What is the holy grail and did it really exist? Cathedral of St. Mary of Valencia and the Grail What is the Grail made of?
The Holy Grail is a mystery of our world. They are looking for him, making films, telling legends. But no one knows what it really is and where it is located. Why hide historical value? Maybe it's just a myth built on the name famous person? We will follow in the footsteps of the researchers and try to figure everything out. Join and comment.
If you have any additional information about the Holy Grail, then do not hesitate to write about it under the article.
The Holy Grail - the history of the artifact
(lat. Gradalis) is a bowl. Jesus Christ drank from it at the Last Supper. And it was in this cup that Joseph of Arimathea (Jewish elder; follower of Jesus; rich man; member of the Sanhedrin; Jesus was buried in his tomb) collected the blood of Christ after the crucifixion.
According to legend, it was after collected blood the cup began to possess incredible power.
There are two versions of the Grail view:
- In the form of a cup, like a cup from which to drink
- In the form of a stone - in the medieval novels of Europe, the Grail is described as follows
Legend of the Grail's Power
The legend says:
- He who drinks from the Holy Grail receives eternal life, forgiveness of sins and healing from all diseases.
Few people care about the forgiveness of sins in our world, but eternal life has always occupied the thoughts of people, especially the powerful and rich. For this reason, the hunt for the bowl is still ongoing.
Officially, no one knows where this bowl is or what it really looks like. All the images of her in the article, and throughout the Internet, are just an assumption of the species.
The Holy Grail is the most coveted Christian artifact. But at the same time, the most illusory. They write and talk a lot about him, but no one has yet revealed his reality.
Quest for the Holy Grail
For many centuries, people have been searching for the Grail. Someone found something similar and claimed to have found the Holy Grail. But this was only a deception or delusion of the one who thought so.
In Valencia (Spain). The city's medieval church houses a chalcedony goblet decorated with precious stones. The authors of the find claim that this is the Holy Grail.
Many Holy Popes used this cup for Holy Communion. Among these personalities is Pope John Paul 2nd. He used this cup during mass.
But the bowl from Valencia is one of dozens and even hundreds of similar ones that claim to be called the Holy Grail.
Wealth and popularity awaited the owners of such a cup. As soon as a church or abbey declared that they had become the owners of the holy grail, thousands of pilgrims from all over the world began to flock to them. People lined up in endless queues to donate the amount of money available to them and touch the Grail.
The priests have always been the owners of ancient objects and artifacts, which were kept on the territory of the church and passed on from generation to generation. They could easily find an antique bowl in their possession. They could easily say that they don’t know where she comes from or what her origins are. And as a result, they passed it off as the grail.
But if you look closely at all the bowls on display, which are called, it is not difficult to notice that their appearance is very rich - decorated with gold and jewelry. This type of bowl is more reminiscent of a king's cup.
Historians are confident that it is unlikely that Jesus Christ could have had this type of cup on that very day at the Last Supper. The Holy Grail is believed to be very simple and modest in appearance. This can be the simplest cup made of wood or stone, unadorned. A appearance could be completely different from the universally recognized cup.
Bible
The Bible doesn't say anything about the cup. And it is not said that this cup is somehow unusual or special. Therefore, to look for it, you need to turn to completely different sources.
Vulgate, 1230
In 1230, a series of novels was published in France that tell of knights searching for a mysteriously hidden object. The Vulgate was the name of this series of stories. They are written in old French and consist of 5 parts.
Some researchers claim that it is in these novels that the Holy Grail is described. And in the descriptions it was depicted not at all in the form of a bowl.
Parzival, 1200
Another version of the Holy Grail appeared in Bovaria (Germany). A novel called “Parzival” (German: Parzival). This is a chivalric romance. It contains 25,000 lines in poetic form. Dated to 1200-1210. Author Wolfram von Eschenbach.
Monument to Wolfram von Eschenbach
As you can see, the novel “Parzival” was created 2-3 decades earlier than the Vulgate. The two novels share a similar theme with the quest for the Grail, but there are significant differences in some of the descriptions.
In Parzival, Jesus and Joseph are minor characters. There is not even any description of the cup in the novel. Eschenbach believed that the grail is not a cup, but a stone, and it came to people from heaven, from paradise, and therefore is magic item with incredible properties. And losing a stone in our world is easy.
Wolfram Eschenbach described that the Grail restores its magical properties. A dove with a wafer in its beak lands on it. The bird places the wafer she brought on the stone and it comes to life with renewed vigor.
This, in principle, is the entire description of the holy grail from the novel “Persifal”.
No one today can say for sure on what grounds this description was made. Is this the author’s invention or practical knowledge?
Perceval, 1190
Let's go back a little more, to northern France, to Champagne. Chrétien de Troyes lived in this area. In 1190 he wrote his own novel, Perceval or the Tale of the Grail. The novel appeared 20 years earlier than Eschenbach’s novel “Parzival”
This novel tells the story of a young man named Percival, who strives to become a knight and for this he goes on a long journey. The road leads him to the king, and the young man witnesses an unusual and mystical ritual.
