Research in the Rennes-le-ChÃÂâteau mysteries led Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln to pseudohistorical files, written by an associate of Plantard, that became the source for their book, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, in which they claim that 1) with a list of illustrious grand masters (see below), the Priory has a long history dating back to the First Crusade starting with the creation of the Knights Templar as its military front; 2) it had a large role in partaking in and promoting the "underground river of esotericism," the Alph, in Medieval Europe; 3) it is sworn to returning the Merovingian dynasty, that ruled the Frankish kingdom from 447 to 751 C.E., to the thrones of Europe and Jerusalem; and 4) the order protects these royal claimants because they are the literal descendants of Jesus and his wife Mary Magdalene.
These authors further speculated that the ultimate goals of the Priory of Sion are 1) the founding of a 'Holy European Empire' that would become the next hyperpower and usher in a new world order of peace and prosperity; 2) the exhibition of lost Second Temple scrolls and relics, including the Holy Grail, that would prove Desposyni claims; and 3) the grooming and installing of the messianic king of a Greater Israel.
Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln came to their own interpretation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, where they used the spelling "Sion" in the name:
Since modern historians do not accept Holy Blood, Holy Grail as a serious contribution to scholarship, all these claims are regarded as being part of an intriguing but dubious conspiracy theory.
Et in Arcadia ego... is supposedly the official motto of both the Plantard family and the Priory of Sion. Et in Arcadia ego is a Latin phrase, that most famously appears as a tomb inscription on the ca. 1630 classical painting, The Arcadian Shepherds, by French painter Nicolas Poussin. It literally means, "And I in Arcadia." However, the addition of the ellipsis (which was not there in the Poussin painting), suggests a missing word. Although it would not be needed in Latin grammar, sum has been one suggested completion to mean: "And I am in Arcadia." Futhermore, it has been theorized by Richard Andrews and Paul Schellenberger that the completed phrase Et in Arcadia ego sum is an anagram for Arcam Dei Tango which means "I touch the tomb of God."
The Priory of Sion, portrayed as more of a Goddess mystery religion, plays a large part in Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code.
History?
Although these authors recognised that the history of the Protocols may be linked to the Priory's, they did not go so far as suggest that it proved anything about its continued existence.Alleged Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion
Cryptic motto
Cultural Influences
External links and references