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88-563: A mysterious "grail" (Old French: graal or greal ), wondrous but not unequivocally holy, first appears in Perceval, the Story of the Grail , an unfinished chivalric romance written by Chrétien de Troyes around 1190. Chrétien's story inspired many continuations, translators and interpreters in the later-12th and early-13th centuries, including Wolfram von Eschenbach , who portrayed the Grail as

176-426: A derivative of crater or cratus , which was, in turn, borrowed from Ancient Greek krater ( κρᾱτήρ , a large wine-mixing vessel). Alternative suggestions include a derivative of cratis , a name for a type of woven basket that came to refer to a dish, or a derivative of Latin gradus meaning " 'by degree', 'by stages', applied to a dish brought to the table in different stages or services during

264-414: A glass bowl near Glastonbury; a group of his friends, including Wellesley Tudor Pole , retrieved the cup in 1906 and promoted it as the original Holy Grail. Glastonbury and its Holy Grail legend have since become a point of focus for various New Age and Neopagan groups. In the early 20th century, esoteric writers identified Montségur , a stronghold of the heretical Cathar sect in the 13th century, as

352-667: A group of knights and realizes he wants to be one. Despite his mother's objections, the boy heads to King Arthur 's court, where a young girl predicts greatness for him. Sir Kay taunts him and slaps the girl, but Perceval amazes everyone by killing a knight who had been troubling King Arthur and taking his vermilion armor. He then sets out for adventure. He trains under the experienced Gornemant , then falls in love with and rescues Gornemant's niece Blancheflor . Perceval captures her assailants and sends them to King Arthur's court to proclaim Perceval's vow of revenge on Sir Kay. Perceval remembers that his mother fainted when he went off to become

440-476: A hermit in the woods, where he dies shortly after. Manessier proposes that he took the Grail, the Lance, and the silver plate with him to Heaven . The Fourth Continuation , or Gerbert's Continuation , added 17,000 lines. The author, usually considered to be Gerbert de Montreuil , composed his version independently of Manessier, and probably around the same time. He tried to tie up loose ends left by Chrétien and

528-421: A knight who claims Gawain had slain his lord. Gawain offers a contrast and complement to Perceval's naiveté as a courtly knight having to function in un-courtly settings. An important episode is Gawain's liberation of a castle whose inhabitants include his long-lost mother , his grandmother Ygerne , and his sister Clarissant, whose existence was unknown to him. This tale also breaks off unfinished, interrupted when

616-548: A knight, and goes to visit her. During his journey, he comes across the Fisher King fishing in a boat on a river, who invites him to stay at his castle. While there, Perceval witnesses a strange procession in which young men and women carry magnificent objects from one chamber to another. First comes a young man carrying a bleeding lance, then two boys carrying candelabra. Then a beautiful young girl emerges bearing an elaborately decorated graal . Finally another maiden carried

704-401: A meal". In the 15th century, English writer John Hardyng invented a fanciful new etymology for Old French san-graal (or san-gréal ), meaning "Holy Grail", by parsing it as sang réal , meaning "royal blood". This etymology was used by some later medieval British writers such as Thomas Malory , and became prominent in the conspiracy theory developed in the book The Holy Blood and

792-410: A messenger arrives at Arthur's court to request his presence at Gawain's upcoming fight against Guiromelant. Over the following 50 years multiple different poets attempted to continue the story begun by Chrétien. The First Continuation added 9,500 to 19,600 lines (depending on the manuscripts, with three known distinct versions) to the romance. It was once attributed to Wauchier de Denain , and

880-483: A mounting for use as a chalice. The bowl may date to Greco-Roman times, but its dating is unclear, and its provenance is unknown before 1399, when it was gifted to Martin I of Aragon . By the 14th century, an elaborate tradition had developed that this object was the Last Supper chalice. This tradition mirrors aspects of the Grail material, with several major differences, suggesting a separate tradition entirely. It

968-541: A seemingly independent romance, which in the long version spans over 6,000 lines: the Livre de Caradoc , starring Arthur's knight Caradoc, which explains how the hero got his nickname "Briefbras", or "Short Arm". All versions of the First Continuation describe Gawain's visit to a Grail castle unlike Chrétien's, a scene that introduces the motif of a broken sword that can only be mended by the hero destined to heal