The ritual used a sword and a spear, and a young girl held a cup in her hands, which they called . The description said that this was a large golden bowl that had a huge magical power. At the bottom of the bowl there was one plate.
After reading different versions of descriptions of ancient manuscripts, you can easily become even more confused. All the texts contained completely different grails. What exactly did he look like and did he really have such properties? These and other questions are still asked by artifact seekers.
Perhaps such differences were deliberately brought to our time so that people would never be able to find the real Grail. After all, when the world learned about it, wars could begin for the sake of possessing the treasure.
Most likely, the true owner will never reveal the truth to the world in order to maintain balance and peace on earth.
Imagine that the Holy Grail has been found. What will happen? The world will struggle long and hard to find out to which country it really belongs and in which church it should be kept. And wealthy collectors will not be able to resist trying to take possession of this artifact through dishonest means.
Our world is too greedy and cruel to share and help each other. We assume that he will be found only when the borders between countries are erased, and people love and respect the person living nearby as much as their son or daughter.
But let's stop the speculation and continue to look for clues about the secret of storing the Grail.
Let's return to the original sources that described the Grail.
In the 12th century he was the most famous and significant in all circles. It was during the period of the Templars that manuscripts describing the Holy Grail appeared. This happened from approximately 1190 to 1275. During this period of time, the Knights of the Templar Order were at the very peak of their development and influence. They did not fight for the sake of power and glory, they stood in defense of goodness and justice.
During the period when von Eschenbach wrote his novel, the Templars were role models in terms of chivalry and honor.
Von Eschenbach wrote in his novel that the Grail Castle is guarded by the Knights Templar, that is, the Templars. In the description they were people dressed in white cloaks. And historians immediately compared this image with the Templars, because. they wore white clothes as a symbol of purity.
The above may suggest that the story of the search for the Holy Grail is based on the exploits of the Knights Templar. Maybe the missing cup should be looked for not in novels, but in the history of knights?
In the 12th century, the first Crusade ended in Jerusalem. The Order of Knights was assembled to protect pilgrims on their journey to places of pilgrimage.
In 1099, the Crusaders took Jerusalem. Christianity rejoiced at this event. But this turned out to be a big problem - it was very difficult to keep the Holy Land in one’s power. Then one of the knights said that he wanted to devote himself to serving these pilgrims in order to protect them on the holy land.
If we assume that Jerusalem, as an ancient and holy city, could secretly store its treasures and artifacts, then most likely they are still located on its territory. And the Templars knew better than anyone where to look for these treasures in the city.
The residence of the order of knights itself was located in the very sacred place city - on the Temple Mount. Today at modern world, this is where the Dome of the Rock is located. And during the times of the Crusaders, the Temple of Solomon was located on this site.
King Baldwin 2nd of Jerusalem gave the knights his palace, which was built on the Temple Mount. It was this building that the knights called Solomon's Temple, since it was located on the site of the temple.
In order for the temple to be a protection and fortress for the people, the knights undertook its reconstruction. They dug a 20-meter long tunnel in the rock and made a whole system of underground passages.
Theologians do not attach much importance to these tunnels. They are still open to the public today. And the knights thus expanded their territory and adapted them for their purposes.
But some researchers believe that such excavations were not carried out for domestic use. There is a version that the knights found something because the Templars knew what and where to look. And when they found what they were looking for, they immediately returned to their Europe.
Did they really find what they were looking for? And no one knows what it was. The order consisted of faithful and closed people. None of them revealed this secret during their lifetime.
Now let's move to Larachelle, a port city in France. It was to the port of this city that knights on ships returned home from Jerusalem.
It is not known what the Templars brought on their ships, but soon after this trip, the order became one of the richest among all knightly orders. They received donations from ordinary residents.
Over the course of 200 years, the Templar order became the most powerful and very, very rich. Their possessions extended from the north of Poland to the south of Minorca; from England to the Holy Land. In addition to the acquired wealth, the knights received the blessing of the Pope himself. He gave the order the broadest privileges. Because of this turn of events, the monks and priests were very unhappy with the Pope’s decision and the current situation. Well, as a result, they were very jealous of the knights.
Based on this description of events in history, one can easily assume that it was the Templars who found the Holy Grail.
Let's move further in the footsteps of history and move to the 14th century, to France, during the reign of King Philip the 4th. At this time, the order of knights was at the very peak of its power. But everything changes over time. And after the peak of success, the knights faced a decline.
Ordinary residents began to complain more and more often about the actions of the Knights Templar. Society began to treat them with negativity, contempt and arrogance.
King Philip took advantage of such changes in people's attitudes towards the order and the knights. Frequent wars practically reduced his treasury to zero. And the king decides to rectify the situation with the help of the wealth of the order of knights.
Philip began to act psychologically on people and did everything possible so that his subjects would finally turn away from the knights. The king began to spread rumors about blasphemy, sodomy and sodomy on the part of the knights. That is, in everything that in those days was considered a terrible sin.
