Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud - Book Review

Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud
By Julia Navarro Author Interview
Seal Books (Sept 2007)

One of History’s Most Sacred Treasures. . .
An Age-Old Secret Conspiracy. . .
Now the Truth Is Revealed. . . .
Did you know that the city of TURIN in Italy has tunnels running under the city? I mention this because these tunnels play an important part of the story in this novel. The story is about the search for and the history of the Shroud of Turin.


Now some people think the Shroud is real - and that's fine if they choose to do so - as long as they do not endanger anyone else in that belief. There are others who beleive that the Shroud is fake because its been dated to the early medieval period, not to the time of Christ. That's fine as well. This novel - The Brotherhood of the Shroud - has come up with a plausible explanation for the dating discrepancies.

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The Shroud of Turin dates to A.D. 30 by tradition; 1260 to 1390 by carbon dating.
Modern scientific analysis is continuing. So the Shroud is a fake. But even the Scientific community are doubting their own science. Here is a page where they are grasping at straws to explain why the carbon dating is wrong. To me that is bad news. Science is
based on facts, and the fact is, that the Shroud currently being held in Turin is a fake.

I read a book once that claimed that the shroud showed the image of Jacques de Molay - the last Grand Master of the Knight Templar when King Philippe sent out orders for the Templar Knights to be destroyed. At the time that idea made sense to me, and still does. It certainly fits the carbon tested dates.

This novel suggests that there were two shrouds. The original one that was wrapped about the body of Jesus Christ, and then during the crusades, a second long piece of material was wrapped around the first shroud for protection. That too makes sense. But here's where the science goes crazy. Somehow the image was imprinted from the first shroud onto the second, and it is the second shroud that is now in the Turin Cathedral. Just before Black Friday (October 13th, 1307) - the day the Templar Knights Order was destroyed - the knights sent both the shrouds into safekeeping.

The novel is told in two time lines. One being the story of the original shroud, and
the events surrounding it from the time of Jesus all the way up to the destruction of the Knights Templars in 1307. The second time line is in the present time as the Art Crimes Police Unit attempt to find out who keeps attacking the Cathedral of Turin, trying to steal the shroud. Marco Valoni and his team, find a "brotherhood" of men with their tongues surgically removed (so they cannot speak) involved in the attempted thefts. The team also discover that the Templar Knights do still exist in the present century. Their job is to protect the Shroud. And lastly Ana Rimenez a young reporter does some digging, and uncovers the truth about the Shroud, but loses her life in the process.

The story was interesting, the historical parts were fascinating, but since this fiction is not based on any KNOWN history, I found it hard to enjoy the whole story. The history given here certainly is plausible, but the fact is that NOTHING is known for sure about the shroud before it showed up with the Counts of Savoy in the 1400s. And that is why I personally accept the carbon dating for the early medieval period.

And where is the original shroud? Well this novel suggests that it was taken to the one country where the Templar Knights were free to regroup and continue their way of life.