Camelot,+Excalibur+and+the+Holy+Grail

**Camelot, Excalibur and Holy Grail** **Camelot** [|(Camelot Project, University of Rochester)] [|(The Legends of Camelot)] [|(John F. Kennedy and Camelot)]
 * Although Camelot was the center of King Arthur’s realm in the legend, in many medieval texts Arthur holds court at Carleon or some other city.
 * Camelot was first mentioned in line 34 of Chretien de Troyes’s Lancelot.
 *  Since Camelot was a legendary place, it’s hard to identify its location. Thomas Malory guessed that it was located in Winchester while John Leland guessed that is was located in Cadbury Castle.
 * Sometimes “Camelot” was used to represent an ideal place.
 * President John F. Kennedy’s tenure called “Camelot” because Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy described his husband’s presidency as an American Camelot - a period of hope and optimism in U.S. history and the journalists accepted this idea.

media type="youtube" key="NzZEhKLGXWQ" width="425" height="350" align="center"

**Excalibur** [|(Excalibur)] [|(Excalibur)]
 * The Excalibur is a mythical sword of King Arthur, sometimes attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain.
 * Sometimes Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone (proof of Arthur's lineage) are said to be the same weapon, but in most versions they are considered separate.
 * The sword was associated with the Arthurian legend very early; in the Welsh, the sword was called Caledfwlch.
 * In surviving accounts of Arthur, there are two originally separate legends about the sword's origin.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The first is the "Sword in the Stone" legend, originally appearing in Robert de Boron's poem Merlin, in which Excalibur can only be drawn from the stone by Arthur, the rightful king.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The second comes from the later Post-Vulgate Suite du Merlin, which was taken up by Sir Thomas Malory. Here, Arthur receives Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake after breaking his first sword, called Caliburn, in a fight with King Pellinore. The Lady of the Lake calls the sword "Excalibur, that is as to say as Cut-steel," and Arthur takes it from a hand rising out of the lake.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 22px;">**Holy Grail** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">[|(The Quest for the Holy Grail)] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">[|(Britannia Biography of Holy Grail)] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">[|(The Quest for the Holy Grail)] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">[|(Britannia Biography of Holy Grail)] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">[|(The Quest for the Holy Grail)]
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">It first appeared in the poem “Perceval” by Chretien de Troyes (1180-90), and then in Christianized version by Robert de Boron (1190).
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach (c. 1170 – c. 1220) as well as an anonymous Cistercian author (c. 1200) both incorporated the legend of the grail with the stories of Arthur and the Round Table.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Holy Grail was a vessel used by Christ at the Last Supper.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">It received Christ’s blood at the crucifixion.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">It was given to Christ’s granduncle, St. Joseph of Arimathea.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">St. Joseph and several followers travelled to Britain later.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The grail was kept in a spectacular castle at Corbenic and guarded by a Fisher King who is a descendant of Joseph of Arimathea.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Centuries later, there was a prophecy that said the Grail would one day be discovered by the best knight in the Court of King Arthur. Therefore, a quest to find this holiest of relics began.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">King Arthur’s knights started the journey and when they arrived the castle the Fisher Kings was wounded. His recovery depended on the successful completion of the quest.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Galahad was the knight who had the purest and holiest purpose so he found the Holy Grail and died a holy death.