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1056-495: A silver platter. They passed before him at each course of the meal. Perceval, who had been trained by his guardian Gornemant not to talk too much, remains silent through all of this. He wakes up the next morning alone and resumes his journey home. He encounters a girl in mourning, who admonishes him for not asking about the grail, as that would have healed the wounded king. He also learns that his mother has died. Perceval captures another knight and sends him to King Arthur's court with

1144-641: A stone in Parzival . The Christian, Celtic or possibly other origins of the Arthurian grail trope are uncertain and have been debated among literary scholars and historians. In the 1190s, Robert de Boron in Joseph d'Arimathie  [ fr ] portrayed the Grail as Jesus 's vessel from the Last Supper , which Joseph of Arimathea used to catch Christ's blood at the crucifixion . Thereafter,

1232-490: A tournament between the people of this castle and those of King Arthur; "Gawain at the castle of the Grail"; and "Guerrehet", the first known story of Gareth . As this continuation does not return to the adventures of Perceval and as Gawain does not pass the test of the Castle of the Grail, it does not propose an actual end for the text of Chrétien. In the long version, Gawain opposes the marriage and rides off in anger, reaching

1320-538: A vast influence on conspiracy and alternate history books. It has also inspired fiction, most notably Dan Brown 's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code and its 2006 film adaptation . The combination of hushed reverence, chromatic harmonies and sexualized imagery in Richard Wagner 's final music drama Parsifal , premiered in 1882, developed this theme, associating the Grail – now periodically producing blood – directly with female fertility. The high seriousness of

1408-399: A version of the story that was originally independent of Chrétien's. The First Continuation picks up the narrative of Gawain's adventures where Chrétien left off and focused on the adventures of Gawain and several other knights of the Arthurian universe. All versions include six "branches" (major episodes), more or less connected, which may have been inspired by independent tales pre-existing

1496-607: Is called Bliocadran . Perlesvaus , also called Li Hauz Livres du Graal ( The High History of the Holy Grail ), is an Old French Arthurian romance dating to the first decade of the 13th century. It purports to be a continuation of Perceval, the Story of the Grail , but it has been called the least canonical Arthurian tale because of its striking differences from other versions. It survives in three manuscripts, two fragments, and two 16th-century printings. Though Chrétien did not complete his romance, it had an enormous impact on

1584-583: Is heard of Perceval except in a short later passage, in which a hermit explains that the grail contains a single host that miraculously sustains the Fisher King's wounded father. The loathly lady announces other quests that the Knights of the Round Table proceed to take up and the remainder of the poem deals with Arthur's nephew and best knight Gawain, who has been challenged to a duel by Guiromelant,

1672-443: Is not associated with Joseph of Arimathea or Jesus' blood; it is said to have been taken to Rome by Saint Peter and later entrusted to Saint Lawrence . Early references do not call the object the "Grail"; the first evidence connecting it to the Grail tradition is from the 15th century. The monarchy sold the cup in the 15th century to Valencia Cathedral , where it remains a significant local icon. Several objects were identified with

1760-550: Is sometimes called the Pseudo-Wauchier Continuation for that reason (another title is Continuation-Gauvain ). It exists in a short, a mixed, and a long version; the short was the earliest and the most loosely linked to Chrétien's work, while the mixed is considered to be the latest, drawing on both earlier versions. Roger Sherman Loomis believed that the short version, which was added to an existing Perceval manuscript ten or twenty years later, represents

1848-404: Is spelled in its earliest appearances, comes from Old French graal or greal , cognate with Old Occitan grazal and Old Catalan gresal , meaning "a cup or bowl of earth, wood, or metal" (or other various types of vessels in different Occitan dialects). The most commonly accepted etymology derives it from Latin gradalis or gradale via an earlier form, cratalis ,

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1936-662: Is the unfinished fifth verse romance by Chrétien de Troyes , written by him in Old French in the late 12th century. Later authors added 54,000 more lines to the original 9,000 in what are known collectively as the Four Continuations , as well as other related texts. Perceval is the earliest recorded account of what was to become the Quest for the Holy Grail but describes only a golden grail (a serving dish) in

