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The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail

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Holy Blood, Holy Grail is a nonfictional work of pseudohistory and New York Times bestseller written by BBC producers and authors Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln and published in 1982 by Dell (ISBN 055212138).

It details their own quest for the Holy Grail by investigating the mysteries of Rennes-le-Château and constructing a conspiratorial view of the history of the Western world.

After a decade of research, Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln came to the following controversial conclusions:

  • It had a large role in partaking in and promoting the "underground river of esotericism," the Alph, in Medieval Europe.
  • It protects these royal claimants because they are the literal descendants of Jesus and his alleged wife Mary Magdalene.

Author Dan Brown, in his bestseller The Da Vinci Code, makes reference to this book, and uses several of the above claims as key plot elements.

These theories have not been accepted by any reputable historians. Many medieval-history students have lost marks in essays and exams through accepting works like Holy Blood, Holy Grail as a viable source.