Immediately prior to
the Prologue in The Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown makes a point of confirming
the authenticity of the Priory of Sion.
It was, he says, a
European secret society founded in 1099.
Another source gives the date as 1090, the place as the Holy Land, and
the founder as Godfroy de Bouillion, who captured Jerusalem in 1099. After the
fall of Jerusalem to the Crusaders, Godfroy ordered that an abbey, the Abbey of
Notre-Dame du Mont de Sion, be built on the site of a ruined Byzantine church
to house his personal canons (members of a cathedral chapter) who, according to
Priory records, later became involved in helping to create the Knights Templar
to “serve as the Order of Sion’s military and exterior administrative arm”.
(Cracking the Da Vinci Code, p. 130)
In 1152, a number of
monks from the Abbey of Notre-Dame du Mont de Sion travelled to France in the
company of the French king, Louis VII, and were settled in Orleans, where some
of them were accommodated at “the little priory of the Mount of Sion”. From
this small body, according to (now dubious) Priory records, grew the secret
order that became known as the Priory of Sion.
It is claimed that
the Knights Templar co-operated with the Priory of Sion until 1188 when the two
bodies were unable to resolve a major dispute and officially abandoned their
alliance. While the Templars continued to operate publicly until their order was
dissolved by Pope Clement V in 1307, the Priory of Sion apparently became an
underground movement under the name of the Order of the Rose-Cross Veritas. By
association of terms, it seems that the still-existing movement known as the
Rosicrucians had its roots in this order.
Dan Brown records
that in 1975 the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris discovered parchments known as
Les Dossiers Secrets which identified well-known personages as being among the
members of the Priory of Sion. Included were the names of Sir Isaac Newton,
Sandro Botticelli, Victor Hugo and Leonardo da Vinci. Dates of this discovery
vary.
It seems that the
real purpose of the dossiers was to establish an illustrious background for one
Pierre Plantard and attempted to show that he was the only living descendant of
King Dagobert II and therefore the legitimate king of France. This also placed
him in the bloodline claimed to have been that of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. In
fact, the Dossiers contain a wide variety of material that has not been
substantiated by any other source. Moreover, some pieces of information have
been definitively proved by experts to be false.
With a special card
issued on request to researchers, anyone can study any records in the entire
library. Although frequently described as ‘secret’, they are in fact available
for scrutiny.
Leadership of the
Priory of Sion is claimed to have originally passed on via a family bloodline,
but the position was later said to be held by people of particular distinction.
Author Simon Cox mentions a list dated 1956 which was contained in the Les
Dossiers Secrets and which gives the names of all the “Grand Masters of the
Priory of Sion”. According to this record, Jean Cocteau was “Navigator” (Grand
Master) from 1918 to 1963. The name of his successor has apparently not been
established, but leadership subsequently passed to Pierre Plantard, who held
the title until his resignation in 1984.
Pierre Plantard was
apparently a major source of information for the authors of the best-selling Holy
Blood, Holy Grail, the book that first drew the attention of the reading public
to the Priory of Sion.
The glossary item on
the Priory of Sion in Secrets of the Code (see Further Reading at the end of
this book) introduces a note of caution about the claims of Pierre Plantard,
the spokesperson for most of the modern history of the Priory of Sion. Plantard
died on 3 February 2000. The editor of Secrets of the Code points out that
documentary evidence relating to the activities of the Priory of Sion is available
only from 1956 and that anything before that is sketchy and confusing. He
comments that many authors “have projected their speculations and theories
regarding the Priory and its place in history”.
True, but ultimately
The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. What makes it so compelling a novel is
the fact that its fictional elements play out against a well-researched
background that seems persuasively real, whether it is in fact so or not.
Truth, after all,
depends largely on perspective. A novel writer wanting to present background
material that can be accepted by readers as being as authentic as possible
therefore has to make choices based on research that seems to him to offer him
the best opportunity for creating a believable and coherent context for his
story.
The author of The Da
Vinci Code states that all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and
secret rituals in the novel are accurate. It is important that one temporarily
accepts this credo if one is to participate fully in the events of the novel
and take in a great deal of fascinating historical material that one might care
to pursue further afterwards if one wishes.
The book therefore
opens doors to much further exploration beyond the fiction which it presents.
The avid interest raised by the background to The Da Vinci Code is a clear
indication of the delight many readers take in digging beyond the telling of
the story.
The role played by
the supposedly centuries-old Priory of Sion is a case in point. Jacques
Saunière, Sophie Neveu’s grandfather in the novel, is found to be the Grand
Master of the Priory of Sion and one of four people to hold the Priory’s grand
secret that must at all costs be prevented from falling into the hands of the
Opus Dei. The incorporation of complex historical detail – including
detail about which there is much speculation and controversy – adds a
dimension not usually found in thrillers.
An interesting note
is that a Catholic Order called the Priory of Sion did exist in the Middle
Ages, although it had nothing to do with the Merovingians or any alternative
history of Jesus and Mary Magadalene. Nor does it appear to have had any
relationship to the Priory of Sion of Dan Brown’s novel.
Many people joined
the Priory of Sion after 1956, and more followed when the finding of Les
Dossiers Secrets (not by library staff, but by members of Pierre Plantard’s
group) was announced.
Today, despite
Pierre Plantard’s documentary evidence being regarded as highly suspicious and
probably fraudulent, the Priory of Sion continues to exist as a small occult
group, focusing on themes and rituals which it has in common with several other
older orders.
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