2024-745: The Mabinogion , though in this case the connection to the French work is unclear. The romance Perchevael found in the Dutch Lancelot Compilation contains only the Gawain episodes from Chrétien's work and from the First Continuation. Sir Perceval of Galles is an English rewrite that some scholars believe is a comedic interpretation, and which does not mention the grail. Philip I, Count of Flanders Philip I (1143 – 1 August 1191), commonly known as Philip of Alsace,

2112-551: The County of Artois and other Flemish territories as dowry, much to the dismay of Baldwin V. When Louis VII died, Philip II began to assert his independence. War broke out in 1180. Picardy and Île-de-France were devastated. King Philip refused to give open battle and gained the upper hand. Baldwin V, at first allied with his brother-in-law, intervened in 1184 on behalf of his son-in-law, King Philip, in support of his daughter's interests. The dispute between Count Philip and Baldwin

2200-503: The Fourth Crusade and married the daughter of Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus . Philip seems to represent the end of one kind of feudal world and the beginning of a new type of sovereignty, put into practice by King Philip: for the first time, a king of France ruled over a count of Flanders. Despite a costly war, the economic expansion of Flanders did not stop, as witnessed by the number of communal charters signed by Count Philip. By

2288-637: The Holy Land , King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem hoped that Philip would take part in a planned invasion of Egypt , for which purpose the crusaders had allied with the Byzantine Empire . A Byzantine fleet of 150 galleys was waiting at Acre when Philip arrived on 2 August 1177. Philip had other plans, however. He and King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem were first cousins, sharing a grandfather, King Fulk , whose daughter from his first marriage, Sibylla of Anjou ,

2376-610: The Perceval Continuation , has been sometimes attributed to Wauchier de Denain as well. Making extensive use of motifs and themes drawn from Chrétien and the First Continuation, its story has Perceval returning to the Grail Castle and repairing his sword, but a hairline fissure that remains in the blade symbolizes his still-flawed psyche. The Third Continuation , also known as Manessier's Continuation , added 10,000 lines and an ending. Manessier wrapped up many of

2464-653: The Principality of Antioch , participating in an unsuccessful siege of Harim before returning home. Meanwhile, the Byzantine alliance against Egypt was abandoned. In November, Baldwin IV and Raynald defeated Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard . Philip returned from Palestine in 1179, at which point Louis VII, now sick, named him guardian of his young son Philip II . One year later, Philip of Alsace had his protégé married to his niece, Isabelle of Hainaut , offering

2552-572: The Second Crusade . He defeated Count Floris III of Holland , who was captured in Bruges and remained in prison until 1167, at which point he was being ransomed in exchange for recognition of Flemish suzerainty over Zeeland . By inheritance, Philip also recovered for Flanders the territories of Waasland and Quatre-Métiers. In 1159, Philip married Elisabeth , elder daughter of count Ralph I of Vermandois and Petronilla of Aquitaine . Upon

2640-623: The Siege of Acre , he was stricken by the epidemic passing through the crusader camp, and died on 1 August 1191. His body was brought back to Flanders by his wife Theresa, who acted as regent during his absence. Philip was buried in Clairvaux Abbey . Since he was unsuccessful in producing an heir with Countess Theresa, he was succeeded by his sister Margaret I and brother-in-law Baldwin VIII. Philip had an illegitimate son, Thierry , who went on

2728-658: The abdication of his brother-in-law Ralph II in 1167, Elisabeth and Philip inherited the County of Vermandois. This pushed Flemish authority further south, to its greatest extent thus far, and threatened to completely alter the balance of power in northern France. Philip governed wisely with the aid of Robert d'Aire, whose role was almost that of a prime minister. They established an effective administrative system and Philip's foreign relations were excellent. He mediated in disputes between Louis VII of France and Henry II of England , between Henry II and Thomas Becket , and arranged

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2816-511: The "Grail" originally referred to the Image of Edessa . Goulven Peron (2016) suggested that the Holy Grail may reflect the horn of the river-god Achelous , as described by Ovid in the Metamorphoses . In the wake of the Arthurian romances, several artifacts came to be identified as the Holy Grail in medieval relic veneration. These artifacts are said to have been the vessel used at

