Kings of the Grail

June 8, 2015
Stand down, Indiana Jones: these two historians say the holy grail has been discovered. Sevilla, professor of medieval history at the University of León, and del Rio, an art historian, bring their scholarship to the quest for the chalice used at Jesus’s last supper. The grail is no crude object of wood or clay, but an agate cup, embellished with precious metals and stones; and it resides in León, Spain—or so say these Spanish historians. The story the authors tell—with parchment documents from Egypt, Muslim visionaries, and Spanish royalty—is a ride rich in historical detail, beginning with the last supper itself. The suggestion that the cup brokered peace between Muslims and Christians lends a poignant element to the journey through Moorish Spain, finally landing in the Basilica of San Isidoro. Tantalizing aspects of the legends, from the grail’s maiden guards to beliefs in its healing power, also have a place in this intriguing story. Whether or not readers agree with the authors’ conclusions, this speculative voyage is certainly enjoyable.

May 15, 2015
An academic expose on the famed cup of Christ. Torres Sevilla (Medieval History/Univ. of Leon) and Ortega del Rio claim to have proven the identity of the true grail, the cup with which Jesus Christ and his Apostles shared wine at the Last Supper. This highly sought-after relic has captured the imaginations of Christians for nearly two millennia, spawning a wealth of art, literature, and, in recent decades, film. Though the authors couch their findings in the fanfare befitting such a unique artifact, in reality, the story of the grail is rather bland. If the authors are correct, then the grail spent its first millennium in Jerusalem and its second in Spain, only occasionally coming out of the shadows. The authors begin with an unreasonably lengthy introduction to early Christianity before finally noting, "We have to wait until 400 CE to find the first direct reference [to the chalice]." Readers are left to wonder what, aside from tradition, points to this particular cup as being the genuine grail. The authors appear to accept this on faith, and they take up the story from there: "The Cup physically resided in the Holy Sepulchre from the fifth century, where it would remain until the eleventh century." The authors then move on to a dizzying examination of Muslim dynasties that both threatened and trumpeted the grail, until it was given as a gift to the Emir of Denia, in southeastern Spain, who eventually presented it to the King of Leon in the 1050s. It remains in Leon to this day. A shard cut off the cup and used by Saladin as a curative for his daughter provides one of the few other twists to this tale. A detailed description of the cup, now bedecked with an outer chalice of gold and jewels, and a refutation of other contenders for the title of the true grail, round out the book. An occasionally long-winded but intriguing glimpse at one of Christianity's great treasures.

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