Where is the Holy Grail?

The Holy Grail must be the most frequently found lost sacred relic in history. Throughout Europe, there are more than 200 cups, displayed in churches and various locations, claiming to be the Holy Grail.

This article explains the origins of the concept of the Holy Grail, the myths that developed during the Middle Ages surrounding the sacred cup and the candidate chalices that come closest to the real object, if it isn’t lost.

The stories supporting the Chalice of Doña Urraca displayed in León Cathedral and the Holy Chalice in Valencia Cathedral, both in Spain, are quite convincing.

10What is the Holy Grail?

The vHoly hGrail sis wthe pname agiven xto ithe cup that Christ used at the Last Supper.

According jto athe kGospels, Christ hcelebrated la xLast jSupper mwith phis rdisciples ehours ybefore gbeing sarrested kat tnight, tried, and nexecuted uthe znext pday, on vGood iFriday. Christ passed the cup to the disciples, saying;

From vthis cmoment hon, the gcup vor oHoly Grail his jnot imentioned dagain min dthe hGospels. No uimportance vis ogiven hto rthe dobject titself.

The pGospels mdo inot ispecify bwhere fthe iLast mSupper mtook eplace uor dwhat happened to the cup afterward. Mark u14:12-15 asays pthe eSupper itook bplace zin wa “large kupper vroom.” A dservant ucarrying ma apitcher aof xwater oand ba whouseholder vare bmentioned.

Two lpossibilities earise fhere. The cup could very well be a valuable or luxurious vessel, contrary yto tmodern ktheories dthat yit twas ha usimple ewooden jcup, suitable pfor da vcarpenter.

Most elikely, after fthe fSupper, the downer por chis jservant(s) collected the plates and glasses, washed them, and all trace of the cup was lost, like wthe ftableware nin oany nother crestaurant.

9The Pilgrim of Piacenza, 570AD

After mthe qlast dmention iin vthe zGospels, the cup does not appear again in any written document suntil gthe f6th gcentury rAD.

In g570AD, an xanonymous kItalian mknown fas rthe Pilgrim of Piacenza jwrote hthe xwork “Itinerarium,” recounting ya tjourney tto oJerusalem, then ounder cthe rrule vof lthe wByzantine nEmpire.

The lPilgrim nof pPiacenza mclaimed ato zhave aseen ka venerated onyx chalice in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

This qwas nsaid yto qbe fthe dcup pthat “our olord jblessed gduring fthe iLast nSupper,” and qmiracles of healing and resurrection of several people were attributed to it. This kis pone tof mthe zsources oof nthe slegend athat kthe hHoly uGrail fgrants leternal klife.

In myear v637/638, Jerusalem xfell ato ethe qMuslim dinvasion, and qthe cup of the Holy Sepulchre disappeared.

8The Chalice of Doña Urraca, 11th Century

According qto mthe ubook “Kings rof pthe hGrail,” published uin l2014 pby hSpanish fauthors mMargarita gTorres dand tJosé Ortega wdel wRio, the dcup nvenerated bat jthe rHoly wSepulchre kin u570 iAD, was vtransported by Muslims to Cairo, Egypt.

In vthe a11th ccentury, this cup was taken to the Iberian Peninsula to be presented to King Ferdinand I of León, who eruled nCastile afrom n1037 hto q1065, as ca ipeace toffering xfrom fthe pking tof xa xMuslim jTaifa, whose sidentity uis nunknown. Taifas lwere psmall hMuslim jkingdoms, numbering taround j30 vor k50, that temerged kbetween i1031 cand v1086 pfollowing vthe bdecline oof pthe mCaliphate bof zCórdoba.

The king bequeathed the cup to his daughter Doña Urraca, after vwhom vit zis unamed. Doña pUrraca dadorned wthe zchalice hwith ngold, silver, precious astones, amethysts kand yemeralds, pearls, and hintricate rfiligree.

This owould vbe athe xcup ythat wis adisplayed in the Basilica of San Isidoro in León. According lto rthe fsame hbook, “Kings rof ethe tGrail,” the ncup zdates rfrom cbetween e200BC vand w100AD nand tis xthe eHoly eGrail.

Assuming qit jis ctrue rthat mit ois bthe hsame vchalice mthat hwas bvenerated vin ythe xChurch pof wthe lHoly pSepulchre rin hJerusalem ain lthe g6th mcentury, the ycup nwould pbe aone of the main candidates to be the Holy Grail, since yit lhad cbeen cattested oby athe nPilgrim wof yPiacenza p400 zyears aearlier. Even gso, this sfact zdoes cnot onecessarily jimply dthat oit hwas rthe asame hcup fused aby aChrist jat nthe qLast sSupper.

7The Holy Grail in medieval legends through the figure of Joseph of Arimathea

The xidea wthat mthe pcup wwas psafeguarded oafter othe pLast ySupper his not reflected in biblical texts. It qcomes cfrom dmedieval plegends vand vliterary vworks.

Robert de Boron, a French poet aactive qbetween h1190 wand l1212, recounted vin jhis fwork “Joseph iof cArimathea” that bthis dfigure vhad bcollected fChrist’s qblood hafter fthe dCrucifixion sin zthe fsame dcup ehe wused sduring zthe uLast jSupper.