2904-745: The 15th century. The narrative developed is that Jesus was not divine, and had children with Mary Magdalene , who took the family to France where their descendants became the Merovingian dynasty. Supposedly, while the Catholic Church worked to destroy the dynasty, they were protected by the Priory of Sion and their associates, including the Templars, Cathars, and other secret societies. The book, its arguments, and its evidence have been widely dismissed by scholars as pseudohistorical, but it has had

2992-475: The 1904 silent film Parsifal , an adaptation of Wagner's opera by Edwin S. Porter . More recent cinematic adaptations include Costain's The Silver Chalice made into a 1954 film by Victor Saville and Brown's The Da Vinci Code turned into a 2006 film by Ron Howard . Perceval, the Story of the Grail Perceval, the Story of the Grail ( French : Perceval ou le Conte du Graal )

3080-541: The 1970s, and was elaborated upon in the bestselling 1982 book Holy Blood, Holy Grail . The theory combines myths about the Templars and Cathars with various other legends, and a prominent hoax about a secret order called the Priory of Sion . According to this theory, the Holy Grail is not a physical object, but a symbol of the bloodline of Jesus . The blood connection is based on the etymological reading of san greal (holy grail) as sang real (royal blood), which dates to

3168-537: The Cathars guarded the Grail at Montségur, and smuggled it out when the castle fell in 1244. Beginning in 1933, German writer Otto Rahn published a series of books tying the Grail, Templars, and Cathars to modern German nationalist mythology. According to Rahn, the Grail was a symbol of a pure Germanic religion repressed by Christianity. Rahn's books inspired interest in the Grail within Nazi occultist circles, and led to

3256-455: The Fisher King and his lands. Gawain is not this hero and he fails. The final episode recounts the misadventures of Gawain's brother Guerrehet who is humiliated by a dwarf knight before avenging himself and a mysteriously murdered stranger. In the closing scene, he returns to court asleep on a swan boat. Shortly after the First Continuation was completed, another author added 13,000 lines to the total. This Second Continuation , also known as just

3344-424: The Grail Castle. After further adventures he rejoins Arthur (and the long version rejoins the short) and helps him besiege a rebel's castle. The long version inserts several additional episodes in the thread of the text, especially in the first branch and the third. Some of these episodes revisit the events of The Story of the Grail . Some medievalists have seen in this a desire by the editor of this version to correct

3432-520: The Grail and of the quest to find it became increasingly popular in the 19th century, referred to in literature such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson 's Arthurian cycle Idylls of the King . A sexualised interpretation of the grail, now identified with female genitalia, appeared in 1870 in Hargrave Jennings ' book The Rosicrucians, Their Rites and Mysteries . In the cinema, the Holy Grail debuted in

3520-469: The Grail castle. Similarly, the 14th-century Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian , Scotland, became attached to the Grail legend in the mid-20th century when a succession of conspiracy books identified it as a secret hiding place of the Grail. Since the 19th century, the Holy Grail has been linked to various conspiracy theories. In 1818, Austrian pseudohistorical writer Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall connected

3608-552: The Grail to contemporary myths surrounding the Knights Templar that cast the order as a secret society dedicated to mystical knowledge and relics. In Hammer-Purgstall's work, the Grail is not a physical relic, but a symbol of the secret knowledge that the Templars sought. There is no historical evidence linking the Templars to a search for the Grail, but subsequent writers have elaborated on the Templar theories. Starting in

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3696-469: The Holy Grail , in which sang real refers to the Jesus bloodline . The literature surrounding the Grail can be divided into two groups. The first concerns King Arthur's knights visiting the Grail castle or questing after the object. The second concerns the Grail's earlier history in the time of Joseph of Arimathea . The nine works from the first group are: Of the second group there are: The Grail

3784-548: The Holy Grail became interwoven with the legend of the Holy Chalice , the Last Supper cup, an idea continued in works such as the Lancelot-Grail cycle, and subsequently the 15th-century Le Morte d'Arthur . In this form, it is now a popular theme in modern culture, and has become the subject of folklore studies , pseudohistorical writings, works of fiction, and conspiracy theories . The word graal , as it

3872-694: The Holy Grail in the 17th century. In the 20th century, a series of new items became associated with it. These include the Nanteos Cup , a medieval wooden bowl found near Rhydyfelin , Wales; a glass dish found near Glastonbury , England; the Antioch chalice , a 6th-century silver-gilt object that became attached to the Grail legend in the 1930s; and the Chalice of Doña Urraca , a cup made between 200 BC and 100 AD, kept in León ’s Basilica of Saint Isidore . In