Then the king sent secret letters to his officials. These were orders. They contained the same information for everyone - 13 October 1307 arrest all members of the Templar Order who lived in France. That is why Friday the 13th is still considered the most unlucky number.
All those arrested were handed over to the Holy Inquisition. The Pope decided to close the order, as it began to have a very bad reputation.
The order's property was confiscated, but nothing resembling the Holy Grail was ever found or was carefully hidden from history.
Let us assume that the Grail is not found among the confiscated wealth. Then we move on. And we will continue our search in the habitats of the knights - in the temples of the order.
All churches of the order were simple in construction, but each has the distinctive signs of the Templars. For example, in Christian churches The image of Christ is present everywhere, and in the churches of the knights of the order there is the image of the Virgin Mary.
The Templars revered the Mother of God with special emphasis and dedicated their churches to her, and each knight took an oath to the Virgin Mary. Perhaps there was more to this worship of the knights.
Templar Cathedral
France, Charter Cathedral 13th century. Located 90 km from Paris and included in the World Heritage List. Pilgrims have always come here for many centuries. Maybe there will be clues here that will bring us closer to solving the mystery of the Holy Grail.
Small, architectural decorations of the building could be displayed under the influence of the knights. For example, above the main pediment there is an image of Jesus raising his hand in blessing. If you look closely at the cross behind the head of Jesus, it is not difficult to notice that its outlines exactly coincide with the outlines of the cross of the Templar Order.
There are 3 black Madonnas inside the church. There is a version that it is the black Madonnas who are associated with the Templars. They brought these images from the Crusades.
Could the Templars have hidden the Holy Grail here? Could the Grail be connected with the woman whose image is in all the churches of the order?
The Templars believed that the Virgin Mary had greater wisdom than Jesus Christ. For other churches, this version was equated with a terrible heresy. The churches have always forbidden residents to seek the truth on their own; they demanded that they take their word for it. Therefore, the Templars were persecuted for such faith.
But the Templars themselves were not only warriors, defenders, but also deeply religious. They brought people protection and faith.
There is a version that the knights always sought to convey information about enlightenment to all humanity and encrypted their message in architecture and handwritten novels. They wanted future generations to be able to learn about them, their faith and beliefs.
Chrétien de Troyes encrypted part of the worldview of the Knights Templar in his novel. The legends of the Holy Grail arose from the desire to preserve the ideas of knights. If this was indeed the case, then what kind of wisdom were they trying to convey to us?
Masons are descendants of the Templars
London. The building of the Grand United Masonic Lodge of England. International meetings and secret ceremonies take place here. Many researchers believe that the Freemasons could be directly related to the Templar Order.
If you study the Order of Freemasons and the Order of the Templars, you can find many similarities:
- Have secret initiation ceremonies
- The first Master of the Templars after his marriage entered the family of leaders of Scottish Freemasonry
- One of the highest ranks in Freemasonry is the position of knight
But the problem is that the Order of Freemasonry arose only 300 years after the Order of the Templars.
This is where the question arises: How did the Templar Order influence the Masonic movement? The Order was dissolved in 1314, and Freemasonry arose in the early 17th century.
Maybe the families of the knights hid from the eyes of people for 300 years, passing information from generation to generation.
Freemasonry is based on 2 principles:
- Charity
- Brotherhood
In modern Freemasonry, many find the principles of the Knights Templar.
After analyzing the novels and history of knights, researchers come to the conclusion that the Grail is not some kind of material object. It was some kind of intangible treasure, perhaps it was some kind of idea of \u200b\u200blife. It was this idea that the knights brought to people.
You may not be a knight or a Mason, but you can behave as befits these orders - bring good to people, help, compassion, love, believe.
P.S
The Holy Grail, which gave rise to many legends and myths, which made researchers search, which gave rise to movie scripts, may be someone's belief and is called the “Holy Grail”. For example, Jesus is the Holy Grail for our humanity. He gained eternal life in the history of the planet.
Maybe the Holy Grail is not a cup or a stone. And this is the name of the value that a person or the order as a whole acquires for themselves.
What do you say about this? What is truly the Grail that is still being sought today?
We are waiting for your opinion and comments under the article.
Gothic St. Mary's Cathedral(Catedral de Santa María de Valencia) is main temple Valencia. The most important treasure of the cathedral is a translucent bowl called Holy Grail donated to the cathedral by King Alfonso V of Aragon in 1437. Until 1916, the cup was kept in the hall with relics, but then it was moved to the capitular hall with the chapel of Santo Caliz, where it is still kept.
A little about the history of the cathedral, before we move on to the “sweet”.))
Cathedral Valencia is located in the heart of Valencia's Old Town, at Plaza de la Reina (Plaça de la Reina).
The northern façade of the cathedral faces the Plaza de la Virgen (other names for the square: Plaça de la Marede Déu or Plaça de la Seu).
The Valencia Cathedral was built in 1238 on the site of the former Roman temple of Diana, the goddess of fertility, flora and fauna. It is also called La Seu (La Seo), that is, “archiepiscopal diocese”.
The Gothic architecture of the building is combined with elements of Renaissance and classicism, as well as with the Moorish tower-bell tower of Mikalet, later renamed in Christian traditions in honor of the Archangel Michael.
