Da Vinci Code, The

The Da Vinci Code is a best-selling novel by the American author Dan Brown published in 2003. The novel, which takes its title from a famous manuscript by the legendary artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, is a thriller that draws on a number of conspiracy theories about the Catholic Church and Mary Magdalene in particular. Several successful novels and popular Hollywood movies, such Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and the Last Temptation of Christ, had already dealt with most of the pseudohistorical documents or legendary themes referred to by Brown, such as the Holy Grail story, the vicissitudes of the Templar Order, the Priory of Sion-a well-known modern hoax-and Jesus’ possible marriage.

The novel proposes an alternate reading of Western history by imagining that Jesus of Nazareth was married to Mary Magdalene, and had a daughter, whose descendants gave origin to the French dynasty of the Merovingian kings. Later, the Merovingians went into hiding because the Roman Catholic Church, which in the novel is cast in the role of the great villain, persecuted them. According to Brown's novel, the Roman Catholic Church was trying to cover up the fact that Jesus was just a man, and not the son of God.

While most critics have focused on the lack of literary qualities in Brown's novel, author and scholar J. Madison Davis has noted that the book is part of a line of works whose forefather is identified as writer, linguist, and philosopher Umberto Eco. Davis also noted that The Da Vinci Code exploits the reader's fascination with arcane knowledge.

Christian writers have criticized the novel for various reasons. Roman Catholic critics, such as Sandra Miesel and Carl Olson, have noted both historical and factual errors in the novel, pointing out that Brown's knowledge of Christian history is as superficial and as inaccurate as his reconstruction of European medieval history. They have criticized Brown's choice of sources, which span from Elaine Pagels's feminist writings to popular literature. A further problem noted by religious historians is that the wild inaccuracies in Brown's treatment of Mary Magdalene obscure evidence of the real, and substantial, role she did play in the early Christian community.

Some readers interpret Brown's book as feminist work, and why it has been criticized by the American Christian Right as well as by fundamentalist Christian groups, who found offensive Brown's apparent celebration of the feminine. Some scholars, such as Kristy Maddux, have highlighted how Brown's work draws on radical or cultural feminism. She has argued that the novel reinforces patriarchy and points out how Brown has drawn on radical feminism. She maintains that his work celebrates women, and that he has a persistent recourse to the private sphere. Maddux also accuses Brown of reducing women to their biology and that he ends up reinstating old antifeminist stereotypes.

[Page 372]The book has also faced controversy over allegations of plagiarism, which has called attention to Lewis Perdue, author of two novels on a supposed daughter of Jesus; and by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, authors of a book on the Holy Grail that was published in the 1980s.

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