From Saint Angelina to a lost knowledge Part 1 : “Viva Angelina”

 

The tranquil life

The castle of Coustaussa

This story begins in Coustaussa. It is a small village on top of a hill… as so many others in the Razès. It is tranquil, with remains of an ancient castle… which is now close to collapse. Across the valley rises another ancient castle, that of Rennes-le-Château. Both villages had a priest. Neither village, around 1890, had any reason why they should be set apart from thousands of similar villages dotted across the map of France.
There were, of course, some rumours about Saunière and his lifestyle, but he was just one of several people in that village and the neighbouring area that were the subject of rumours. One person Saunière knew and visited was Antoine Gélis, the priest of Coustaussa. The same can be said about his relationship with Henri Boudet, the priest of Rennes-les-Bains. They are colleagues, with a common mission to serve the religious community. But it also seems they share something else, for they dispose of above average – expected – amounts of money. Before their postings in respectively Coustaussa and Rennes-les-Bains, Gélis and Boudet had both been vicars of Durban-Corbières, a town Saunière was also known to visit.
Saunière’s fame would only become public knowledge in the 20th century, but Gélis was the first who would make headline news. For on the morning of November 1, 1897, his body was found dead in his presbytery. He had not died of old age, or an illness, but had been murdered – brutally.
When the gendarmes held their enquiry, they proved that Gélis was indeed sitting on a small fortune… hidden in various places across the house. But the gendarmes also established that money was not the purpose of his murder.

Gélis and his friends

Who was Gélis? He was born on April 1, 1827 – therefore 70 years old when the tragedy occurred. Over the last few months, he had grown increasingly weary. He locked himself in, and only opened the door if he knew the person calling. On the night of October 31, 1897, he opened his door to someone who would assassinate him. Who, we do not know. As few people visited him, some have argued that it must have been Saunière who visited him and murdered him. It is a totally unproven claim. Furthermore, it was known that Gélis sometimes met people from outside of the village – though no-one knew who they were and Gélis did not seem to want to introduce his visitors.

Gélis's tomb in the cemetery of Coustaussa

Whoever it was that he knew, this person caused thirteen injuries, the results of blows. Only the last three blows proved to be fatal. It leaves the possibility that Gélis was subjected to torture, each blow there to inflict pain and see whether or not Gélis may wanted to stop the horrible experience and reveal to the “friend” what that person wanted to hear. A secret that Gélis was aware of and that someone wanted him to share? Or perhaps another form of interrogation that we will never be able to identify, unless the story of the assassin is at some point recuperated.
That in itself seems unlikely, for even though the authorities did follow some leads, these were in themselves too obvious or just window-dressing; the assassin was never caught, meaning that it was a perfect murder!

A mortuary rite?

There is one detail that few have underlined in this ghastly story. Murder normally is the final or accidental collection of various motives. But in some cases, certain details suggest that something else happened. This can take the form of a sacrifice or a ritual murder. Is there any evidence – on the scene of the crime – that Gélis’s death could have been “prepared”?

The presbytery in Coustaussa

- There is the fact that there were 13 blows, though only three were mortal. Was the sequence of blows torture, or a symbol? Thirteen is “unfortunate”, and definitely for Gélis. For a priest, let us note that there are twelve apostles, and the thirteenth was Judas, who betrayed the first brotherhood of priests – the apostles. Did Gélis betray someone or something and was he hence identified as a “Judas”? Judas hung himself in shame, but perhaps Gélis was helped on his way to the other side. Still, the number is most likely but a coincidence.
- His body was found to be aligned north-south, which seems unlikely to be a coincidence. The reports inform us that the hands of our dearly departed Gélis were placed on his belly, in a gesture of devotion – the hands interlocked, praying, as is customary to depict the deceased person. But in most cases, it are morticians or close family who place the body in such a position; seldom murderers make sure that the deceased person is left as such. It leaves us with a feeling that someone wanted Gélis dead, but at the same time made sure – as if he was devoted to him – that his body was left behind with respect, with honour, in a position that was befitting a dead person. In short, the murderer is not killing him by accident (witness the thirteen blows, three of which are fatal), yet once dead, he makes sure that the poor priest’s soul will go to heaven.
- There is the date on which the murder occurred. The act occurred on the night from October 31 on November 1. Halloween, with November 1 being All Saints.
- There is the position of one of his legs, which the reports indicate is rolled back under the other. The gendarmes do not seem to realise that such a position is known as a card in the Tarot deck, the “Hanged Man”… who is obviously depicted as a dead man. Gélis is not found hung, nor strangled, but as it is clear that someone has gone through the trouble of laying out his body, including his hands in a praying position, if one of Gélis’ legs accidentally slipped under the other, it is to be expected that the assassin would reposition it, placing both feet next to each other. Instead, it suggests that as the assassin played with the position of the hands, he also placed one leg under the other, as the Hanged Man in the Tarot deck. And the gendarmes should have realised the possibility that the murderer was leaving a message.

