The Truth behind the DaVinci Code with Martyn Percy and Ian Markham

Seminary Events & Happenings

The Blood Line

We come to the heart of the book’s argument with this topic. Did Jesus have children? Are there organizations that kept the secret and protected the blood line of Jesus? To aid our reflections, I have provoked eight internet links, which I suggest you follow. There is lots of good material out there on the web on this topic.

The source for this section of the novel is the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, which was written by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln.

Three organizations are prominent in the book - the Knights Templar, the Priory of Sion, and Opus Dei. Let us look at each on in turn.

The original purpose of the Knights Templar was to escort pilgrims to Jerusalem. Formed by nine knights at the end of the First Crusade in 1118, they became ‘warrior monks’. It is a mystery why Hugues de Payens (the person who is acclaimed as the founder) kept the order so small. And it is these sorts of mysteries that invite speculation, which include the quest for the Holy Grail or the severed head of Christ. Once the Order was recognized by the Council of Troyes on January 13 1128, the Templars started to fundraise and recruit in a dramatic fashion. A key person in this recognition was St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153); Bernard wrote the Templars’ Rule, which included an obligation for all new members to hand their wealth over to the Order. (For a good article on St. Bernard of Clairvaux see http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02498d.htm) At its height, the movement was rich and powerful. After the failure of the 1291 Crusade, there was a growing resentment against the Templars. Due to the privileged status (they reported directed to the Pope), they were exempt from taxation. So in 1307, the French King, Philip the Fair, started to undermine the Order. They were persecuted and some were arrested and killed. (For a good website on the history of the Knights Templar see: http://www.templarhistory.com/who.html)

Now the Priory of Sion. We know about the Priory of Sion from the so-called Dossiers Secret (so-called because the term was coined by the Michael Baigent et al in Holy Blood). These documents are in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. Pierre Plantard de Saint Clair was the person responsible for these documents; he was the grand master of the Priory and died in 2000. (There is lots of evidence that Pierre Plantard had extreme right wing and anti-semitic sympathies.) The stated goal of this organization was the protection of the Merovingian line, which was a dynasty of Frankish kings who reigned over much of Europe (Germany, Belgium, northern France) between the 5th and 8th centuries. (See http://www.beliefnet.com/frame_offsite.asp?pageLoc=http://www.crystalinks.com/merovingian.html)

One goal of the Priory is the restoration of the Merovingian dynasty in France, which is difficult given that France is a committed Republic. The Priory of Sion claims a history which goes back to the Knights Templar. However, there is no evidence for this. In fact there is no mention of the Priory of Sion in any written source until 1956. (For a good discussion see http://home.graffiti.net/prioryofsion/cox.html)

It might be countered that secret societies would not leave a vast literature documenting their existence. Nevertheless it is surprising that there are not other references to it, especially if such greats such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Sir Isaac Newton were members. (He is claimed as the 9th Grand Master.) It is true that Da Vinci had exceptionally broad interests, including the esoteric and symbolic. But he also left a vast corpus and there is absolutely no mention of his membership of the Priory in his papers.

One last point under the Priory of Sion. There is no mention of the Holy Blood, Holy Grail hypothesis that Merovingian line is the blood line of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Pierre Plantard explicitly repudiated this suggestion. This is partly because he claimed to be part of that line. Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince make this point in Dan Burstein, Secrets of the Code p.176 and in an interview given in 1983, we find the journalist writing the following:

"Without A’s knowledge, Plantard has risen to his own defense on this point. ‘I admit’, he says, ‘that ‘The Sacred Enigma’ is a good book, but one must say that there is a part that owes more to fiction than to fact, especially in the part that deals with the lineage of Jesus. How can you prove a lineage of four centuries from Jesus to the Merovingians? I have never put myself forward as a descendant of Jesus Christ" http://priory-of-sion.com/psp/id152.html

The last secret society is the Opus Dei. This is a major Roman Catholic movement, which was founded by Msgr. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer on October 2nd 1928. It is a lay movement that seeks to deepen faith and grow in spiritual understanding. The present Pope is a great admirer. In 1982, Pope John Paul II made Opus Dei a ‘personal prelature’, which means that it is an international movement beyond geographical borders. It operates in over 80 countries and has a membership of over 77,000 members. The founder of Opus Dei was beatified in 1992. (The official website is: http://www.opusdei.org)

It attracts considerable criticism for two reasons. First, it is seen as a secret society. Members object to this characterization, insisting that they are not ‘secret’ but just ‘private’. Nevertheless it is true that there are organizations that are very critical of Opus Dei. See for example the Opus Dei Awareness Network at http://www.odan.org.

Second, it is perceived as very wealthy and very powerful. Suggestions of links with the CIA, or the finances of the Vatican, or even right-wing death squads in Latin America have provoked widespread suspicion. (See for example http://www.mdep.org/sect19.html)

Standing back

To accept the argument of the Da Vinci Code at this stage, it is necessary to accept the following.

1. The authenticity of the Dossiers Secret as capturing an ancient organization with a history going back to the Knights Templars.
2. The nature of that secret is the link between the Merovingian line and the blood line of Jesus.

It is true that most reputable scholars are not persuaded of either of these claims.

Ian Markham

Ian Markham is Dean of Hartford Seminary and Professor of
Theology and Ethics. He has spoken extensively on “The Da Vinci Code” and conspiracy theory.

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