In the opening of his book, Dan Brown describes this group: 'The Priory of Sion – a European secret society founded in 1099 – is a real organisation. In 1975, Paris's Biblioteque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Sandro Bottichelli, Victor Hugo and Leonardo da Vinci.'

The truth of this statement seems to be the greatest bone of contention in Dan Brown's book for historians and Holy Grail enthusiasts alike. The Priory of Sion seem to have been a surrealist prank invented by three French men with time on their hands and some spare cash.

Monsieurs Plantard, de Sède and de Cherisey apparently led Grail researchers a merry dance. Not least the three who in 1982 wrote Dan Brown's touchstone – The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. Nevertheless, the authors of this work still believe their hypothesis (that the Holy Grail is Christ's bloodline) holds water. And all three authors, Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln, are experienced researchers, knowledgeable in the field.

At about the same time that Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln were conducting their research in so-called Grail country in the south of France, French journalist Jean-Luc Chaumeil was also on the trail. He came up with rather a different story. The so called Les Dossiers Secrets (listing previous Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion, including Leonardo da Vinci and illustrious friends) Chaumeil found to be faked. Along with the genealogy of Merovingian Kings, who could trace their ancestry back to Mary Magdalene, and forward to one Monsieur Plantard.
 

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