The Nanteos Grail : The Evolution of a Holy Relic

The theft of the Nanteos Cup from a private home in Wales in 2015 – and its even more remarkable recovery two years later – made the headlines in most major newspapers and 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 out to the 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 and to seekers of the spiritual history of the Grail.