That same gang was apparently on the trail of the Hapsburg visitor to Rennes-le-Chateau and was aware that he was there to meet with a village priest in the area. When questioned by authorities as to what he was doing in Rennes-le-Chateau, Salvator answered that he had become lost on his way to Spain from Italy. The local government officials who were keeping an eye on Sauniere found Salvator`s presence to be suspicious.

“Viva Angelina!”

The murderer of Abbe Gelis left a note at the scene of the crime which read “Viva Angelina!” Angelina is a Serbian saint with a shrine in Belgrade. It was a defiant declaration left behind at the scene of the brutal killing of a Catholic priest whose body had been arranged in a pious pose.

For nearly a century there has been suspicion cast upon Sauniere due to this crime against his friend and fellow priest. Sauniere had nothing to do with it. It was the work of the gang who shot the heir to the Austrian throne.

After the death of the Countess of Chambourd, Salvator the Hapsburg continued to mysteriously fund the building projects of Abbe Sauniere. After Salvator faked his own death, Sauniere returned the favor by channeling money to him when he was living incognito in Budapest through the bank accounts that had been set up years earlier. This was also the source of the priest`s fortune which he used to beautify his parish.

The involvement of a Hapsburg at Rennes-le-Chateau was not such a strange situation, after all, the Hapsburgs were descendants of the Merovingians and their ancestors had strong ties to the area.

Next time: “The Parish Priest, the Royal Storehouse, and the Secret Society”.