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the
Real History
behind the
Da Vinci Code
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the
Real History
behind the
Da Vinci Code
Sharan Newman
b
BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
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(a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
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(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)
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Penguin Group (NZ), cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand
(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
Copyright © 2005 by Sharan Newman
Cover design by Erika Fusari
Book design by Tiffany Estreicher
All rights reserved.
First Electronic Edition / January 2005
MSR ISBN 0 7865 5469 X
AEB ISBN 0 7865 5470 3
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To real historians everywhere,
who slog in the archives for nothing more than the hope of
coming a little closer to knowing the truth.
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A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
The following people have been invaluable in the research for this book.
They did their best and all errors or misunderstandings are totally mine.
Stuart Beattie, director ofthe Rosslyn Trust, for helping me to arrange my visit
to Rosslyn and providing a photo ofthe chapel without the scaffolding.
Professor Malcolm Barber, University of Reading, for reading and making
suggestions on the section about the Templars and for a lovely lunch at the
university.
Olivia Hsu Decker, owner, Château Villette, for generously reading the sec-
tion on the château and allowing me to use her photos ofit.
Dianne di Nicola, ODAN, for information on Opus Dei and sharing her ex-
periences with the organization and for being so understanding ofmy absent-
mindedness.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Professor Harold A. Drake, UC Santa Barbara, for teaching me all the Roman
history I know and advising me on the Council ofNicaea.
Aviva Cashmira Kakar, for doing the legwork in Paris that I didn’t have time
for and for taking better photos than mine.
Linda, Tomm, Thomas, Carl, Rachel, and Rose for support, encouragement
and reading several sections for coherence.
Allison Newman, for drawing floor plans and sketches at very short notice.
Professor Barbara Newman, Northwestern University, for advice on the Sacred
Feminine. (No, we are not related, I’m sorry to say.)
Barbara Peters, Poisoned Pen Press, for suggesting that I write this in the first
place.
M. Michel Rougé, ofthe parish ofSt. Sulpice, for sharing his great knowledge
ofthe church and its history.
Professor Jeffrey Burton Russell, UCSanta Barbara (emeritus), for checking
on my understanding ofheretics, gnostics and witches.
Dr. Georgia Wright, National Coalition of Independent Scholars, for giving
me a place to stay while using the Berkeley library and taking time from her
own work to make suggestions for Da Vinci research.
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I
NTRODUCTION
“It is difficult to distinguish fact from legend....I have found no consen-
sus on what is fact; it depends on the viewpoint. Interestingly enough
legend—which is by definition distorted—gives a far more acceptable
view of events. Everyone agrees on legend, but nobody agrees on facts.”
MICHAEL CONEY
The Celestial Steam Locomotive
We all believe in legends in one form or another. We all believe in
myths. Societies exist on shared beliefs.
The popularity ofThe Da Vinci Code is an example ofthis. The story
is a thriller in the classic sense: an innocent accused of murder, a hunt
for a precious artifact, secret cabals working in the shadows to help or
hinder the hero. All of these elements are familiar. On top of this has
been added an overwhelming amount of esoteric lore and bits of what
might be history. These add their own sense ofmystery. Finally, there is
a blend of several of the most popular legends of Western civilization:
the Holy Grail, the Templars, the Crusades, along with the possibility
that some of the most famous men (always men) in history may have
had secret lives. It’s a great mix.
When The Da Vinci Code was published, people began asking me to
separate the legends from the facts in the book. As a medievalist and
novelist, I had researched the background of many of the topics, both
those central to the plot and those mentioned in passing by the charac-
