|
Holy Blood, Holy Grail is a New York Times bestseller and work of pseudohistory written by authors Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, which was published in 1982 by Dell (ISBN 055212138). While it is a popular book, its conspiracy theories remain outside the fringes of academic inquiry on its subjects.
It details their own quest for the Holy Grail by investigating the concocted mysteries of the village of Rennes-le-Château dating from the 1950s in southern France and constructing a conspiratorial view of the history of the Western world.
After a decade of research and speculation, Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln came to the following conclusions, most of which they knew to either be unprovable or false:
- 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. Also the computer adventure game Gabriel Knight 3 uses many of the points as an important element in the story.
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 viable sources.
The Messianic Legacy is the 1987 sequel to Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
See also
External links and references
|