3960-534: The Irish saga The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn . The main character, Fionn mac Cumhaill , is raised in isolation and undergoes many adventures akin to those of Perceval, suggesting that the narrative may have been a source of inspiration for Chrétien. The poem opens with Perceval of Wales ( Perceval le Gallois ), whose mother has raised him apart from civilization in the Welsh woods. While out riding one day, he encounters

4048-458: The Last Supper until later, in the wake of the Grail romances; the first known association is in Jacobus de Voragine 's chronicle of Genoa in the late 13th century, which draws on the Grail literary tradition. The Catino was moved and broken during Napoleon 's conquest in the early 19th century, revealing that it is glass rather than emerald. The Holy Chalice of Valencia is an agate dish with

4136-458: The Last Supper, but other details vary. Despite the prominence of the Grail literature, traditions about a Last Supper relic remained rare in contrast to other items associated with Jesus' last days, such as the True Cross and Holy Lance . One tradition predates the Grail romances: in the 7th century, the pilgrim Arculf reported that the Last Supper chalice was displayed near Jerusalem. In

4224-588: The SS chief Heinrich Himmler 's abortive sponsorship of Rahn's search for the Grail, as well as many subsequent conspiracy theories and fictional works about the Nazis searching for the Grail. In the late 20th century, writers Michael Baigent , Richard Leigh , and Henry Lincoln created one of the most widely known conspiracy theories about the Holy Grail. The theory first appeared on the BBC documentary series Chronicle in

4312-614: The authority of a certain (probably fictional) Kyot the Provençal , claimed the Grail was a Stone, the sanctuary of the neutral angels who took neither side during Lucifer's rebellion . It is called Lapis exillis , which in alchemy is the name of the philosopher's stone . The authors of the Lancelot-Grail Cycle used the Grail as a symbol of divine grace ; the virgin Galahad, illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine ,

4400-541: The central scene, does not call it "holy" and treats a lance, appearing at the same time, as equally significant. Besides the eponymous tale of the grail and the young knight Perceval , the poem and its continuations also tell of the adventures of Gawain and some other knights of King Arthur . The poem relates the adventures and growing pains of the young knight Perceval , but the story breaks off. There follows an adventure of Gawain of similar length that also remains incomplete. There are some 9,000 lines in total, whereas

4488-400: The chalice of the Last Supper to collect Christ's blood upon his removal from the cross. Joseph is thrown in prison, where Christ visits him and explains the mysteries of the blessed cup. Upon his release, Joseph gathers his in-laws and other followers and travels to the west. He founds a dynasty of Grail keepers that eventually includes Perceval. In Parzival , Wolfram von Eschenbach, citing

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4576-546: The composition of this continuation: "Guiromelant" which ends the episode begun in Chrétien's book as Gawain, his mother and grandmother are reunited with Arthur, and Gawain's sister Clarissant marries Guiromelant; "Brun de Branlant" which tells of a war of King Arthur against a rebellious vassal; "Caradoc" which tells the story of Caradoc Briefbras, an illegitimate son of the enchanter Eliavrés and King Caradoc's wife (and Arthur's niece) Ysaive; "Castle Orgueilleux" which tells of

4664-519: The count it would be improper to marry her off again so soon. According to the chronicle of Ernoul , Philip was also rebuffed by Raymond III of Tripoli , who also claimed the regency, as well as by Raymond's supporters from the Ibelins , who hoped to marry the princesses into their own family. Baldwin of Ibelin insulted the count in public. Philip left Jerusalem in October to campaign in the north for

4752-628: The early 20th century, writers, particularly in France, further connected the Templars and Grail to the Cathars. In 1906, French esoteric writer Joséphin Péladan identified the Cathar castle of Montségur with Munsalväsche or Montsalvat, the Grail castle in Wolfram's Parzival . This identification has inspired a wider legend asserting that the Cathars possessed the Holy Grail. According to these stories,

