The Priory of Sion

In James Garlow's book "Cracking Da Vinci's Code" he says, "Brown relies on a 1982 publication "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", for his information on the Priory of Sion. The authors of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" relied on documents provided them by Pierre Pantard, who spent time in jail for fraud in 1953. Plantard and three other men started a small social club in 1956 called the Priory of Sion... throughout the 1960s and the 1970s, Plantard created a series of documents 'proving' the existence of a bloodline descending from Mary Magdelene, through the kings of France, down to the present day to include (surprise!) Pierre Plantard... in 1993... Plantard, under oath, admitted he had made up the whole Priory scheme."

In "The Da Vinci Code" Dan Brown claims that the description of the Priory of Sion is accurate. He claims that it was founded in 1099 AD in Jerusalem, but it has been exposed that Pierre Plantard planted secret documents in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. Dan Brown has backed of on his claim, and on his website he restates that the facts described on his fact page merely "exist". The documents are real, but they're phony. This is a crucial item that undermines the credbility of Dan Brown and his claims. Nothing in this book, not even the "fact" page is true. It is truly a fiction book, and it is based on fictional history. That is how this book should be received.