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Mary Magdalene is a woman who was mentioned several times in the Christian Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. She is most famous for being one of the women who was present at the crucifixion of Jesus, and for being the first person to see him resurrected. But the story doesn't stop there. She was later a very important figure in what we've come to call Gnostic Christianity, a group of early Christian sects that didn't survive past the 6th century C.E.

Very early on, Mary Magdalene was confused with two other women in the Gospels, which may have led to her reputation as a redeemed harlot. Today we've come to recognize that there is no textual support for such a claim, but still the image of Mary Magdalene as a penitent sinner persists. Throughout the Middle Ages this was to have an impact on her legend, which grew in complexity and depth as Christian theology and Western civilization continued to evolve.

Early in the 20th century it was suggested that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene but the idea had little lasting impact. The notion was reintroduced in the 1980s in a book called Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and this time it caused a national sensation. A whole new genre of non-fiction was born, centered around the idea of Mary Magdalene as the wife of Jesus. Also in the late 20th century a great deal of scholarship emerged exploring the Gnostic writings about Mary Magdalene and her role as an apostle. Both of these perspectives on Mary Magdalene converged in 2003 and 2004 in the wake of the publication of Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code, a best-seller that explores some of the recent theories about Mary Magdalene as Jesus' lost bride.

Magdalene.org has been online since 1998, exploring the various perspectives on Mary Magdalene that exist. In April, 2005 we re-launched the site after taking into consideration the kinds of information people have been looking for post-Da Vinci Code and restructured accordingly. We hope that you find answers to some of your questions here, and as always, we welcome your comments. Please drop us a line at info@magdalene.org.

From here, we recommend that you start with our Frequently Asked Questions, and then jump to our section about the different perspectives on Mary Magdalene currently in circulation.

Afterward, you may wish to check out some of the source documents and sacred writings from the earliest days of Christianity. It is from these texts that scholars have pieced together their pictures of Mary Magdalene.

When you've gotten a better idea of what it is about Mary Magdalene you'd like to explore, you may want to read some articles exploring different areas of Magdalene scholarship and spirituality.

Finally, there are many more areas of Magdalene.org to explore. Just use the navigation bar at the top of the page to investigate the many different sections we have to offer. Remember that the site is growing all the time, so if you don't find something you're looking for, it's worthwhile to check back another time. Feel free to let us know what it is you'd like to see.