4840-402: The end of his reign, the county had entered into a period of unprecedented prosperity. Philip may have been the patron of Chrétien de Troyes while he was writing his last romance, Perceval, the Story of the Grail . In the opening lines, Chrétien honours Philip with "excessive praise" (Roach, Frappier, Hilka, et al.) for providing him with the book he adapted into the "best tale ever told in

4928-570: The esoteric significance of the grail, relating it to the Iranian Islamic symbols that he studied. Richard Barber (2004) argued that the Grail legend is connected to the introduction of "more ceremony and mysticism" surrounding the sacrament of the Eucharist in the high medieval period, proposing that the first Grail stories may have been connected to the "renewal in this traditional sacrament". Daniel Scavone (1999, 2003) has argued that

5016-469: The evangelist of Britain rather than as the custodian of the Holy Grail, but from the 15th century, the Grail became a more prominent part of the legends surrounding Glastonbury. Interest in Glastonbury resurged in the late 19th century, inspired by renewed interest in the Arthurian legend and contemporary spiritual movements centered on ancient sacred sites. In the late 19th century, John Goodchild hid

5104-553: The greatest works of medieval Germany, is based largely on Chrétien's poem. When comparing Wolfram's Parzival to Chrétien's Perceval some scholars not only suggest that the structure is different, but that Chrétien focuses on the religious context of knighthood while Eschenbach focuses on other aspects. Another version is the Welsh Peredur son of Efrawg , one of the Three Welsh Romances associated with

5192-517: The hero instead with a platter containing his kinsman's bloody, severed head. The Grail is first featured in Perceval, le Conte du Graal ( The Story of the Grail ) by Chrétien de Troyes, who claims he was working from a source book given to him by his patron, Count Philip of Flanders . In this incomplete poem, dated sometime between 1180 and 1191, the object has not yet acquired the implications of holiness it would have in later works. While dining in

5280-623: The legend as essentially Christian in origin. Joseph Goering identified sources for Grail imagery in 12th-century wall paintings from churches in the Catalan Pyrenees (now mostly moved to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya ), which present unique iconic images of the Virgin Mary holding a bowl that radiates tongues of fire, images that predate the first literary account by Chrétien de Troyes. Goering argues that they were

5368-463: The literary world of the Middle Ages. Perceval introduced an enthusiastic Europe to the grail and all versions of the story, including those that made it the " Holy Grail ", probably derive directly or indirectly from it. The grail in Perceval has the power to heal the Fisher King so it may have been seen as a mystical or holy object by readers. Wolfram von Eschenbach 's Parzival , one of

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5456-528: The loose ends from the previous authors, and includes several episodes from other works, including the "Joie de la Cour" adventure from Chrétien's Erec and Enide and Calogrenant 's death as told in the Queste del Saint Graal section of the Lancelot-Grail cycle. The tale ends with the Fisher King's death and Perceval's ascension to his throne. After seven peaceful years, Perceval goes off to live as

5544-470: The magical abode of the Fisher King , Perceval witnesses a wondrous procession in which youths carry magnificent objects from one chamber to another, passing before him at each course of the meal. First comes a young man carrying a bleeding lance, then two boys carrying candelabras. Finally, a beautiful young girl emerges bearing an elaborately decorated graal , or "grail". Chrétien refers to this object not as "The Grail" but as "a grail" ( un graal ), showing

5632-538: The marriage of his sister Margaret with Count Baldwin V of Hainaut . Philip and Elisabeth were childless. In 1175, Philip discovered that Elisabeth was committing adultery and had her lover, Walter de Fontaines, beaten to death. Philip then obtained complete control of her lands in Vermandois from King Louis VII of France . Philip's brothers Matthew and Peter of Alsace also died in 1177, before going on crusade, he designated Margaret and Baldwin as his heirs. In

5720-461: The modern era, a number of places have become associated with the Holy Grail. One of the most prominent is Glastonbury in Somerset , England. Glastonbury was associated with King Arthur and his resting place of Avalon by the 12th century. In the 13th century, a legend arose that Joseph of Arimathea was the founder of Glastonbury Abbey . Early accounts of Joseph at Glastonbury focus on his role as

5808-523: The next morning alone. He later learns that if he had asked the appropriate questions about what he saw, he would have healed his maimed host, much to his honour. The story of the Wounded King's mystical fasting is not unique; several saints were said to have lived without food besides communion, for instance Saint Catherine of Genoa . This may imply that Chrétien intended the Communion wafer to be

