Nexus - 0403 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

They discovered a complete and absolute knowledge...", or wis- After his encounter with Jacques de Molay, de Beaujeu had to dom. gain entry into the Temple. He came up with the excuse that he Rubant echoes the words of Raoul de Presle de Laon, lawyer wanted to conserve the mortal remains of his uncle, a former and legal expert for the King's Court. "When I lived in Laon, one Grand Master of the Order, so, for a small fortune, he was of my friends, who was Rector of the Temple of Laon, Brother allowed in. De Beaujeu and nine other survivors recovered the Gervais de Beauvais told me, I do not know how many times, in _ precious relics and placed them in a 'pretend' sarcophagus. front of several witnesses, that within the Order there existed a Certain researchers think the team set course for Cyprus, where rule that was so extraordinary, and upon which such a strict secret the headquarters of the Order could harbour the smugglers and nature was placed, that people would prefer to have their heads their treasure. But tradition informs us that de Beaujeu rapidly chopped off instead of divulging it. At the General Chapter there moved towards the only place where the treasure would be safe: existed a secret practice that, even if the king of France was a wit- Arginy, a castle that belonged to him but was not Templar proper- ness, the members of the chapter would kill him without any ty. regard as to the quality of the man. He vowed to me that he possessed a rule of the Order that THE SUBTERRANEAN SECRETS OF he showed voluntarily, but that he also pos- ARGINY CASTLE sessed a more secret one which he wouldn't Daniel Réju describes Arginy as "an iso- show to any person not initiated." i lated castle in the plains, between Sadne Was this the secret which Grand Master ---Brother Gervais de and Beaujolais", north of Lyons. Its ori- Jacques de Molay held while being tortured by Beauvais told me, I do not gins go back to the Celtic Druids who isition? . . j a se ; i icini henson? Gn 26.Novener ved | Know OW many times, in | ssol!ted a slim fn he wcinity tain things, if only you weren't the people you front of several witnesses, Julius Caesar and probably a man initiated 28 November he reiterated hs desire t.con. | At Within the Order resi onress which he named afer hime fide something in the Pope. It seems he was there existed a rule that self. A millennium later, the ruined castle willing to lift the veil on something that was A was rebuilt, and passed into the ownership too complex for the mere mortal, and which Was so extraordinary, and of the de Beaujeu family. In later cen- upon which such a strict apparently involved some form of unifi- turies, it was bought by Vinols, a cation between Christianity and the secret secret nature was placed, close friend of Jacques Coeur, one of that people would prefer doctrine of the Templars. the wealthiest merchants of France, if to have their heads Alas, the Pope would not hear de not the world. Apparently, Coeur did Molay, so it seems that de Molay must not want to buy the castle, as that chopped off instead of divulging it. have decided that the Orders’ treasure had might make people suspicious. Still, to survive on its own—and chose the lit- Coeur apparently had a major interest tle French village of Arginy as the place in the castle and tried to stay as close to bear the treasure of the Templars. On to it as possible. the night of 12 October 1307—the night But let us return to the de Beaujeu before the Templars’ arrest in France— family. Arginy became the principal two knights stayed at Arginy, only to seat of the family in 1253. Some leave the place in the middle of the night decades later, Guillaume de Beaujeu and be arrested at Macon the following would become a famous Grand morning. Master of the Knights Templars, Ina story that is both strange and recurring, it is said that on the dying in the massacre of St Jean d'Acre, a military disaster in the eve of being burned, Jacques de Molay asked for his nephew, a Middle East that heralded the downfall of the Knights Templars. certain Count de Beaujeu, after having bought the silence of his Guillaume de Beaujeu's remains were taken to the Temple in keepers and the soldiers with gold. The meeting took place in the Paris, where they were placed amongst those of the other Grand Grand Master's cell and is said to have lasted some considerable Masters of the Order. In 1314, his remains, together with the time. Jacques de Molay gave his nephew certain instructions: he secret treasure of the Order, were placed in a sarcophagus and was to go to the Temple in Paris, where the former Grand Masters taken to Arginy, which was owned by strong Templar defenders of the Order were buried, retrieve a crystal relic and bring it back —_— but not a Templar property as such, and therefore out of reach for to de Molay as soon as possible. Then followed a second meeting Philip Le Bel and his brutal Inquisition. that had grave implications for the survival of the Order. De Arginy castle is situated on top of the intersection of three Molay explained to de Beaujeu that the relic he had just recovered underground rivers and thus is a phenomenal source of water. from the Temple was John the Baptist's sacred index finger with The castle is equipped with underground rooms—apparently so which he had identified Jesus Christ. The treasure had been given __ essential in storing any kind of treasure. Because of the mining to the Order by the former King of Jerusalem, Baudoin. industry that existed there in much earlier times, there are several Afterwards, de Molay entrusted the future survival of the Order natural caverns near or underneath the castle. Indeed, it is a veri- upon de Beaujeu, giving his nephew the necessary information to table maze of underground tunnels, caverns and rooms which make sure he could bring his delicate mission to a fortunate end. could effectively cloak any treasure. As the Templars were also He gave him the keys and the directions to a place known only to well-versed in hydrology, it seems only logical to assume that the Grand Master, close to the tomb of a former Grand Master. they could have engineered a system which could quickly open De Beaujeu would discover the secret of the Order's existence in a and flood these underground caverns—which is exactly what hap- coffer. pened at Arginy, where the underground rivers could supply them After his encounter with Jacques de Molay, de Beaujeu had to gain entry into the Temple. He came up with the excuse that he wanted to conserve the mortal remains of his uncle, a former Grand Master of the Order, so, for a small fortune, he was allowed in. De Beaujeu and nine other survivors recovered the precious relics and placed them in a 'pretend' sarcophagus. Certain researchers think the team set course for Cyprus, where the headquarters of the Order could harbour the smugglers and their treasure. But tradition informs us that de Beaujeu rapidly moved towards the only place where the treasure would be safe: Arginy, a castle that belonged to him but was not Templar proper- ty. chopped off instead of divulging it. 62 - NEXUS APRIL - MAY 1997 Brother Gervais de that within the Order