For any new readers

Some people may be a little confused by reading this blog. Who are the characters posting? And why do they refer to The Da Vinci Code's Dr. Robert Langdon and Sir Leigh Teabing as if they were real people?

The answer to these questions, in reverse order, is that I have deliberately adopted a semi-fictional format for this blog. Unlike the Da Vinci Code, however, all facts in this blog have been properly researched either in academic articles on the Internet, or in serious, scholarly books.
The characters are fictitious. There is only one writer in fact, and that is me. Some of the 'Sir Richard Arcos' posts contain more or less edited communications from a history Masters Student in Cardiff who periodically sends me information.