A spiral staircase with an observation deck leads to the 68-meter tower.
The western facade of the cathedral with the Apostolic Gate (Puerta de los Apóstoles) overlooks the Square of the Holy Virgin. The gate received this name because of the sculptures of the twelve apostles located at the entrance. The facade was created in the period 1303-54. The author of the arched design was the architect Nicholas de Autona.
In Plaza de la Reina you can see a metal model of the Valencia Cathedral.
Here is the gate “Los Hierros” (Puerta de los Hierros) - “Iron Gate” (1703-13) - the main entrance to the church. This gate was created by the architect Konrad Rudolf in the Italian Baroque style.
The interior of the cathedral...
Chapel of Santo Caliz, where the Holy Grail is kept...
And here is that very treasured cup...
"But then the Holy Grail appeared in the hall under a white brocade cover, but no one was allowed to see it and the one who brought it in..."(Thomas Malory)
Having read the novels of Dan Brown and his colleagues, the theme of the mysterious vessel with the blood of Jesus occupies my confused mind.))
It must be said that the theme of the Grail first appears in 1190 in the literary work of the French poet Chretien de Troyes, “The History of the Grail,” which tells the story of the young Percival, a close associate of King Arthur, who ends up in the castle of the mysterious fisherman king. During the meal, a handsome young man enters the hall with a spear dripping blood, followed by a beautiful young woman holding the Grail. The cup was of pure gold and adorned with many precious stones; an amazing radiance emanated from her. During lunch they let her go in a circle. The story goes that since the intrigued Percival asked nothing about the Grail or the bloody spear, the ominous prediction remained in force: the fisherman king would not be able to recover from the wounds on his thigh that had left him crippled; his country will be destroyed, hundreds of knights will die, and many widows and orphans will go into mourning.
The legend of the Holy Grail was made famous throughout medieval Europe by Robert de Boron (French poet of the 12th-13th centuries). He spiritualized an ordinary cup mentioned in a French novel and turned it into the cup of the Last Supper, the same cup in which, according to legend, Joseph of Arimathea collected the blood of Christ after the crucifixion. De Boron was also the first to mention the transfer of the Grail to Britain, where it was hidden. Since then, there has been a dynasty of Grail guardians on the island, one of which later became Perceval.
In the book "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, there is a discussion about Leonardo da Vinci's fresco "The Last Supper". According to the biblical story, it was at the Last Supper, on the eve of the betrayal of Judas and the arrest of Jesus, that the Savior drank wine from a cup. But in Leonardo’s fresco there is no cup on the table, but to the right of Jesus sits one of the apostles, who has more feminine features than masculine ones. In the novel, the author suggests that this is not John, as previously thought, but... Mary Magdalene. Dan Brown suggests that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, moreover, they had a daughter, Sarah, who later laid the foundation for the Merovingian dynasty. After this, the concept of “Holy Grail” began to be used in the meaning of “holy blood” and they started talking about the descendants of God, who, perhaps with the help of the Templar Order, still live on earth to this day.
Dan Brown did not come up with this version himself; he was guided in his work by the book “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail” by Michael Baigent, Richard Lee and Henry Lincoln. According to the authors, it is the priors who still keep the secret of the location of the Holy Grail, hiding the truth about true life Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene and their descendants.
About the chalice in the Cathedral of Valencia.
Previously, the cup in the cathedral was used in religious ceremonies, but in 1744 it was accidentally dropped on the floor and it broke, after which it was decided to restore it and subsequently store it simply as a religious object (now the cup is used only on special occasions). Two Popes (John Paul II and Benedict XVI) used the chalice during a mass service while visiting Valencia.
According to biblical tradition, the Grail is the cup that Christ used at the Last Supper. Later, Joseph of Arimathea, Christ's uncle, managed to obtain this cup from Pontius Pilate, in which he collected the blood from the wounds of Christ crucified on the cross, and transported it to Britain, where the Grail became the talisman of the first Christians. Buried or lost somewhere near Glastonbury - the first center of Christianity in Britain - the cup became the object of a search that lasted many centuries. King Arthur's knights somehow managed to find the Grail - by that time the cup was considered not only Christian shrine, but also a kind of magical vessel, the contents of which give the owner eternal youth and unearthly wisdom.
This bowl is over 2000 years old. The Catholic Church recognized it as a genuine shrine. The Vatican recognized her as “a witness of Christ’s steps on earth.”
The bowl is a chalcedony (or agate) goblet of a dark red hue, 7 cm high and 9.5 cm in diameter, standing on a stand with two handles, which, however, appeared later. This type of mineral from which the bowl is made is called carnelian or carnelian and dates back to the 1st century. AD (according to other sources, it was made in 100-50 BC). Archaeologist Antonio Beltran took the cup to the beginning new era(1st century) and determined that it was created in a workshop in Egypt, Syria or Palestine itself, which proves the possibility of finding the cup at the Last Supper.
