Message 1
Approximate size: 4.25 x 7.5 inches or 19 x 12 cm
What follows is a brief examination of Side 1 of the Message.
It was with nervous hands that I unrolled the piece of paper, something that could have last been touched by Sauniere, the priest of Rennes-le-Chateau.
The paper smelt old, musty. To protect the message from damage, I had brought two sheets of clear acetate with me, taped together along one edge. After slipping the message inside, both sides could then be examined without actually touching the paper.
What struck me first was the scarce amount of text, less than forty words on both sides.
Message 1 side 1
On side 1, (shown above) it is practically blank. A Roman 1 and a Star of David design. Seven Latin words and Sauniere's signature, though it has not been confirmed that it is Sauniere's. If it is a copy then it is not a very good one as there are two obvious mistakes if you compare the message signature to one of Sauniere's that we know is genuine, supplied by Antoine Captier and Clare Corbu.
It soon became apparent after viewing the scanned samples Antoine sent of Sauniere's signature, and later visiting him in France to view Sauniere's actual notebooks and documents, that the priest's signature was not constant, but seemed to change slightly over time.
Below is the comparison of the Message signature to a sample of Sauniere's taken from one of the documents he is known to have signed.
Click here for more comparisons of Sauniere's signature.
Apart from the wrong accent over the 'e', the join from the 'u' to the 'n' is wrong. The line should go from the bottom of the 'u' then join the top of the 'n'.
If it were only the accent that was in error an allowance could be made as samples of Sauniere's signature can be found with this. Sometimes made from not lifting his pen away from the paper before moving. Sometimes it is just a dot. There are also samples of writing amongst his papers that appear in some books about rennes-le-Chateau, where Sauniere's name has been given a wrong 'e' accent.
Looking through the samples of Sauniere's signature I could get access to, I could find no similar 'u' to 'n' link line.
The mistakes highlighted are very obvious and as mentioned before, it would be very stupid forger to have made such a simple mistake as this. Maybe whoever signed this document purposely made the mistakes to bring our attention to it. Perhaps other information in the message will shed light on this. Also the 'Sauniere signature' that appears in message 2 is an extremely good match when compared to the priest's known signature. So why sign this one with the obvious mistakes?
The Star of David design is by far the largest detail on this side and is drawn out from the right edge of the document. This matches the same design drawn on side two as part 1 of a 3-part key symbol. More on this later. The number 1 situated in the top right corner of the document, also appears in the first section of this 3 - part key design.
LATIN
Written across the top of the document is the latin word:
PECCAVI
I HAVE SINNED.
If Sauniere is the author of this message than it must be he who has sinned. There is no clue to what sins he is referring to on this side of the message, maybe this will be revealed on Side-2.
A Latin phrase written along the left hand edge reads:
EXITUS ACTA PROBET
It took me a while to work out this translation but eventually I succeeded.
THE OUTCOME JUSTIFIES THE DEED.
What 'outcome' and what 'deed' are at this time a mystery.
Written vertically on the right-hand side is the phrase:
QUI TACET CONSENTITS
Translated into English:
WHO KEEPS SILENT CONSENTS, or AGREES.
Conclusions
The outcome justifies the deed, who keeps silent consents and I have sinned.
What can we make of this? The three phrases all fit together nicely so could all be about the same thing.
The outcome justifies the deed, obviously this must be alluding to something Sauniere has done and whatever action it was, probably wasn't’t an act of goodness but the results were worth it. This deed could be the sin or sins mentioned in the phrase, 'I have sinned'. It seems to be implying that one or more people may have knew what sin/s were committed and by keeping their silence gave their consent for the act.
We are still none the wiser as to the deed or sin/s the author of this message, whether it be Sauniere, another priest or someone as yet unknown, has committed. Perhaps the answer lies hidden in the text and symbols on the other side of the message.
Side-2 is a lot more interesting than side-1. Apart from most of the text appearing on this side, there are also symbols, part of what looks like a map and clues to the location of part 2 of the message.
