The baluster, or support post, seems to have played an important part in the Rennes-le-Chateau mystery and l'abbe Sauniere's road to riches, as in all likelihood this is where the bell ringer, Antoine Captier, discovered a glass vial that he then handed to his priest, Sauniere. Inside the vial was a small piece of parchment. As it is only after this discovery that he begins searching the graveyard in the middle of the night, thus it seems that something on the parchment instructed him to do so. It is only after this event that he becomes wealthy and his grand building schemes begin.
The original baluster still exists and the secret compartment where the glass vial was once hidden, has been seen by many over the years.
Sauniere's Baluster
Top of the baluster showing the closed panel of the secret compartment with the small glass vial I discovered laid on top
The small vellum document found in the small glass vial in the the chest
(Full details, images and a translation of this document appears in my book)
Although it is known to have supported the pulpit in some way, it has been hard to visualize. That is until I entered a church and saw what must have been a similar pulpit construction as once existed in the Rennes-le-Chateau church on Sauniere's arrival in 1885.