The bowl is trimmed with gold, valuable pearls and emeralds. The base and two handles of the bowl were added in the Middle Ages, so that only the bowl itself can be considered a real relic.
There is no one story about the appearance of the bowl in Valencia.
One story is told as follows...
In 258, Emperor Valerian ruled Rome and carried out brutal persecution of Christians. And somehow Archdeacon Lawrence fell into his hands, who allegedly kept the countless treasures of the Roman Empire. christian church. To all the emperor’s orders to give up treasures in order to replenish the depleted treasury (in addition, it was necessary to destroy relics especially revered by Christians and thereby forever rid the country of the religion hated by Valerian), Lawrence refused, for which he soon accepted martyrdom. But before his death, the indomitable minister of the church managed to transport the treasures, among which the cup of Christ was mentioned, to his hometown of Osca, in Spain, to his parents. From them, the relic moved to the Church of St. John in the Pyrenees, and then ended up in the Cathedral in Valencia.
Another story is this.
After the death of the Virgin Mary, Christ's disciples distributed her property among themselves, and the cup from which Christ ate at the Last Supper was taken by Saint Peter to Rome. Due to the persecution to which Christians were subjected, Pope Sixtus II in the 3rd century entrusted a valuable relic to St. Lawrence, who kept it in his hometown of Huesca. The cup remained there until 712, after which Christians fleeing from Muslims hid it in the Pyrenees, and then in the monastery of San Juan de la Pena near the city of Jaca. In 1399, the monks presented the Grail to King Martin I of Aragon, and the cup ended up in Zaragoza, in the Aljaferia Palace. In 1424, Alfonso V the Magnanimous transported the relic to Valencia as a sign of gratitude for the assistance provided by the Kingdom of Valencia in its Mediterranean battles.
Some details of the stories, of course, agree.
But the most interesting thing is that the Holy Grail was announced in several different places around the world. So there is still no certainty which one is real.
In 2014, the book “Kings of the Grail” by Margarita Torres and José Ortega del Rio was published, where the authors trace the history of Dona Urraca’s chalice to ancient Jerusalem and prove that it may well be the chalice of the Last Supper. The study became another sensation. The so-called chalice of Doña Urraca, an onyx liturgical cup in a gold frame, decorated precious stones, is the pride of the Basilica of San Isidoro. Doña Urraca, who lived in the 11th century, the eldest daughter of Ferdinand I, King of Castile and Leon, was a pious person who generously gave gifts to churches. She presented this vessel to the Basilica of San Isidoro, where the princess was subsequently buried.
Many guidebooks to Turin claim that the Holy Grail is located in this city. In front of the Temple of Our Lady of the Great there are 2 statues - Faith and Religion. The statue of Vera holds a cup in her left hand, in which local residents see an image of the Holy Grail. The guidebooks say that the gaze of the statue indicates the direction in which to look for it.
Another city is the “refuge” of the Grail – Italian Genoa. The bowl, kept there in the Cathedral of St. Lorenzo, is made of emerald-colored glass and has an unusual hexagonal shape. The origin of this rarity is unknown; the documents indicate only that it was taken as a trophy from a mosque in Caesarea in Palestine during the First Crusade.
According to Guillaume of Tire, this is a Crusader trophy found in a mosque in the ancient Palestinian city of Caesarea in 1101. The identification with the Grail is based on the Golden Legend of Jacopo Voraginsky - a collection of Christian traditions from the 13th century, which says that Jesus and his disciples at the Last Supper drank from an emerald cup. When Napoleon captured Genoa, he moved the shrine to Paris. The cup was then returned, but it cracked on the way. So now they see it with a crack.
Other traces of the cup lead to the Basilica of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura in Rome.
Many frescoes in this temple, which contain an image of the Grail, indicate that the cup is hidden in the catacombs located under the basilica. By the way, the temple itself was built on the burial site of St. Lawrence, which also suggests a pattern for storing the relic there. In 1938, Capuchin monk Giuseppe Da Bra made a detailed inventory of the catacombs. It mentions a 20-meter room with skeletons standing in it. One of the skeletons is holding a vessel in his hands, in all respects similar to the Holy Grail.
The bowl from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York consists of two silver vessels inserted into one another. The outer one, gilded, is decorated with wonderful drawings depicting the Son of God and some of his fellow apostles.
The cup was restored in France and in 1933 exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair as the cup of the Last Supper.
Scientists, after conducting analyzes and studies, came to the conclusion that the outer bowl was made somewhat later than the inner one, which looks much more modest, but causes more controversy. Scientists have established that the time of its manufacture is the 1st century AD. e., and it may well turn out to be the famous Grail. The bowl was found during excavations in the city of Antakya (Antioch) in southern Turkey.
"...he also had a secret wish that he wanted to make for the Holy Grail..."
They say that whatever you wish near the Grail comes true. Well, God forbid!
Holy Grail.
