Our Venerable Order, has origins on July 15 1099 in Jerusalem, founded by Godfrey of Bouillon, at the Abbey "Our Lady of Mount Sion", as "Order of Our Lady of Mount Sion."
In 1152 a part of the monks belonging to the Order is brought to France by King Louis VII; donations made in 1152 by Louis VII were properties and other goods, including the Saint Samson Abbey, where the Order took its headquarters; it was after the coming in France that the Order will change its name to Grand Priory of Sion or Priory of Sion, in 1153.
Later, because of the siege of Jerusalem by Saladin, the Order members who had remained in the Abbey, will move suddenly, on 14 October 1187, in Palestine, in Acre, at the Priory of San Leonardo.
The May 19, 1291 also the city of Acre fell under the attack of the Muslims; from that moment, for the last Priory veterans from Palestine, it resorts to the forced settlement in Caltanissetta, Sicily, in the Church of the Holy Spirit.
In 1158 Pope Adrian IV confirmed the authority of the Priory of Sion in all its roles and in all its functions as well as the legality of all its properties; the line will be confirmed by his successor, Pope Alexander III, who perpetuated the possessions, benefits and powers of the Order.
In 1619, the Priory of Sion, following an irreconcilable conflict with Louis XIII of Bourbon, resulting in the expulsion of the Order from its properties, it will no longer exist as a public institution and become a secret society without a seat on the territory.
It's since that moment that the Order becomes essentially a loose deposit of knowledge and secrets, chasing his custodians through a narrow but very efficient network of emissaries not necessarily all Members of the Order, but wisely and strategically chosen to preserve and spread the secrets of the right recipients.
The leadership in the centuries has always been entrusted, without exception, to consider to be able to drive as well the Order over the years, as been in possession of the ability to deepen the study of its secrets, the Order never considered itself a conseguitore or as get to an arrival point, more likely, however, an expression of Man, which, as such, can only evolve over time, replacing the knowledge of yesterday with updated calculations in the tomorrow.
Thus we find in our past, Grand Masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Sandro Filipepi, Robert Boyle, Michel de Nostredame and how many more well known, chosen primarily for what they were because of their human baggage, sometimes even scientific or abou another kind of knowledge, always initiatory and never for reasons concerning politic, geographical matters, economic or institutional circumstances.
This "operational policy" has perpetrated until such time as our past Grand Master Pierre Plantard decided to legitimize institutionally the Priory in 1956, this was done in order to give to the Order an official size that even contemplates the information to the peoples of certain realities through a channel that was public, so in a more direct way.
It was therefore attempted to establish a first time ,officially, this Organization in the modern era.
Unfortunately, many vicissitudes, already priory considered a risk, they effectively materialized in all their concreteness, in the most absolute impossibility in handling and without outlet streets, which forced the precedent Council, after several attempts, to suspend this project persistently for a long period.
Only recently, it was considered appropriate to officially reorganize the institutional structure of the Order, in 2015, with intentions similar and different at the same time; in addition to the original reasons, tied to our tradition's preservation, this step was made also for the benefit of our Brothers and Sisters of the Order, the worthy seeker and society as a whole, even as a means of contact for those who wanted to approach this initiatory community and share the path.
