RootsWeb: Melungeon-L Sephardic Jews and "Bloodline of the Holy Grail"

"Hi Don and Melungeon Listers,

I've just finished reading through Lawrence Gardner's (2004) book, 'Illustrated Bloodline of the Holy Grail', which is the second book I've read on the subject ( the first was 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail'). With the film version of 'The DaVinci Code' coming out soon, I wanted to provide some opinions on the topic.

First, it is very useful to compare the Jewish historical version of what events occurred in Narbonne, Septimania and Languedoc in southern France with the 'Holy Grail Bloodline' Christian versions. According to the Jewish historians, a Talmudic Jewish Academy was founded in Narbonne, France around 750 - 950 CE, was headed by a Master Teacher (termed a Rabban or Makir) who had come from the Babylonian Talmudic Academy (which did exist) and was of Davidic (i.e., Jewish King David) descent. This Narbonne academy is well-documented, as it became a center of not only Talmudic, but also Kabbalistic, learning and had students and teachers from Iberia, France, Italy and Jerusalem. Indeed, it was the primary Kabalistic center in Europe. (Kabbalah is the branch of Judaism which deals with spirituality and mysticism)."


Holy Blood, Holy Grail