Legends of the Holy Grail continue to excite the imagination of more than the first generation of mystery lovers. An obscure, mysterious relic that carries unheard of power, what is it? Even the authors of novels about King Arthur are silent about this. There are three main versions about what the Holy Grail is. According to one of them, the Grail is a kind of stone, according to another, a precious relic (a golden image of Noah’s Ark?), but the most common opinion is that this is the cup from which Jesus Christ took communion at the Last Supper and into which adherents collected a few drops of the blood of the crucified on the Savior's cross. This cup and spear, which were inflicted on Christ, were preserved and brought to Britain by Joseph of Arimathea - as legends say.
Researchers have always been interested in the origin of the Grail legend. It is believed that it is based on a Christian apocrypha about the arrival of Joseph of Arimathea to Britain. According to another version, this legend has local roots, going back to the mythology of the ancient Celts. Still others believe that the legend of the Grail is associated with a secret occult society founded in time immemorial and possessing secret knowledge that is passed down from generation to generation.
Of these three completely different theories, the first looks the most attractive, but there is not a single fact that could confirm it. The last hypothesis is shared mainly by those who are generally inclined to consider all of humanity as a collection of secret societies. The pagan roots of the legend of the Grail indicate its origin from a very ancient Indo-European myth about magical utensils - a symbol of life and rebirth. Subsequently, this legend was filled with a new meaning, acquiring a Christian overtones.
The very first version of the story of the Holy Grail, “Conte du Graal,” was published by the famous poet and troubadour Chrétien de Troyes around 1180. This story remained unfinished. Chrétien de Troyes claimed that his story was based on data he found in a book belonging to Count Philip of Flanders, but this claim can neither be proven nor disputed.
At that time, it was generally believed that the author could not compose anything himself, and only what was contained in ancient sources was true. A story that was not based on ancient tradition could not be worthy of attention. No one was embarrassed by the fact that it was impossible to verify the truth of these legends. Therefore, Chrétien de Troyes, like many after him, could quite easily refer to any source. In addition, at that time it was necessary to choose topics for novels and poems extremely carefully; pagan themes could incur the wrath of the church.
The hero of Chretien de Troyes' story, the knight Percival of Wales, mentions the mysterious "Grail Castle" and its magic cup. The character of Percival is based on the ancient Welsh saga of a hero named Pryder, and stories about him often speak of a magic cup that had properties completely identical to those attributed to the Grail. The Pryder sagas are contained in the Mabinogion, a collection of ancient Welsh oral traditions. This collection takes us into the fantastic world of Celtic myths, including several stories about King Arthur. The images of the Welsh epic come from even more ancient Celtic heroes. King Lear, for example, was "born" from Lehr, one of the people of the mysterious people of the Tuatu de Dannan ("tribes of the goddess Danu"). This people, as the myth tells, having arrived from somewhere in the north, brought with them magical objects to the lands of the Celts - a magic cup, a wonderful spear and an invincible sword. In later legends about King Artype, these objects were transformed into the Holy Grail, the spear with which Christ was wounded, and the sword Excalibur.
How the Grail came to Britain was told by Robert de Born in his poem “Joseph of Arimathea,” written around 1200. Like Chrétien De Troyes, de Born refers to a story from an ancient book that tells how Jesus called Joseph and gave him the Grail - the cup of the Last Supper. Together with his sister and her husband Bron, Joseph left Palestine and settled in a certain country “far in the West,” where they preached Christianity. Thus, Robert de Born explicitly connects the Grail with the Christian tradition. However, despite the enormous popularity of the tales of the Holy Grail, the Church has never recognized the Grail as a Christian relic. Perhaps this is why the Grail has acquired the dubious reputation of a sacred symbol of an organized heretical movement within the borders of Western Christendom.
And here a new parallel arises: de Born, having published his poem, wittingly or unwittingly revealed the origins of the legend of the Grail - the Gnostic “Gospel of Nicodemus”, which sets out in detail the myth of Joseph, the cup and the spear. And it is the views of the Gnostics that underlie all European heretical movements.
Around the years when de Born wrote his poem. Wolfram von Eschenbach, a famous German poet of the time, created Parsifal, his own version of Chrétien de Troyes' unfinished Grail poem. Just like the others. Wolfram said that he used “ancient sources” and referred to “a certain Provençal troubadour who wrote his story in Arabic, living in the Spanish city of Toledo” (a completely confusing story). In his poem, Wolfram claimed that the Grail was kept by the knightly order Templaisen in this distorted German name the famous Order of the Templars is easily guessed.
The monastic order of the Cisterns, founded in 1098, was influenced by the Templars. The Cistercians were a famous and influential order, and its most popular member was the famous A6bat Bernard of Clairvaux, the “spiritual father” of the Templars. The Cistercians had a strong influence on the anonymous author of the Queste del Sail Graal, the most famous work in the Grail series.
The hero of the novel, the most honest knight Galahad, having accomplished a number of feats, becomes the owner and keeper of the Holy Grail. He brings the Grail to the city of Sarras, the center of paganism, which Joseph of Arimathea converted to Christianity. Here Galahad dies, and after his death the townspeople see a miracle: Galahad’s hand descending from the sky takes the Grail to the mountain heights.