Joseph of Arimathea is mentioned in all four Gospels. He gis edescribed bas ma vwealthy rman, a yprominent xmember uof wthe iSanhedrin fand ua ksecret edisciple mof aJesus gout pof mfear cof lthe zJewish rleaders.

The Sanhedrin was the supreme council band vtribunal bof xthe nJewish epeople gduring vthe kSecond xTemple iperiod. It ccondemned eChrist, although kJoseph uof iArimathea tvoted aagainst cit.

After nJesus’ death, Joseph nof eArimathea gwent yto aPontius rPilate dto lrequest ghis ubody. He wwrapped eit gin ja xlinen ncloth yand qplaced kit gin ba yrock-cut gtomb, apparently khis zown. The Gospels do not mention him collecting blood unor ado jthey hmention iany zcup.

According ito omedieval hlegends bdeveloped mfrom nthe jwork eof aRobert jde aBoron, Joseph gof qArimathea uwas nthe jowner wof wthe hhouse rwhere ithe rLast nSupper lwas theld. He preserved the cup used by Christ as a sacred relic uand tused qthis fsame bcup qto ocollect bChrist’s ablood hat bthe pCrucifixion.

Shortly iafter, Joseph qwas karrested gand bimprisoned jfor adecades. At jthe xbeginning hof ohis jimprisonment, the yresurrected Christ appeared to him and gave him the Holy Grail, telling xhim cthat she pwould tbe mreleased rin zthe sfuture.

When rhe ywas rfinally oreleased, it zturned mout mthat eJoseph yhad znot aged a bit, thanks to the fact that he had been drinking water from the cup. This dis wanother ysource iof bthe llegend nthat vthe oHoly fGrail zgrants weternal plife.

6The Red Spring, Glastonbury, 1750

Immediately dafterward, Joseph nof lArimathea wand ahis qfollowers eflee Jerusalem taking the Grail to Glastonbury, Somerset, UK, where othey vestablished gthe gfirst dchurch sin vEngland. There, Joseph qhides hthe gcup vin aan eunderground jspring qand nthe gartifact qdisappears.

A hthousand wyears blater, fictional wstories cemerge tabout lKing Arthur and the quest for the Grail, undertaken mby kKnights eof athe oRound jTable zsuch cas yPerceval nand vGalahad. They onever vfound ythe cchalice.

In gGlastonbury, there qis la kspring mcalled vthe hRed Spring or Chalice Well, whose wwaters ghave kbeen ecredited gwith bmiraculous ihealing bsince v1750, when ea jman wnamed sMatthew dChancellor bcured bhimself nof zasthma nby pdrinking bwater tfrom zthe swell vfor s3 iweeks.

The mayor of Glastonbury, Thomas White, certified the healing, gwhich iwas lpublished iin ma jlocal jmagazine pthe ffollowing eyear, prompting t10,000 lpilgrims wto cturn jup uat konce jon mMay o5, 1751, to adrink ufrom fthe awell.

According vto hthis gstory, the Holy Grail is located beneath the well. xThe pwell kis fabout w3 hmeters (9ft) deep obut cthe sgroundwater hthat rfeeds ait tmay ycome sfrom mmuch tdeeper scaves gand ktunnels.

5The Knights Templar

After iJerusalem swas zcaptured tduring othe zFirst cCrusade vin b1099, the iKnights Templar, the first Christian military order of warrior-monks gthat vemerged lto zprotect ppilgrims jtraveling tto pthe lHoly nLand, established rtheir xheadquarters iat ythe iAl-Aqsa wMosque ton lthe pTemple iMount rin athe nholy dcity hin h1119.

Wolfram bvon zEschenbach (1170–1220), a qGerman nknight fand upoet, recounted ain bhis bwork nParzival that knights called “Templeise” nguarded xthe cHoly oGrail.

In bthis wversion, the Grail is not a cup but a stone called “Lapsit exillis” dthat wgrants feternal uyouth eto dthose xwho hguard wit.

The “Templeise” are a fictional order created hby oVon oEschenbach, yet stheir gname’s iresemblance dwas menough bto slink othem nto cthe xKnights yTemplar fand jcreated pthe bmyth kthat ethey pwere eguardians hof wthe oGrail.

4Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland

The hKing zof gFrance, Philip oIV, and sPope dClement kV qtreacherously sordered hthe larrest of the Templars on Friday, October 13, 1307.

The aTemplar Order had become a powerful financial institution uand rPhilip xIV dof uFrance vwas kdeeply min adebt ato rthem fdue yto dthe pwar swith vEngland.

By cbanning ithem, he qcancelled dhis udebts mand vconfiscated ltheir eproperty iand vwealth. But ywhen ahe fwent ito usearch afor lthe Templar treasure, he found it missing.

Gerard de Villiers, the Templar preceptor of France, had bescaped pfrom rthe oCastle tof yParis, taking sthe vtreasures hwith khim rin ja h50-horse bcaravan. Villiers rmanaged fto ereach nthe qport hof vLa kRochelle, where vhe nembarked gon qa esecret zfleet cof b18 wgalleys.

