The Fool’s Coat

The story of Father Berenger Sauniere, the poor parish priest of Rennes-le-Chateau, a remote village in Southern France, who at the turn of the 19th century spent mysterious millions on creating a fantastic estate and lavishly entertaining the rich and famous, is now as well known as Cinderella or Eastenders . He would never divulge where the money came from, and popular belief is that in 1891, he discovered a priceless treasure; yet Sauniere died penniless, and his legacy is a secret that has continued to puzzle and intrigue succeeding generations. Since The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail hit literary headlines in the nineteen eighties, hundreds of solutions have been suggested. Did he find documents that proved Jesus married Mary Magdalene? Was he a member of The Priory of Sion, a sinister secret society that knew the Da Vinci Code? Did he own the equivalent of Harry Potter’s Philosopher’s Stone? A ragbag of history, mystery, gossip and myth, The Fool’s Coat investigates Father Sauniere’s extraordinary life against the background of his times, and suggests that the simplest solution of his rise from penury to riches is probably the correct one.