This parable (remember, told at the beginning of the 13th century) metaphorically suggests that the Grail is hidden from human eyes. But where? The answer to this question was probably known by the Albigensians (Cathars) - followers of the heretical teaching that at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries engulfed part of France - the provinces of Languedoc and Provence (remember the “Provençal troubadour” to whom Wolfram von Eschenbach referred). The teachings of the Cathars were in many ways consistent with the secret teachings of the Templars. And in the sacred center of the Cathars - the fortress of Montsegur - something was kept that contained the Great Secret.
From 1209, the French kings began crusades against the Albigenses. Montsegur fell in 1244. But the main shrine of the Cathars was saved: four “perfects,” escaping through a complex system of underground passages, took with them a mysterious package that contained the main secret of the Cathars. Who could receive fugitive heretics? Only those close to them in spirit. And after the defeat of the Cathars, only the Templars remained as such.
The Templar Order was founded in 1118. When knighted, the Templars took a vow of poverty and chastity, but the order quickly became the richest and most influential in Europe. The order also became famous for its unique interpretation of Christian doctrine, close to the Gnostic one, for which it was considered almost a nest of heresy. Like all chivalric orders and religious sects of that time, the Templars had their own rites and ceremonies, about which a lot has been written, but in reality very little is known.
The long confrontation between the Templars and official church, which enjoyed the support of the secular rulers of Europe, led to the death of the order. However, many of the secrets of the Templars remained unsolved. After the fall of Montsegur, sixty years remained until the death of the Templar Order. In 1312, the Pope abolished the order with his bull “To the Providence of Christ,” and on March 18, 1314, the last Grand Master of the Templars entered the fire. But again the main treasures of the order (and the Grail with them?) disappeared without a trace.
Rumor has persistently linked the location of the Grail to Glastonberry Abbey in England and the Arthurian legends. The old church at Glastonbury, which may have remembered the Knights of the Round Table, burned down in 1184 and a new one was built in its place. And in traditional belief, the opinion is deeply rooted that the Grail is hidden in the dungeons of the abbey.
After the death of the largest heretical organizations, the legends of the Grail ceased to occupy the attention of the dedicated public, moving into the realm of folk legends. But the shadow of the relic invisibly overshadowed many events in medieval Europe. The Czech Taborites went into battle under a banner with the image of a “kalika” - a sacred cup in which the Grail can easily be guessed. And the knowledge of the Gnostics did not die with the defeat of the Cathars and Templars; it continued to live among numerous secret orders and organizations, which abound in the history of the 12th-19th centuries. It turned out to be in demand at the beginning of this century, when the occult “Thule Society,” which arose in Germany in 1918, began developing the scientific and mystical basis of National Socialism. And along with the teachings of the Gnostics, the Holy Grail also turned out to be in demand
Initially, the search for the Grail was led by a certain Otto Rahn, one of the developers of the Nordic theory. In the early 1930s, he visited the ruins of Montsegur, but, as far as can be judged, he did not conduct any serious searches, and as a result of the trip, he published the book “The Crusade against the Grail,” where he calls the Grail “the Cup of the Nibelungs.” And in 1937, after his second trip to Languedoc, Ran suddenly disappeared. Nothing is still known about his fate.
In June 1943, a large expedition arrived in Montsegur from Germany, which carried out work in the caves until the spring of 1944. And although he did not find anything, the system of underground shelters and passages laid by the Cathars in the rocky ground near Montsegur, according to archaeologists, allows us to hope that the Grail may be there. However, there were a lot of inaccessible hiding places in medieval Europe, and the dungeons of Montsegur are not the most perfect of them.
The search for the Holy Grail continues today. In his image they see a pagan cornucopia, a communion cup with the Last Supper, and a mysterious stone that bestows immortality. Only those who are chosen for this can find it.
From the Last Supper...
The Grail, a mysterious vessel that bestows all desired benefits, even immortality, is often considered the first chalice, that is, the communion cup that served Christ and the apostles during the first liturgy - the Last Supper.
According to some versions, it was made from agate that fell from Lucifer's crown during his overthrow. When Jesus Christ was crucified, one of the Jewish elders, Joseph of Arimathea, a secret follower of Christ, collected His blood dripping from the wound inflicted by the spear of Longinus into this cup.
The enraged Jews threw Joseph into prison, forcing him to starve to death. But the Grail provided food for the unfortunate man for forty-two years, until Joseph was freed by the emperor Vespasian, cured of leprosy by the shroud on which the face of Christ was imprinted.
...to Mansalvat
Thus begins the long journey of the Grail. In a vision, Christ appointed Joseph of Arimathea as the keeper of a cup filled with divine blood, after which he went with it to Britain. Before his death, according to one version, he entrusted the treasure to his nephew; according to another, the Grail was kept in heaven until heroes were born on earth capable of guarding it. The progenitor of this tribe was the Asian ruler Perillus, who arrived in Gaul, where his descendants became related to the family of the Breton prince. One of his descendants, the noble Titurel, distinguished by his purity of thoughts from a young age, was chosen as the new keeper of the Grail. He and his knights, known as the “Knights of the Holy Grail,” erected the no less legendary castle of Montsalvat for the heavenly cup, where, according to some versions, it is still located.
