Soon thereafter an agreement of cooperation was signed between Clovis and the Roman Church. A Royal line indeed, but is there any truth to the stories? My work on the history of Merovingian archaeology has in fact led me away, at least briefly, from the Merovingians; my current project is looking at French excavations in Algeria following the invasion of North Africa in 1830 CE. He won the Battle of Tours in 732 which saved Europe from Muslim expansionism. Eventually she fled her royal spouse, who apparently kept several wives or concubines simultaneously, to found a monastery in Poitiers, France. As a result, many academics ignored evidence of Merovingian finds in favor of Celtic and Gallo-Roman material of the preceding epoch. It is claimed he married there and had a large family before his death aged 114, with descendants to the present. Scythians have left important ethnological markers such as tamgas (brand marks) and kurgans (permanent cemeteries). They again are silent on this divine lineage. The Right To Bear Arms: The Famous Polish Wendigo: Cannibal Beast of Native American Legend. The Merovingian Dynasty got its name from Merowig or Merovech, a Salian Frank leader from 447 AD to 457 AD. Trained as a historian and researcher, and previously a professor of history, James is also a freelance writer who is keenly interested in cross-cultural exchange. Merovingian Clovis became the sword of the Church. Following these writers, they viewed the Franks long hair as an essential element of their royal power. WebThe Merovingians (also Merovings) were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region (known as Francia in Latin) largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from [68] Almost all these claims are at odds with scholarly Christian apologetics, and have been dismissed as being New Age Gnostic heresies. [4] A second work, untitled and anonymous, repeats Ermengaud's claim. BE: Thank you for asking, James! This, The basilica and former monastic church ofSaint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains in Metz, France. He regrouped and captured Cambrai (Cameracum) and occupied territory as far as the Somme River. When Clovis died in 511, the Frankish kingdom was the most powerful in Gaul. Childeric's grave was found in 1653 in Tournai and was filled with weapons, gold, jewelry, Byzantine coins, and gold cicadas or bees. The document is dated 10 March 673 CE. The Bishop of Rheims wrote a letter to Clovis, son of Childeric I which has been preserved. They concluded that the historical Mary Magdalene was not a repentant prostitute but a prominent disciple of Jesus and a leader in the early Christian movement. Among the signatories was Bishop Agilbert of Paris, formerly Bishop of the West Saxons, whose last recorded act this is. [31] This appears to have been a summary of a garbled or second-hand reference to a quote from Celsus the Platonist preserved in the apologetics work Contra Celsum ("Against Celsus") by the Church Father Origen: "such was the charm of Jesus' words, that not only were men willing to follow Him to the wilderness, but women also, forgetting the weakness of their sex and a regard for outward propriety in thus following their Teacher into desert places. This set them apart, and may have contributed to later theories regarding their divine heritage. She exercised enormous power during her reign, especially after she was widowed, when she acted as regent to her son, Clothar, for nearly a decade. Given Franco-German rivalry, before and after the Fin de sicle, I would not be surprised that many would have liked to suppress such finds! [76] Steve Olson, author of Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins, published an article in Nature demonstrating that, as a matter of statistical probability: If anyone living today is descended from Jesus, so are most of us on the planet.[77]. Gaius Julius Caesar. Donovan Joyce's 1972 best-seller, The Jesus Scroll, presented an alternative timeline for Jesus that arose from a mysterious document. According to the 7th century Chronicle of Fredegar, the Merovingian descended from quinotaurs, sea-beasts. A favored target for such pillaging attacks was the Roman Catholic Church. All images featured in this interview have been attributed to their respective owners. The Merovingian Dynasty was a family of Frankish Kings who ruled during the 5th century AD, a key dynasty of rulers in Dark Age continental Europe. Jesus bloodline Annales Mettenses Priores perhaps down played the achievements of the Merovingians, yet to accept such readings is to oversimplify Merovingian history. We cannot tell from most early medieval graves whether the deceased was Christian or not, since there was no immediate shift in burial customs. Joyce identified the writer with Jesus of Nazareth, who, he claimed, had survived his own crucifixion to marry and settle at Masada, and suggested a conspiracy to hide the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls in order to suppress this counter-narrative to Christian orthodoxy. Clothair II Clothair II reigned 584-629 and reunited the Kingdom of the Franks. [49], The best-known work depicting a bloodline of Jesus is the 2003 best-selling novel and global phenomenon, The Da Vinci Code, joined by its 2006 major cinematic release of the same name. 1600-1100 BC is described as Mycenaean Greece known for the Wars against Troy as narrated by Homer. On 23 December 679, while resting during a hunt in the forest, a servant under the direction of Pepin the Fat killed him. National assemblies of the nobles and their armed retainers were held annually, where the major policies were decided, usually about who to attack next. He amassed power and authority and great wealth which has been reported to have been located at Rennes le Chateau. For them, the cutting of the hair of the king was considered a symbolic loss of power. During a battle against the Alamans, he vowed to become a Christian if he was victorious. What