History as fantasy is no substitute for rigorous truth | Simon Jenkins

Whether it's Richard III's corpse, Jesus's wife or King Arthur's castle, to be seduced by myth is to flirt with fanaticism

Did Jesus marry Mary Magdalene and have children? Was Richard III a regicide or a good king? Did Neanderthals reoccupy Spain 40,000 years ago? Who was King Arthur? Does history know? Does it matter?

The discovery of a papyrus fragment suggesting Jesus had a wife is certainly a good story. So was the recent "discovery", or rediscovery, of a "Jesus family tomb" by robot camer...