According to numerous legends, the Grail supplied all who worshiped it with foods and drinks that they would prefer more than others. He gave healing and maintained eternal youth in people. But the most important thing is that those who managed to see the Grail always felt a certain joy, closeness and anticipation of Paradise. The Grail was considered the most valuable relic that a person could receive during his lifetime.
Birth of a legend
Today it is difficult to trace the history of the legend of the Holy Grail, like any other legend that has received the status of “folk”. But there are still some clues.
The search should begin in medieval Europe, where the real hunt for Christian relics began in the 9th century. This is due to the requirement of the Roman Church that the remains or things of a saint must be present in the temple. Thus, relics became a profitable commodity, which began to flow en masse to Europe from the East.
Naturally, those associated with the Passion of Christ were considered the most valuable. Parts of the cross on which He was crucified, nails with which the body of Christ was nailed to the cross, crown of thorns, the spear of Longinus, the Shroud of Turin and other shrines were very desirable objects both for church servants and for large feudal lords and monarchs.
But among all the relics of the Passion that were exhibited in numerous churches, the cup from which Jesus first gave communion to all his disciples at the Last Supper was missing. Considering the significance of communion with wine in Catholic churches, which was considered a privilege and for a long time was available only to the clergy, the absence of such an important subject could not go unnoticed. Rumors began to circulate about its extraordinary properties and possible locations. One fine day, England, in contrast to France, where the French kings collected many of the shrines of Christianity, put forward a legend about the Grail, which was supposedly located in the vastness of Britain.
The reason for this was two manuscripts. The first is the chronicle of William of Malmesbury, which tells that in 63 the disciples of the Apostle Philip, led by Joseph of Arimathea, arrived in Britain to preach Christianity. They built the first temple where Glastonbury Abbey was later founded, and where the bodies of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere were allegedly found in the 12th century. There is still a spring there, called the “well of the bowl.”
The second manuscript of the 12th century, the Grand Saint Graal, conveys the legend already told here about the transport of the Grail to Britain and the guardians of the cup. Subsequently, this story was repeated in the novels of Robert de Boron and Chretien de Troyes, in which the legend is associated with the legends of King Arthur. The story is becoming a real “medieval bestseller”; similar novels are being created in many European countries and are acquiring more and more new details.
Prototypes of the Grail
There were other reasons why the idea of the Grail, as a cup of abundance that bestows all sorts of benefits, appeared in Britain. The Christian Grail had pagan prototypes associated with ideas about the cornucopia. In Irish mythology, it is the Dagda's cauldron, which never ran out of food. In the British one there is a cup that Merlin brought to Britain on a crystal ship. She revealed the future, the treasures of human knowledge and the secrets of the world. In Welsh mythology, it is the vessel of the goddess Ceridwen - a source of wisdom mentioned in the History of Taliesin. Another possible prototype of the Grail is also found there - a certain cup received by Bran the Blessed from a black giant, a witch and a dwarf from the Lake of the Cup, capable of healing any fatal diseases, stopping blood and resurrecting the dead. Subsequently, during one of the battles, Bran threw the head of an enemy into it and the cup lost its miraculous properties. It's obvious that all of this was different versions one myth.
About the cup, the dish and the stone
So far the Grail has been mentioned only as a sacramental cup, but in fact, this was only one of its many guises. According to other versions, the Grail is a silver dish, sometimes with a bloody head from Welsh legends, which is successfully associated with the image of John the Baptist; in Eschenbach's Parzival it is a stone with miraculous properties. According to another hypothesis: the Grail, the receptacle of the blood of Christ, is the Virgin Mary. In general, there was no single idea about him.
"Grail"
The name of the bowl did not clarify either. The origin of the “Grail” is still unknown. Someone suggests that the name, like the legend itself, is Celtic, from the Irish cryol - “basket of abundance.” Some believe that the basis of the “Grail” is the Old French “Sangreal” - “true blood”, while others see in it the Greek “κρατης” or gratalem - a large vessel for mixing wine with water.
Candidates for Holy Chalice
The search for the Grail continues to this day. The last time a relic that claimed the right to be called the Grail was found in March 2014 in the basilica of the city of Leon. According to the historians who discovered it, after the crucifixion, the Holy Grail did not go to the West, but to Palestine, from where it came to Egypt and then to Arab Spain. After the Reconquista, when the Spanish lands were liberated from the Arabs, the cup ended up in Leon and became known as the Cup of Urraca, on behalf of the Queen of Castile.
Today, several cities claim to possess the real Grail. One of the most famous is the Antioch Chalice, a silver vessel discovered by antiquarians in 1910 in Antioch (Antakya). It is an ovoid cup on a round foot, which is covered with relief images of Jesus Christ and the apostles, made, according to supporters of the authenticity of the chalice, much later than its immediate creation. But the results of later research date the cup no later than the 6th century. Another "authentic" Grail, allegedly recognized by the Vatican itself, is located in the Cathedral of St. Mary in Valencia.