Beyond "The Da Vinci Code": What is the Priory of Sion? by Massimo Introvigne
In The Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown claims that the Priory of Sion "is a real organization", "a European secret society founded in 1099": "In 1975 Paris Bibliothèque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci". All this in a preliminary page under the title FACTS (as opposed to fiction). Considering the cavalier treatment in the novel of early Catholic history and the Opus Dei, one may raise some questions about the Priory of Sion, too. And rightly so. The Priory of Sion is an esoteric order legally established in France in 1956 by Pierre Plantard (1920-2000), yet claiming great antiquity. Legends connected with the Priory of Sion have generated great interest through the years, particularly as a result of the publication in 1982 of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by British journalists Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. The story starts with Father Berenger Saunière (1852-1917), whose last name is also borrowed in The Da Vinci Code, who in 1885 became the parish priest of Rennes-le-Château, a small village in the French region of Aude, near the Pyrenees Mountains. Saunière, it seems, was a rather strange character, deeply interested in symbolism; he also had a penchant for building a number of constructions around his parish church, including a bizarre neo- gothic "Tower of Magdala". Read the entire text at: http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/guests/massimointrovigne/davincisi on.asp The Da Vinci Code FAQ, or Will the Real Priory of Sion Please Stand Up? http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/columns/guests/massimointrovigne/davincifa q.asp http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/ _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)
