2003-01-16 More Muddle on Rennes-LeChateau

The mystery surrounding Rennes-Le-Chateau is endlessly fascinating and has spawned innumerable books attempting to unravel the secret and explain how an impoverished country priest became a wealthy mover and shaker and spent tons of dough converting his little church into a giant puzzle box. Most of these books are fascinating nonsense recounting a secret bloodline descended from Jesus, Templars, Masons, Rosicrucians and secret Kabalistic wisdom. "Rex Deus" is no different.

The problem with this glut of books is that they have created a bizarre feedback loop; each book takes as fact the previous books' suppositions and uses them to prove or further their own theories. The bibliography of Rex Deus contains "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" and "The Sign and the Seal", among others, though, in true academic fashion, the authors are careful to discredit the work of the other researchers, even while using their work as research of their own. Here the authors outline the theory of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", then say they think it's all nonsense. But *their* theory, that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, who escaped with Jesus' children to France after the crucifixion and founded a sacred bloodline, called "Rex Deus", is perfectly logical.

Different in Rex Deus is the addition of an anonymous informant named "Michael" who claims to be a member of the Rex Deus clan. Sadly, he is unable to provide any proof of this, as the desk containing the sacred documents has gone missing. Michael feeds the authors anything and everything they want to hear and they gleefully write it all down and present it as fact.

The first half of this book is fascinating, presenting the Rennes-Le-Chateau mystery, a thought-provoking interpretation of early Christianity, the formation of the Knights of the Temple and a plausible explanation for the Knights' strange behavior. The book quickly becomes bogged down in a dull recitation of Rex Deus comings and goings, family alliances, politics and muddled reporting, so the last half to one-third of Rex Deus is slow going.

Overall, though, I enjoyed reading this book. I like conspiracy theories and unsolved mysteries, and plan to read more of the bibliography that is somehow less than the sum of its parts.