I discovered was the complex network created by local archaeologists and historians that existed in the form of learned societies all across France (and in fact across Western Europe). In books like Dan Browns The Da Vinci Code, or Holy Grail, and Holy Blood by Michael Baignet and Richard Leigh, the Merovingian kings are considered to be References: I was drawn to this project after visiting European museums of Merovingian artifacts; I wondered why they organized their collections as they did, and how these objects came to their institutions (or those further afield, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art). St. Gregory, Bishop of Tours was installed in 573 and was made Around 431 he invaded the territory of Artois but was defeated near Hesdin by Aetius, Commander of the Roman Army in Gaul. As you noted above, the problematic nature of historical works dated from the Carolingian period is even more pronounced, since historians like the author of the Chronicle of Fredegar were eager to demonstrate how the Merovingian kings characterized as the do-nothing kings had lost their right to rule. These sources therefore seriously cloud our ability to sort out what caused the weakening of royal power at the end of the Merovingian dynasty. [50], In Brown's novel, the protagonist discovers that the grail actually referred to Mary Magdalene, and that knowledge of this, as well as of the bloodline descended from Jesus and Mary, has been kept hidden to the present time by a secret conspiracy. Israeli Biblical scholar, Rivka Nir called their work "serious-minded, thought-provoking and interesting", but described the thesis as objectionable, [24] and the book has been dismissed by mainstream Biblical scholarship, for example by Anglican theologian, Richard Bauckham. Charlemagne JW: In your latest work, Uncovering the Germanic Past: Merovingian Archaeology in France, 1830-1914, you move into the era of the French Industrial Revolution. The Merovingian bloodline (European royal families) is harder to track because it weaves in and out of the other 12 bloodlines. There are many surnames which are part of this bloodline (Including the Smith family), however I can give one very prominent one, the Sinclair family. In 872, he was made a Saint. According to Joyce, the 'Jesus Scroll' was a personal letter by 80-year-old Yeshua ben Yaakob ben Gennesareth, heir of the Hasmonean dynasty and hence rightful King of Israel, written on the eve of the fall of the city to the Romans after a suicide pact ended Masada's resistance. He was named Novus Constantinus-the new Constantine. [48] Some critics point out the informant's account of his family history seems to be based on the controversial work of Barbara Thiering. Catholic Encyclopedia, Copyright 2014 Order of the Merovingian Dynasty. WebHoly Bloodline: Merovingian Dynasty. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. Indeed, according to Merovingian historians and hagiographers, if one wanted to overthrow a Merovingian king, the act usually necessitated cutting his hair, and indeed tonsuring him like a monk, so that he could no longer legitimately occupy the throne of one of the Frankish kingdoms. As per the legendary tale, a man named Chlodio, along with his wife, stayed by the sea one summer. [46] Gardner followed this book with several additional works in the bloodline genre. Brown had made no secret that the bloodline material in his work drew largely on Holy Blood, directly citing the work in his book and naming the novel's historical expert after Baigent (in anagram form) and Leigh, but Random House argued that since Baigent and Leigh had presented their ideas as non-fiction, consisting of historical facts, however speculative, then Brown was free to reproduce these concepts just as other works of historical fiction treat underlying historical events. The scenario was dismissed as 'certainly strange' by a contemporary reviewer. we do not think the Incarnation truly symbolises what it is intended to symbolise unless Jesus were married and sired children. The Salian Franks (sea dwelling) lived North and East of Limes in the Dutch coastal area and in the 5th century migrated throughout Belgium and into northern France. [27], Early Mormon theology posited not only that Jesus married, but that he did so multiple times. Chris Lovegrove, "The Magdalene & the Sangraal", in, Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Unlocking the Secrets of His Life Story, "Intersections of Gender, Status, Ethnos, and Religion in Joseph and Aseneth", Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus. [56] Accepting as valid the testimony of an amateur archaeologist codenamed "Ben Hammott" relating to his discoveries made in the vicinity of Rennes-le-Chteau since 1999; Burgess claimed Ben had found the treasure of Brenger Saunire: a mummified corpse, which they believe is Mary Magdalene, in an underground tomb they claim is connected to both the Knights Templar and the Priory of Sion. A 7th century CE noblewoman named Clotilde (Chlodechildis) endowed a monastery at Bruyres-le-Chtel near to tampes, France. Haplotype R1a and R1b is found in eastern and western Asia as well as Europe and the United States. He related that after his crucifixion, Mary Magdalene, along with the family of Lazarus of Bethany, brought the body of Jesus to Provence, and there Mary had a child, Maximin, the fruit of her love for Jesus. Were the Merovingians Descended from a Monster? Their gold coins that were minted bore an equal arm cross. In 2014, Simcha Jacobovici and fringe religious studies historian Barrie Wilson suggested in The Lost Gospel that the eponymous characters in a 6th-century tale called "Joseph and Aseneth" were in actuality representations of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Initially, the Merovingians used the occasion of death to display personal wealth and power by placing objets dart, jewels, and weapons into graves and upon erected monuments. James Blake