“The legend of the treasure of Rennes derives – no more and no less – from something that happened one day, in this poor, half-ruined village, to a priest whose calling was not very much in line with his natural inclinations.

And so, because of all this, we've been regaled in turn with the treasure of Blanche of Castile, of Queen Blanche of Spain, of the Cathars, of the Temple and of Dagobert, all jumbled up with the secret archives of goodness knows how many different sects. After assembling and confusing all these different treasures, people then ask us to believe that the soil of Rennes hides the evidence of a conspiracy aimed at regenerating the government and the political life of France! Countless men and women have visited Rennes. Some have even brought expensive equipment with them. Others have made it their temporary home while they've carried out countless depredations in the area. They've torn tiles off walls, sounded out rocks with electronic probes, dug holes in the streets and squares, and excavated tunnels. The church has been turned inside out no fewer than four times and the cemetery has been desecrated. Graves have been opened, corpses have been exhumed. Reams and reams of paper have been covered in scribbles. Newspapers and magazines have been inundated, tracts and leaflets printed, two films made and three books written. People have chattered about Rennes on all the various radio stations. Hordes of journalists have gathered – from France, England, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and elsewhere. Stories have been made up about it that defy all classification. People have gone all the way back to Benjamin, the Jews and the Scriptures, passing by Titus and Dagobert, the sack of Rome, the Visigoths and Blanche of Castile on the way to Peter the Cruel, Nicolas Poussin and Superintendant Fouquet. They've tried to drag in emperors, kings, archdukes, princes, archbishops, the Grandmasters of every conceivable Order, mages and alchemists, philosophers, historians, magistrates, and humble monks and priests. They've questioned people's integrity and destroyed reputations. They've brought into existence people whose existence is far from certain and have given birth to others who never existed in the first place. They've touted around for magicians, paraded mediums in front of us, conjured up spirits and interrogated clairvoyants. They've fabricated books of magic spells, family trees and wills, and have uncovered illegitimacies, murders and assassinations. They've lied to the point of absurdity and have even – surely the ultimate in ridiculousness – invoked the name of the Devil!

And what for may we ask?

For absolutely and precisely nothing.”

René Descadeillas' concluding paragraphs in, Mythologie du trésor de Rennes: Histoire Veritable de L'Abbé Saunière, Curé de Rennes-Le-Château (Mémoires de la Société des Arts et Sciences de Carcassonne, 4ème série, tome VII, 2ème partie, juillet 1974).