“Tsar” & Angelina

Apart from the position of the body, other items were found on the scene of the crime. There is a small box of cigarette papers nearby. The brand is “Le Tsar”. Gélis was an anti-smoker and did not allow anyone to smoke in his home. It suggests the cigarettes were his killer’s. Did he smoke to agitate Gélis during his torture? Perhaps. Perhaps not. As the type of paper was not on sale locally, it obviously came from elsewhere. The murderer therefore does not seem to be local, or at least travels about – or has a specific interest in this type of cigarette paper, which seems unlikely.
Next clue: there is a piece of paper nearby, which reads “viva Angélina”. Is the piece of paper just left behind by accident, or is it a message? Of course, if we are confronted with a ritual murder, such a bizarre reference “Long live Angelina” does not provide us with an explanation, but at least fits within the context of the scene of the crime.

The police did make enquiries into these two items and followed up on the clues provided. Still, they posed some bizarre questions; they asked whether the cigarette papers were on sale in Narbonne. The answer is no. But why focus on Narbonne, and not on Limoux, Perpignan… or Coustaussa itself? Was there perhaps a clue, an indication that pointed in that direction, but which never made it into the written report on the crime?
As to Angelina… once again, the enquiry is mainly interested in Narbonne, and finds one Angelina Ganier, a prostitute. But it soon turns out that she cannot be the assassin… (still, would she leave a note to herself?) There is however nothing that can tie her to the crime at all – as an innocent ingredient or as the assassin.

The assassin was never found as the two clues left on the scene of the crime did not bear fruit. But it may be that the police then – as now – was largely unfamiliar with ritual murders and ritual clues. The position of the body should have been seen as a possible indication, and the presence of a handwritten note, which is obviously providing a somewhat bizarre message, could also be an ingredient of a ritual murder. “Long live Angelina”… Someone dies, so that Angelina continues to – or can – live?

A saint, but not a Catholic one

The Monastery of Krusedol

The name Angelina is obviously linguistically related to “Angel”. And an angel means a messenger. Who obviously carries a message. So leaving “Viva Angelina” behind as a message next to a dead corpse, is intriguing… to say the least. It could – could – be interpreted as “Long live the (female) messenger”, or “Long live the (female?) angel”. Angels, of course, form a link between this earth and heaven and it’s to that realm that the assassin sent Gélis. Again, let’s remember the position of his hands on his body, suggesting the assassin had respect for the priest and his soul – more so than for his mortal coil.
As this is possibly a ritual murder – let us therefore follow a route that the police enquiry a century ago never took – we need to find the context in which this ritual murder makes sense. First, the position of the body, which reveals a link to the Tarot cards. At the same time, we should not stray too far from Christianity, judging by the position of the hands. So let’s start with a silly question: is there a Saint Angelina, Angel, Angeline, Angelique, etc? After all, with the murder being on the eve of “All Saints”, did the assassin single out one specific saint amongst the lot? A “Saint Angelina”? The answer is a disappointing no. There is a saint Angèle, founder of the Ursulines. Her feast-day is January 27. There is an Angeline, of the order of St Francis, who lived in the 15th century and whose feast is December 22. Indeed, Angeline somewhat resembles Angelina, but would it hold up in court? Probably not.
Is there a Saint Angelina? The answer is “no” for the Catholic Church… but “yes” for the Orthodox Church! Her feast is July 30, which coincides with the feast of St Peter in the Catholic calendar. Angelina was the daughter of Prince Scanderbeg, from Albania. Stephan Brankovitch, king of Serbia, was trying to outrun his assassins, and took refuge with the father of Angelina. Both, of course, fall in love and decide to marry. The marriage produces two sons: George and John. But when the Turks invade the country in 1457, the family flees to Italy. When Angelina is widowed, the king of Hungary gives to her the town of Kupinovo, where she buries the remains of her husband.
Her first son George decided to follow a religious calling, using the name Maxim(us) and cedes his royal title to his brother John. The latter dies without children, in 1503. A few years before, in 1496, Angelina is now old and decides to devote her life to religion, like her eldest son. She becomes abbess of an order and a monastery that her son has founded, and dies in 1510. Both she and her two sons will become saints and the relics of John have since been involved in numerous miracles. All three are buried together in a tomb in the church of the monastery of Krusedol, in Serbia, where the devotion continues to this day.

