Priory of Zion
The Priory of Zion, Priory of Sion or Prieuré de Sion is either one of the most powerful secret societies in Western history or a spectacular modern Rosicrucian-like ludibrium.
Despite being officially established in 1956 as a trans-Catholic initiatory order dedicated to the revival of chivalry in France; Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, in their book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, claim that the Priory of Zion has a long and illustrious history dating back to the First Crusade including the creation of the Knights Templar as its military front, that it is devoted to returning the Merovingian dynasty, that ruled the Frankish kingdom from 447 to 751 C.E., to the thrones of Europe as well as the Holy See and Jerusalem, and that the order protects these royal claimants because they are the literal descendants of Jesus and his wife Mary Magdalene.
The ultimate goals of the Priory of Zion are suspected to be 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; and 2) the reunification of Judaism and Christianity into one religion by exhibiting lost Second Temple scrolls and relics, including the Holy Grail, that would prove Desposyni claims and Ebionite views, and/or by grooming and installing the messianic king of a Greater Israel.
It is interesting to note that some fringe Christian eschatologists view the Priory's master plan as a fulfillment of prophesies found in the Book of Revelation and further proof for an anti-Christian conspiracy theory of epic proportions.
Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln also claim that the Priory had, at the very least, a large role in partaking in and promoting the "underground river of esotericism," the Alph, in Medieval Europe, with Rennes le Château as its source.
Historians who specialize in the area do not accept their work as a serious contribution to scholarship.
Alleged Grand Masters of the Priory of Zion
- Jean de Gisors (1188-1220)
- Marie de Saint-Clair (1220-1266)
- Guillaume de Gisors (1266-1307)
- Edouard de Bar (1307-1336)
- Jeanne de Bar (1336-1351)
- Jean de Saint-Clair (1351-1366)
- Blanche d'Evreux (1366-1398)
- Nicolas Flamel (1398-1418)
- Rene d'Anjou (1418-1480)
- Iolande de Bar (1480-1483)
- Sandro Filipepi (1483-1510)
- Leonardo da Vinci (1510-1519)
- Connetable de Bourbon (1519-1527)
- Ferdinand de Gonzague (1527-1575)
- Louis de Nevers (1575-1595)
- Robert Fludd (1595-1637)
- Johann Valentin Andrea (1637-1654)
- Robert Boyle (1654-1691)
- Isaac Newton (1691-1727)
- Charles Radclyffe (1727-1746)
- Charles de Lorraine (1746-1780)
- Maximillian de Lorraine (1780-1801)
- Charles Nodier (1801-1844)
- Victor Hugo (1844-1885)
- Claude Debussy (1885-1918)
- Jean Cocteau (1918-1963)
- Francois Ducaud-Bourget (1963-1981)
- Pierre Plantard (1981-1984)
External links and references
Referenced By
Freemason | Freemasonry | Freemasons | Knighst Templar | Knights Templar | Knights Templars | Masonic | Masons | Order of the Solar Temple | Poor Knights of Christ | Protocols of Zion | Protocols of Zion Sages | Protocols of the Elders of Zion | Secret societies | Secret society | Templar | Templar Knights | Templars | Temple Knights | The Protocols of the Elders of Zion | The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion | The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion | Zion (disambiguation)
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