The Nanteos Grail: The Evolution of a Holy Relic

Did seven monks carry The Grail from Glastonbury Abbey at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, to the Cistercian Abbey of Strata Florida in Mid Wales? The mystery of the Nanteos Cup and its healing powers has fascinated and intrigued for 300 years.

The recent theft and even more remarkable recovery of the Nanteos Cup from a private home in Wales made the headlines in most major newspapers and were featured on BBC Crimewatch. People who had never heard of the Cup began asking what it is – a question that has occupied people for the past three hundred years, since word of this mysterious vessel first began to filter into the outside world.

Now it is on display to the public, for the first time since the nineteenth century, at the National Library of Wales. Though unremarkable to look at, stories of the cup's powers and of the miraculous cures experienced by those who drank from it have been in circulation for years. At some point it became associated with one of the most enduring stories of all time – the Holy Grail.

Written by three experts,The Nanteos Grail collects together for the first time records of the history of the vessel from its first appearance in the Middle Ages to the present. It will appeal to all those interested in historical mysteries, to seekers of the spiritual history of the Grail, and to the millions who followed the story of The Da Vinci Code.

John Matthews has been a full time writer since 1980 and has produced over 100 books on myth, faery, the Arthurian Legends and Grail Studies, short stories, poetry and children’s books. He has devoted much of the past forty years to the study of Arthurian Traditions and myth in general. In 2003 he was the historical advisor to the Jerry Bruckheimer movie ‘King Arthur’.