CHALICE OF MAGDALENE

'The Search for The Cup That Held the Blood of Christ' is the sub-title of this historical mystery surrounding the popular Arthurian stories of the Middle Ages. They depicted the Holy Grail as Christ's cup from the Last Supper, which was believed to have been endowed with miraculous healing powers and the ability to give eternal life to whomever drank from it. An earlier tradition however claimed the Grail was the vessel used by Mary Magdalene to collect Christ's blood when he appeared to her after rising from the tomb. From Jesus's empty tomb where it remained for almost 400 years, this holy relic known as the Marian Chalice was taken to Rome by the mother of the first Christian emperor Constantine the Great. It was then smuggled from Rome in AD410, according to the 5th century historian Olympiodorous, to save it from the barbarians who sacked the city. Well into the Middle Ages legend persisted that it had been taken to safety in Britain, the last outpost of Roman civilisation in Western Europe. This journey to England, and what happened to the Chalice there, is the focus of Phillips's book. His research uncovers the secret legacy of an ancient noble family, and a trail of clues hidden in the English countryside that led to a mysterious grotto, a forgotten attic, and the lost chalice. 243pp in well illustrated softback reprint of the 1996 and revised 2004 edition.