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Pan-Brittonic Hagiography and the Arthurian Grail Cycle
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 July 2016
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St. Joseph of Arimathea, acclaimed by the monastery of Glastonbury as the apostolic evangelist of Britain, gained this accolade through the Arthurian Grail romances, and most particularly, the Estoire del Saint Graal. Heretofore, the majority of those favoring the Christian origin of the Grail legend have plumbed the Bible, the apocrypha, and the Christian exegetical tradition in search of source elements of the Grail's history. Their research has been concentrated on the mystery of the Grail itself, or the pre-Britain adventures of Joseph and his followers. Some others have investigated various aspects of Celtic Christianity, particularly the assimilation of Celtic legends and narrative materials regarding Bran, son of Llŷr, into Christian tradition, as the genesis of Joseph's activities in Britain. This euhemerization of pagan folklore was a natural consequence of the pattern of Christianization established during the apostolic era, which attempted to build the new religion on the foundations of the old, retaining and adapting heathen practices which were consonant with Christianity. A few, notably Roger Loomis, studied the impact of these euhemerized legends on the Grail history, pursuing the mutations of the myths through oral transmission, in accordance with the process outlined by the noted Bollandist, Père Hippolyte Delehaye. Still others correlated the religious elements of the entire Joseph/Grail saga with the history and characteristics of the Celtic Church in Wales, with strong overtones of heterodoxy.
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References
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68 Acts 1. 15–26, relates that Joseph called Barsabbas and Matthias, as members of Christ's immediate following during His earthly ministry, were candidates for the apostolic vacancy left by Judas' suicide. They drew lots and Matthias won. Homonymic confusion could account for Joseph of Arimathea's inclusion in this Christian elite. The Gospel of Nicodemus (James, Montague R., ed., The Apocryphal New Testament [Oxford 1924] 94–115), written no earlier than the fourth century, is considered the Ursprung of the legendary account of Joseph, as it closely affiliates him with the resurrected Savior. An amplified version of the Gospel of Nicodemus is found in the Story of Joseph of Arimathea, contained in a twelfth-century manuscript (ibid. 161–5).Google Scholar
69 In the sermon In Die Parasceves, attributed to St. Ambrose, (Acta Sanctorum, March I 503), Joseph is called the alter Joseph ab Arimathea, who guarded Christ's body after the Crucifixion, just as Joseph of Nazareth had protected Christ during His lifetime on earth. For the extensive treatment of Joseph of Arimathea in exegetical tradition, see Honorius Augustodunensis' Gemma animae (PL 72. 543–738); also refer to n. 2 of this study.Google Scholar
70 In the Transitus Mariae, a thirteenth-century Italian composition (James, , op. cit. 216–8), Joseph is depicted as one of the group of disciples present at the death and assumption of the Blessed Virgin, the colophon stating that he was charged with the responsibility of watching over the Savior's mother both before the Ascension and after it.Google Scholar
71 Among the numerous continuations of the Gospel of Nicodemus account of Joseph are the Cura Sanitatis Tiberii (ibid. 158–9) and the Vindicta Salvatoris (ibid. 159–61), both stressing Joseph's bearing heroic witness to the Christian belief. For the best known version of the Vindicta, see Cap. 67 of St. James the Less, related in de Voragine, Jacobus, The Golden Legend, trans. Ryan, Granger and Ripperberger, Helmut (New York 1941) 38 ff. The Georgian legend of Lydda, found in an eighth-century manuscript, credits Joseph, as a fellow missioner with Philip, with an apostolic mission to Lydda, in Wesselofsky, op. cit. 325–32. Cf. Imbs, Paul, ‘Enygeus,’ BBSIA 6 (1954) 69–71.Google Scholar
72 Joseph's collection and guardianship of the Precious Blood, a portion of which was transmitted to England in 1247, is recounted by Paris, Matthew, Chronica Majora, ed. Luard, Henry Richards, Rolls Series 57 (London 1882) 138–44. Joseph is also prominently featured in the legends surrounding the Precious Blood relics at Bruges and Féscamp (Waite, , The Hidden Church of the Holy Grail, 33 and 35). For a further development of the Féscamp legend, see Weston, Jessie, op. cit. 55–62. Similarly, the Legend of the Holy Blood of Hayles, written to support the Abbey of Hayle's claim to the Precious Blood, draws heavily on the apocryphal accounts of Joseph, although Joseph is only referred to as a pious Jew. Horstmann, Carl, Altenglische Legenden (Heilbronn 1881) 276, notes: ‘Dieser Jude ist Joseph v. Arimathea, dessen Namen der Dichter verschweigt.’ Google Scholar
73 Several scholars aver that, owing to the popularity of this work in England, Joseph became a familiar legendary figure, and was accordingly selected to be the Apostle of Britain by the French writers. See Wülcker, Richard, Das Evangelium Nicodemi in der abendländischen Literatur (Paderborn 1872) 69 ff; Kapp, Rudolf, Heilige und Heiligenlegenden in England (Halle/Saale 1932) 265–6; Weston, Jessie, op. cit. 59.Google Scholar
74 The authoritative study on the Glastonbury legends is Armitage Robinson, J., Two Glastonbury Legends: King Arthur and Joseph of Arimathea (Cambridge 1926). Consult also Treharne, R. J., The Glastonbury Legends (London 1967).Google Scholar
75 For the official version of the abbey legend, see John of Glastonbury, op. cit. 48 ff.Google Scholar
76 Horstmann, , Nova Legenda Angliae 1.324–5.Google Scholar
77 Bromwich, Rachel, op. cit. 51 n. 3 states that the Triad Tri Santeidd Linys or Tair Gwelygord Saint, ‘Three Saintly Stocks’ occurs in several fifteenth- and sixteenth-century manuscripts. While all versions contain the families of Brychan and Cunedda, the third family, Caw of Prydain, has been replaced in MS Peniarth 50 by the family of Joseph of Arimathea.Google Scholar