The reunion of January 17 and Saint Angelina

Why speak of this saint? Is she relevant to the murder of Gélis? At first sight, it does not appear to be the case. Until 2005, when the French Société Perillos decides to offer its members, on January 17, a short expedition towards Prats-de-Mollo and Arles-sur-Tech, where there is a direct link with the Perillos family, but also with Saunière – which for the moment is irrelevant to our enquiry.
It is during this expedition that we stumble upon a site that few of the guidebooks mention and that is not on the main tourist path. For the moment, we will leave it unnamed… Let us merely add that when we enter, we are immediately confronted with the news that in the past, there was a bizarre royal visit from the kings of Aragon – reason unknown. There is a church, we walk around, and towards the end of our visit, we find a statue of Saint Angelina!
The totality of our members have visited hundreds of churches in the region – and elsewhere – and no-one has ever stumbled upon this saint – she is, after all, orthodox, and not Catholic… and we should note that the church we find Angelina in has no link – at least not apparent – with the orthodox tradition. Furthermore, though orthodox, the statue itself looks identical to any ordinary Catholic saintly statue. There is nothing that gives away that this is an orthodox saint. If you did not know there wasn’t a Catholic saint Angelina, you would think this saint is Catholic. Appearances can be deceiving, that’s for sure.

This is the only statue of Saint Angelina that we have come across. And over the past year, we have tried to find others, both in the surrounding area, and elsewhere. All with no success. So far, this remains the only statue we have ever found – that is to say: a Catholic depiction of her. So with only this one statue to go on, let’s note that she has a sad expression on her face. She, it is clear, is not depicted as a martyr, for she only has a book in her left hand. As the book is closed, it suggests that the life’s mission of this person was achieved successfully. But it could also mean – following Christian symbolism – that the subject possessed a certain knowledge… and that the latter has been “sealed off” – hermetically sealed – the book is closed.

Setting the scene

Let us repeat that the region in which this saint is found is frequented by several of the principle characters – priests – in our enquiry: Saunière definitely knew and visited this region, and as Saunière knew Gélis, there is a possible link. That’s all a police enquiry should note. Still, we should also note that Gélis’ dead body was found in a possibly ritual position. And let us note that the region of Prats-de-Mollo and Arles-sur-Tech, in which Saint Angelina is located, is notorious for its devotion to La Sanch and a “cult of the dead” – and that the time of the murder is the date of the year par excellence to remember saints and the dead. Let us note that there is connection between La Sanch and Saunière, and thus, by extension, between Saunière and a “cult of the dead”. In our enquiry into the possible ritualistic circumstances of Gélis’ death, we have thus hit upon a possibility that should not be ignored – though which the police a century ago did not seem to have realised.
Finally, let us add one other ingredient: the region of Prats-de-Mollo was linked to the lords of the Perillos, and it is Gélis who was vicar in Durban-Corbieres, at a time when Perillos was under the “control” of the priest of Durban-Corbieres. It means that there is a link – however convoluted and coincidental it may appear to be at this moment – between Gélis and this statue. The question which therefore needs to be asked is whether Gélis was indeed murdered because of something that involved the lords of Perillos, and which involves the area of Prats-de-Mollo. The reason we need to ask this question is because someone left a note next to Gélis’ death body, which reads “Viva Angelina”. We are merely trying to place a clue left on the scene by the assassin in a context that makes sense. That is what we have done – successfully. Our “police enquiry” will therefore continue… and perhaps come across further clues or evidence that may support this line of enquiry, which may finally reveal the true reasons of Gélis’ death.

continued>>

André Douzet & Filip Coppens