The Baluster
The wooden baluster is one of the objects linked to the beginning of the 'Rennes-le-Chateau Mystery' as a possible location for the parchments Saunière is said to have found. The other is the Visigothic Altar Pillar. The Baluster, once part of the stairs leading up to the pulpit, was discarded by the workman during Saunière's renovations to his run down Mary Magdalene church. The bell ringer at the time, Antoine Captier, (1833-1903) was walking back through the church after a session of bell-ringing when he noticed something glinting by the wooden baluster. Going over to investigate he discovered a small glass vial had fallen from, what up until then, had been a secret compartment. The section of wood that acted as a cover had become dislodged when the baluster had been thrown to the ground. Inside the glass vial Antoine could see a small piece of rolled up parchment. He immediately went to find the Abbé Saunière to show him his find. Saunière took the vial and that was the last Antoine saw of it. It was after this event that Sauniere started his clandestine digging in the church graveyard and seems to be a pivotal point in the mystery. Whatever the information contained on the parchment it led Saunière to a treasure or a secret that would for a time, make him a wealthy man.
The Chest
During my research I discovered a chest by following the clues in a message I found by deciphering Sauniere's church clues. The chest is old and though there are signs of rot it has survived the years well, probably due to the dry conditions of where it was hidden.
The Old Chest
Extract taken from the Research Page of the Bloodline movie website:
"When Ben and I met with Antoine and Claire Captier to show them the contents of the chest, Claire recounted an interesting story.
While Claire had been living in the Villa Bethania with Marie Denarnaud, the old lady had told her a story about how she had given a chest of ‘'valuables' to her sister's husband who had property on the land leading up from the Couleurs river. Given where we had discovered this chest, the story made us all smile, this of course could be the chest that Ben had found."
The Glass Vial
This photograph was taken shortly after the discovery of the chest and shows the vial lying amongst some old coins.
The chest was discovered at a location near to Rennes-le-Chateau and contained other items to be discussed at a later date. The vial was in two pieces, held together by the small piece of parchment inside. The vial seems to have been broken for some time as there were signs of ageing around the broken ends. This was probably done when the vial fell from the secret compartment in the baluster from Sauniere's church during the renovations, or by Sauniere himself when he snapped the vial in half to get at the parchment inside.
In this photograph you can see the vial fits snugly together. Signs of cracking can be seen in the glass.
To see video footage of the chest being opened just after it was discovered, CLICK HERE
Three Frames from Bloodline the Movie
These images show the Glass Vial being separated and the parchment inside being removed.
The Wooden Baluster's Secret Compartment
Top of the wooden baluster - the raised diagonal piece is the door to the secret compartment Antoine is trying to free.
The Bloodline producers had arranged a meeting with Antoine at his home in Carcasonne. We wanted to see if the glass vial would fit into the secret compartment discovered by his grandfather. After showing Antoine and Claire the glass vial and parchment he was as keen as we were to see if it fitted in the secret compartment. Unfortunately Antoine had glued it in place some years earlier and even some heavy hits with a hammer and chisel would not free it. Antoine and Claire, who know the size of the compartment better than anyone, were confident that it would fit the space and could possibly be the very same glass vial his grandfather had found in the church, which he then handed over to Sauniere.
Vial laid on the Baluster to show size in relation to the secret compartment.
Antoine explained that the space inside is smaller than the piece of wood that gives access to it.
The Vellum
Both myself and the Bloodline team were keen to get the parchment examined by an expert so we took the document to the Regional Archives in Carcasonne. Claude Robion, Director of Research, examined the parchment and identified it as vellum. Analysing the age of the parchment, the fading of the ink, and the style of the writing, he said that it could well be from the 18th Century but carbon tests would need to be carried out to establish a firm and accurate date.
Vellum Dating
The vellum was taken to the Oxford Radio Carbon Laboratory, famous for its dating of the Turin Shroud, they cut off a small sample sufficient for the test from the vellum. According to their tests, carried out in January 2007, there is a 95.4% probability that the parchment dates from between 1430AD and 1520AD.
Image shows part of Oxford's Radio Carbon Laboratory equipment.
Conclusion
The evidence shows that the glass vial could fit in the baluster and so could have been the one found by the bell ringer Antoine Captier and given to Sauniere.
Both the glass vial and the vellum message it contained are of the right age to have been used by Bigou and then later Sauniere.
This is without even considering the information on the vellum which points to a time prior to Sauniere when the d'Hautpoul family were still living in Rennes-le-Château.
Latest Update - May, 2007
New NEWS and FILM Page and a Great new FILM TRAILER.
Plus - 2 U-Tube leaked film clips.
Other Related Links.
For more information on Sauniere's Baluster click HERE to visit the Société Perillos website and view the article posted 26th January, 2007
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