5896-464: The original inspiration for the Grail legend. Psychologists Emma Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz used analytical psychology to interpret the Grail as a series of symbols in their book The Grail Legend . They directly expanded on interpretations by Carl Jung , which were later invoked by Joseph Campbell . Philosopher Henry Corbin , a member of the Eranos circle founded by Jung, also commented on

5984-636: The origins of the Holy Grail before Chrétien, suggesting that it may contain elements of the trope of magical cauldrons from Celtic mythology and later Welsh mythology , combined with Christian legend surrounding the Eucharist , the latter found in Eastern Christian sources, conceivably in that of the Byzantine Mass , or even Persian sources. The view that the "origin" of the Grail legend should be seen as deriving from Celtic mythology

6072-435: The other continuations and creates his own additions, notably a complete Tristan episode. Gerbert's Continuation seems not to have enjoyed great popularity; it survives in only two manuscripts, one of which is heavily damaged, as an interpolation between the Second and Manessier Continuations. It is likely Gerbert wrote an ending for the story, but it has been excised from both surviving copies to facilitate its position between

6160-450: The other romances by Chrétien de Troyes seldom exceed 7,000 lines. Perceval is dedicated to Chrétien's patron Philip I, Count of Flanders . Chrétien claimed to be working from a source given to him by Philip. His poem was written in Old French during the 1180s or 1190s and likely left unfinished because of the death of either Philip in 1191, while crusading at Acre , or the death of the author himself. Some scholars argue that during

6248-433: The royal domain of France and the County of Hainaut , Philip signed a peace treaty with King Philip II and Count Baldwin V on 10 March 1186, recognizing the cession of Vermandois to the king, although he was allowed to retain the title Count of Vermandois for the remainder of his life. In 1190, Philip took the cross for a second time and joined the Flemish contingents which had already gone to Palestine. After arriving at

6336-418: The same message as before. King Arthur sets out to find Perceval and, upon finding him, attempts to convince him to join the court. Perceval unknowingly challenges Sir Kay to a fight, in which he breaks Sir Kay's arm and exacts his revenge. Perceval agrees to join the court, but soon after a loathly lady enters and admonishes Perceval once again for failing to ask the Fisher King whom the grail served. No more

6424-593: The shortcomings of the short version, which leaves out Gawain fulfilling his promise to rescue the damsel of Montesclaire, winning the Sword with the Strange Straps (which once belonged to Judas Maccabeus ), and bringing back the Bleeding Lance to the sons of the King of Escavalon. The First Continuation is notable for its cavalier approach to the narrative agenda set by Chrétien. In particular it includes

6512-437: The significant part of the ritual, and the Grail to be a mere prop. Though Chrétien's account is the earliest and most influential of all Grail texts, it was in the work of Robert that the Grail truly became the "Holy Grail" and assumed the form most familiar to modern readers in its Christian context. In his verse romance Joseph d'Arimathie , composed between 1191 and 1202, Robert tells the story of Joseph of Arimathea acquiring

6600-417: The situation, the count at last revealed the secret thought of his mind and did not try to conceal to what end all his plans were." He had come to have his own vassals married to his cousins, Baldwin's sister Sibylla and half-sister Isabella . Sibylla's husband William of Montferrat had just died, leaving her pregnant with the future Baldwin V . William of Tyre, the chief negotiator in this dispute, told

6688-703: The subject was also epitomized in Dante Gabriel Rossetti 's painting in which a woman modeled by Alexa Wilding holds the Grail with one hand, while adopting a gesture of blessing with the other. A major mural series depicting the Quest for the Holy Grail was done by the artist Edwin Austin Abbey during the first decade of the 20th century for the Boston Public Library . Other artists, including George Frederic Watts and William Dyce , also portrayed grail subjects. The story of

6776-567: The successful end of the Grail Quest and are witnesses of his ascension to Heaven . Galahad and the interpretation of the Grail involving him were picked up in the 15th century by Thomas Malory in Le Morte d'Arthur and remain popular today. While it is not explicit that the Holy Grail is never to be seen again on Earth, it is stated by Malory that there has since then been no knight capable of obtaining it. Scholars have long speculated on

