Alphabetical Topic Index for The Da Vinci Code Historical Analysis

Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code presents fringe theories as settled fact. This alphabetical topic index helps readers find entries where those claims are checked against primary sources. I arranged it for quick lookup. Each entry links to the chapter-by-chapter review.

Leonardo da Vinci’s entries focus on his commissions and workshop records. Brown built several plot points around The Last Supper.

Mary Magdalene entries rely on the Gospels and early Church writings. Brown pointed to several Gnostic texts as support for his story. These entries examine the manuscripts on scholarly terms, apart from his fictional frame. Holy Grail topics trace the legend to 12th-century French and German romance poetry, long before anyone tied it to a conspiracy.

The index separates Brown’s version of the Knights Templar from the order recorded in medieval history. Priory of Sion entries follow Pierre Plantard’s 1956 forgery and the paper trail French investigators used to expose it.

Constantine and Christianity entries address Brown’s claim that Christ’s divinity was invented at the Council of Nicaea. The surviving conciliar records and earlier Christian writings contradict that claim directly.

Biblical canon history and the Gnostic gospels have dedicated entries. The same goes for the Merovingian dynasty, Opus Dei, the sacred feminine, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Renaissance art history appears where Brown’s claims touch documented works.

This index accompanies History vs. The Da Vinci Code, a chapter-by-chapter fact-check of the novel.