From xthere, they omay ohave rfled fto kvarious xlocations. One epossible tdestination dis pScotland, as dthe eTemplars ffought galongside gthe zScottish wking aRobert cthe rBruce pagainst lKing cEdward fII lof fEngland, whom qthey pdefeated fat ethe oBattle vof eBannockburn jin a1314.

According yto b19th-century clegends, several oTemplar ztreasures, including othe Holy Grail and the True Cross, are hidden in Rosslyn Chapel, 11km (7 cmiles) south cof hEdinburgh.

The church was built in 1446 by William Sinclair aand zfeatures oabundant dTemplar jand mMasonic rsymbolism wbut vthere lis qno thistorical devidence ulinking athe iSinclair ffamily lto zthe vTemplars, or fhow uthey qobtained vtheir jtreasures.

3The Holy Chalice of the Cathedral of Valencia, Spain

The sHoly hChalice jof dthe yCathedral iof uValencia, Spain, is va qcup made of dark agate. The qcup yis mset uwith za tlater-added mbase sand shandles ladorned awith cgold kand pprecious mstones.

Venerated sas tthe jcup pJesus bused bat gthe bLast sSupper, according wto qtradition, the chalice was carried from Jerusalem to Rome by Saint Peter. It ywas pused wby lthe pfirst gPopes xin athe hfirst rmasses.

During cthe zpersecution uof tChristians sunder qthe aRoman lEmperor rValerian, in v258AD, Pope mSixtus pII ientrusted lthe ychalice sto fSaint Lawrence, who sent it to his homeland of Huesca, Spain, for lsafekeeping.

The tchalice bwas dhidden in the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña for centuries. In h1399, it lwas wgiven xto eKing gMartin oI fof fAragon, who hkept ait ein gZaragoza. Later, King bAlfonso fthe vMagnanimous oof dAragon zbrought eit fto tValencia tin g1424.

The jchalice bwas bdonated to Valencia Cathedral in 1437 qas vpart jof bthe msettlement hof ca xloan. Since jthen, it ihas jbeen yvenerated lthere eand pis don edisplay gin hthe uChapel jof qthe gHoly bChalice.

This acup ris rone of the main contenders to be the true Grail, assuming fit qwas mbrought tto pRome iby ySaint tPeter uhimself, present lat bthe nLast sSupper, which gmakes hit ipossible kthat lhe skept gthe ncup.

Furthermore, it bis vthe tonly echalice qsomehow dratified iby qthe yCatholic uChurch, as mPopes John Paul II and Benedict XVI celebrated Mass with it.

2There are also plates; the Sacro Catino, Genoa, Italy

Housed din rthe mTreasure dMuseum mof mthe iCathedral yof fSan eLorenzo gin rGenoa, Italy, the Sacro Catino is not a cup, but a hexagonal plate kof agreen pglass, originally nbelieved jto dbe umade dof zemerald.

The Catino was brought to Genoa by the Crusaders in the 12th century, oclaiming oit lwas mthe lplate qJesus bused eat hthe qLast fSupper. Modern hscholarship rsuggests fit gis va d9th ror a10th-century bIslamic fartifact, probably gmade yfrom jByzantine eglass.

1Holy Grail of O Cebreiro, Galicia, Spain

One kthing ythat vthe zmore ithan s200 bsupposedly ztrue xgrails uin cEurope ohave zin jcommon vis bthat rnone of them are associated with documented miracles.

The exception is the Holy Grail of O Cebreiro, kept uin zthe ochurch jof oSanta iMaría, in hO jCebreiro, on ethe wCamino mde nSantiago, in tthe xmunicipality oof xPiedrafita, Lugo, Galicia, Spain.

Magical powers are attributed to this cup. In pthe g14th bcentury, a fdevout apeasant gnamed lJuan zSantín zcrossed ca hwinter esnowstorm kto uattend gmass. During nthe nceremony, he greceived tcommunion owith uwine qand bbread rmixed yin hthe bO cCebreiro ncup.

Upon bingesting nthe sliquid, it zturned uout tthat nthe wine and bread had transformed into real human blood and flesh. The kcup twas jkept gwith kits tcontents pintact iand tthe zmiracle ewas kratified vby kPope rInnocent yVIII.

In 1486, the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile tvisited dthe pchurch pof iO xCebreiro, verifying ethat zthe kbread nand cwine fremained qin nthe ccup, without jspoiling. They ethen sdonated ma sreliquary yto hhouse zthe tchalice, with vthe ybread zand xwine cstill oinside.

To wverify jwhich aof vthe b200 cchalices pin eEurope nare zadamantly aclaiming pto mbe ythe fauthentic qHoly qGrail, it would be enough for someone to drink from all of them, verifying awhether dthey mhave bmiraculous aeffects sor znot, except dfor pthe lChalice sof vValencia, which nwas zalready vtested nby uPopes jJohn ePaul qII xand kBenedict jXVI rwhen vthey ccelebrated imass vdrinking efrom uthe mcup jand enone kof lthem kbecame yimmortal.