Wiener is the Communications Director at Ancient History Encyclopedia. [42], The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail, a 1993 book by Margaret Starbird, built on Cathar beliefs and Provencal traditions of Saint Sarah, the black servant of Mary Magdalene, to develop the hypothesis that Sarah was the daughter of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. He was the illegitimate son of Pippin the Middle and his concubine Alpaida. The Roman Empire is said to have ended as such in 476 AD when Odoacer, the Barbarian Germanic General deposed Romulus Agustulus. [4] In her reconstruction, a pregnant Mary Magdalene fled first to Egypt and then France after the crucifixion. Troy was a legendary city established about 3000 BC and was the center of the Trojan Wars, which occurred about 1200 BC. There were Elizabeth and Mary and a host of others that followed him". Interesting history topics are just a click away. The mean elevation in the central area is about 4500 meters. "[32], Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln developed and popularized the idea of a bloodline descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene in their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (published as Holy Blood, Holy Grail in the United States),[33] in which they asserted: ". But is there any surviving evidence from the Merovingians themselves to support this? Master of Tours by Sigibert I, King of Austrasia (561-576). Accomplishments of the Merovingians. JW: Dr. Bonnie Effros, it is a pleasure and privilege to welcome you to the Ancient History Encyclopedia! Trained as a historian and researcher, and previously a professor, James is chiefly interested in cross-cultural exchange, world history, and international relations. In their reconstruction, Mary Magdalene goes to France after the crucifixion, carrying a child by Jesus who would give rise to a lineage that centuries later would unite with the Merovingian rulers of the early Frankish kingdom, from whom they trace the descent into medieval dynasties that were almost exterminated by the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars, leaving a small remnant protected by a secret society, the Priory of Sion. About 11 BC they were forced to move to the left side of the Rhine by Nero Claudius Drusus. The Liber Historiae Francorum went further, connecting them with the Trojan migration. [52] Though one judge questioned whether the supposedly-factual Holy Blood truly represented fact, or instead bordered on fiction due to its highly conjectural nature,[53] courts ruled in favor of Random House and Brown. It is generally dismissed by the scholarly community. Historically speaking, the Merovingian dynasty consisted of Frankish kings who reigned over regions WebOne of these bloodlines was the Ishmaeli bloodline from which a special elite line developed alchemy, assassination techniques, and other occult practices. Rome In 1913, Reynolds Tobacco Company came up with a great innovationthe packaged cigarette called Camel cigarettes. "Realism, Narrative History, and the Production of the Bestseller: The Da Vinci Code and the Virtual Public Sphere", "Closing Arguments Heard in 'Da Vinci Code' Case", "The Merovingian Dynasty: Satanic Bloodline of the AntiChrist & False Prophet", "How Da Vinci Code tapped pseudo-fact hunger", Historical background of the New Testament, New Testament places associated with Jesus, Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jesus_bloodline&oldid=1151626880, Articles lacking reliable references from July 2022, Articles lacking reliable references from February 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 25 April 2023, at 06:12. Royalty for Commoners by Roderick W. Stuart Such works served to justify the Carolingian takeover of the throne in the second half of the 8th century CE. [23] Jacobovici and Wilson instead interpret it as an allegorical reference to actual marriage of Jesus, produced by a community holding that he was married and had children. [48] The evidence on which the informant based his claim to be a Rex Deus scion, descended from Hugues de Payens, was said to be lost and therefore cannot be independently verified, because 'Michael' claimed that it was kept in his late father's bureau, which was sold by his brother unaware of its contents. Kenneth Grant, Grand Master, OTO "The three constellations develop the truth. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify. [25] The Church of England compared The Lost Gospel to a Monty Python sketch, the director of communications for the Archbishop's Council citing the book as an example of religious illiteracy and that ever since the publication of The Da Vinci Code in 2003, "an industry had been constructed in which 'conspiracy theorists, satellite channel documentaries and opportunistic publishers had identified a lucrative income stream'. This is a challenging area of inquiry as it requires you to blend history with archaeology, and anthropology with art history. Simcha Jacobovici and Barrie Wilson. He signed the Perpetual Constitution which was an early Magna Charta. Merovingian dynasty | Frankish dynasty | Britannica According to a number of scholars, the Merovingians lacked the sense of responsibility to their citizens that had been seen in the Roman Republic. The main exceptions are burials that occurred in churches or those that contained or were marked by objects or epitaphs with blatantly Christian references. [34][35] The role of the Priory was inspired by earlier writings primarily by Pierre Plantard, who in the 1960s and 1970s had publicized documents from the secretive Priory that demonstrated its long history and his own descent from the lineage they had protected that traced to the Merovingian kings, and earlier, the biblical Tribe of Benjamin. Many were very invested in heightening pride in the past of their region. WebThe term Merovingian is said to derive from Merovee who was King of the Franks from 447-458 A.D.