The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail

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:

• There is a secret society known as Priory of Sion that has a long and illustrious history dating back to the First Crusade starting with the creation of the Knights Templar as its military front.

• It had a large role in partaking in and promoting the "underground river of esotericism," the Alph, in Medieval Europe.

• It is devoted to returning the Merovingian dynasty, that ruled the Frankish kingdom from 447 to 751 C.E., to the thrones of Europe and Jerusalem.

• It protects these royal claimants because they are the literal descendants of Jesus and his alleged wife Mary Magdalene.

• The Roman Catholic Church tried to kill off all remnants of this dynasty and their guardians, the Cathars and the Templars, during the Inquisition, in order to gain power through the apostolic succession of Peter instead of the hereditary succession of 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.

External links and references

• Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln (1982). Holy Blood, Holy Grail. (ISBN 0385338597) This is the ISBN for the current hardcover edition (as of 2004).
• Alex Burns. Holy Blood, Holy Grail A short but insightful review of the book.
• Ken Mondschein. Review and debunking of the book
• The Jesus Conspiracy