6864-568: The time Chrétien was writing Perceval , there was a political crisis taking place between the monarchy and the aristocracy, which included his patron, which may have influenced Chrétien's work. There are possible parallels in Perceval with the Irish mythological race of the Tuatha Dé Danann . The race has three central talismans, a spear, a cauldron, and a sword, that correlate with the spear, grail, and sword present in Perceval . Chrétien's Perceval also includes many similarities to

6952-435: The two other continuations. The Elucidation is an anonymous Old French poem of the early 13th century, which was written to serve as a prologue to Chrétien's Perceval . The poem counts 484 lines and cites one Master Blihis as a source for its contents. Another prologue to Perceval consisted of 800 verses preserved in two 13-century manuscripts. In the poem, Perceval's father (who is left unnamed in Chrétien's original)

7040-551: The wake of Robert de Boron's Grail works, several other items came to be claimed as the true Last Supper vessel. In the late 12th century, one was said to be in Byzantium ; Albrecht von Scharfenberg 's Grail romance Der Jüngere Titurel associated it explicitly with the Arthurian Grail, but claimed it was only a copy. This item was said to have been looted in the Fourth Crusade and brought to Troyes in France, but it

7128-454: The word was used, in its earliest literary context, as a common noun. For Chrétien, a grail was a wide, somewhat deep, dish or bowl, interesting because it contained not a pike, salmon, or lamprey, as the audience may have expected for such a container, but a single Communion wafer which provided sustenance for the Fisher King's crippled father. Perceval, who had been warned against talking too much, remains silent through all of this and wakes up

7216-571: The world's greatest knight and the Grail Bearer at the castle of Corbenic , is destined to achieve the Grail, his spiritual purity making him a greater warrior than even his illustrious father. The Queste del Saint Graal ( The Quest of The Holy Grail ) tells also of the adventures of various Knights of the Round Table in their eponymous quest. Some of them, including Percival and Bors the Younger , eventually join Galahad as his companions near

7304-480: Was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. During his rule Flanders prospered economically. He took part in two crusades and died of disease in the Holy Land . Philip was born in 1143 as the son of Count Thierry of Flanders and Sibylla of Anjou . His reign began at the age of 14 in 1157, while he acted as regent and co-count for his father, who had returned to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1156 after participating

7392-414: Was Philip's mother. Baldwin IV was a leper and childless, and offered Philip the regency of the Kingdom of Jerusalem as his closest male relative currently present there. Philip refused both this and the command of the army of the kingdom, saying he was there only as a pilgrim. Instead Baldwin appointed Raynald of Châtillon , to whom Philip would act as an assistant. As William of Tyre says, "this being

7480-569: Was championed by Roger Sherman Loomis , Alfred Nutt , and Jessie Weston . Loomis traced a number of parallels between medieval Welsh literature and Irish material, and the Grail romances, including similarities between the Mabinogion ' s Bran the Blessed and the Arthurian Fisher King, and between Bran's life-restoring cauldron and the Grail. The opposing view dismissed the "Celtic" connections as spurious, and interpreted

7568-416: Was considered a bowl or dish when first described by Chrétien de Troyes. There, it is a processional salver , a tray, used to serve at a feast. Hélinand of Froidmont described a grail as a "wide and deep saucer" ( scutella lata et aliquantulum profunda ); other authors had their own ideas. Robert de Boron portrayed it as the vessel of the Last Supper . Peredur son of Efrawg had no Grail as such, presenting

7656-558: Was encouraged by King Philip, who went so far as to name Baldwin his representative in negotiations with the Count. Philip's wife, Elisabeth, died in 1183, prompting King Philip II to seize the province of Vermandois on behalf of Elisabeth's sister, Eleonore. Philip then remarried, to Theresa , daughter of Afonso I , the first King of Portugal. Philip gave Theresa a dower that included a number of major Flemish towns, in an apparent slight to Baldwin V. Fearing that he would be surrounded by

7744-610: Was lost during the French Revolution . Two relics associated with the Grail survive today. The Sacro Catino (Sacred Basin, also known as the Genoa Chalice) is a green glass dish held at the Genoa Cathedral said to have been used at the Last Supper. Its provenance is unknown, and there are two divergent accounts of how it was brought to Genoa by Crusaders in the 12th century. It was not associated with

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