Holy Blood, Holy Grail

During the first century A.D., Alexandria was a veritable hotbed of mystical activity, a crucible in which Judaic, Mithraic, Zoroastrian, Pythagorean, Hermetic, and neo-Platonic doctrines suffused the air and combined with innumerable others.

In December 1945 an Egyptian peasant, digging for soft and fertile soil near the village of Nag Hammadi in upper Egypt, exhumed a red earthenware jar. It proved to contain thirteen codices— papyrus books or scrolls—bound in leather.

The Nag Hammadi scrolls are a collection of biblical texts, essentially Gnostic in character, which date, it would appear, from the late fourth or early fifth century—from about A.D. 400.

The "treasure," he declared flatly, did not involve gold or precious stones. On the contrary, it consisted of "incontrovertible proof" that the Crucifixion was a fraud and that Jesus was alive as late as A.D. 45.

The Gospel of Matthew states explicitly that Jesus was of royal blood—a genuine king, the lineal descendant of Solomon and David.

the Ordre de Sion was founded by Godfroi de Bouillon in 1090,

under the same cross that Christopher Columbus’s three caravels crossed the Atlantic to the New World.

in 1522 the Templars’ Prussian progeny, the Teutonic Knights, secularized themselves, repudiated their allegiance to Rome, and threw their support behind an upstart rebel and heretic named Martin Luther.

the first historical information on the Templars is provided by a Frankish historian, Guillaume de Tyre, who wrote between 1175 and 1185.

According to tradition as well as certain early Church writers, Lazarus, the Magdalen, Martha, Joseph of Arimathea, and a few others were transported by ship to Marseilles.16

between 1195 and 1220, Wolfram composed his epic romance Parzival, he conferred on the Templars a most exalted status.

the Temple of Solomon was founded in 1118.

The final recorded act in the order’s history had been the burning of the last grand master, Jacques de Molay, in March 1314.

The declared objective of the Templars, Guillaume de Tyre continues, was, "as far as their strength permitted, they should keep the roads and highways safe ... with especial regard for the protection of pilgrims.

Among the most popular and evocative of medieval myths is that of Lohengrin, the "Swan Knight.

When the king’s head fell beneath the guillotine, an unknown man is reported to have leaped onto the scaffold. He dipped his hand in the monarch’s blood, flung it out over the surrounding throng and cried, "Jacques de Molay, thou art avenged!

Rennes-le-Château and its environs had been on the ancient pilgrim route, which ran from northern Europe to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

In 1956 a series of books, articles, pamphlets, and other documents relating to Bérenger Saunière and the enigma of Rennes-le-Chateau began to appear in France.

The Templars were sworn to poverty, chastity, and obedience.

I TEGO ARCANA DEI (BEGONE! I CONCEAL THE SECRETS OF GOD.)

All members of the order were obliged to wear white habits of surcoats and cloaks, and these soon evolved into the distinctive white mantle for which the Templars became famous.

In 1146 the Templars adopted the famous splayed red cross—the cross pattée.

In 1977 a new and particularly significant "Prieuré document" appeared—a six-page pamphlet entitled Le Cercle d’Ulysse written by one Jean Delaude.

In 1738 Pope Clement XII issued a papal bull condemning and excommunicating all Freemasons, whom he pronounced "enemies of the Roman Church.

The sack of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the destruction of the temple prompted a massive exodus of Jews from the Holy Land.

In 1099, immediately after the capture of Jerusalem, a group of anonymous figures convened in secret conclave.

To drink like a Templar" became a cliché of the time.

The "Donation of Constantine" purported to date from Constantine’s alleged conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.

René d’Anjou—"Good King René" as he was known—was one of the most important figures in European culture during the years immediately preceding the Renaissance.

The name derives from Charles Martel, although it is generally associated with the most famous of Carolingian rulers, Charles the Great, Carolus Magnus, or, as he is best known, Charlemagne.