1 00:00:01,917 --> 00:00:03,167 [dramatic music] 2 00:00:03,292 --> 00:00:06,167 - Tonight, a treasure coveted 3 00:00:06,292 --> 00:00:09,458 by everyone from Roman emperors to Hitler. 4 00:00:09,583 --> 00:00:14,042 Even Indiana Jones tried to find it. 5 00:00:14,208 --> 00:00:16,958 - It could be the most precious sacred object 6 00:00:17,042 --> 00:00:18,500 in history. 7 00:00:18,667 --> 00:00:20,583 ♪ ♪ 8 00:00:20,708 --> 00:00:23,000 - It possesses miraculous healing powers. 9 00:00:23,167 --> 00:00:24,958 - The key to immortality, 10 00:00:25,042 --> 00:00:27,375 even supposedly resurrecting the dead. 11 00:00:27,500 --> 00:00:30,500 - If you could touch the Holy Grail, 12 00:00:30,625 --> 00:00:34,583 maybe you could possess the power that Jesus had. 13 00:00:34,708 --> 00:00:37,000 Fishburne: But where is this miraculous vessel? 14 00:00:37,125 --> 00:00:40,583 And is it even a cup at all? 15 00:00:40,708 --> 00:00:42,667 ♪ ♪ 16 00:00:42,792 --> 00:00:46,167 - I don't believe that it is the cup of the Last Supper 17 00:00:46,292 --> 00:00:47,958 that we should be seeking. 18 00:00:48,083 --> 00:00:50,500 - Is it possible it's not the cup of Christ, 19 00:00:50,625 --> 00:00:54,500 but it's something completely different? 20 00:00:54,625 --> 00:00:56,917 Fishburne: Now we uncover the top theories 21 00:00:57,042 --> 00:00:59,750 surrounding the world's most sought-after relic. 22 00:00:59,875 --> 00:01:04,208 - A stone of the purest kind, a stone with endless powers. 23 00:01:04,333 --> 00:01:05,583 - It's not an object. 24 00:01:05,708 --> 00:01:07,500 It's something else more ephemeral. 25 00:01:07,625 --> 00:01:09,500 It's royal blood. 26 00:01:09,625 --> 00:01:12,333 Fishburne: What is the Holy Grail? 27 00:01:12,458 --> 00:01:16,333 And if it exists, can it ever be found? 28 00:01:16,458 --> 00:01:23,375 ♪ ♪ 29 00:01:32,042 --> 00:01:34,667 [soft music] 30 00:01:34,792 --> 00:01:37,917 England, 1995. 31 00:01:38,042 --> 00:01:40,000 ♪ ♪ 32 00:01:40,125 --> 00:01:42,500 After years of intense investigation, 33 00:01:42,625 --> 00:01:43,667 British researcher, 34 00:01:43,833 --> 00:01:45,792 Graham Phillips, believes he knows the answer 35 00:01:45,875 --> 00:01:50,458 to a mystery that's long fascinated the world. 36 00:01:50,583 --> 00:01:53,250 - I found something really astonishing, 37 00:01:53,375 --> 00:01:57,000 the last known whereabouts of the Holy Grail. 38 00:01:57,125 --> 00:01:59,750 What we're talking about is an actual relic. 39 00:01:59,875 --> 00:02:02,375 Fishburne: Phillips is convinced his discovery 40 00:02:02,542 --> 00:02:05,125 upends 2,000 years of speculation 41 00:02:05,208 --> 00:02:07,333 about the Holy Grail... 42 00:02:07,417 --> 00:02:11,000 ♪ ♪ 43 00:02:11,083 --> 00:02:14,000 Speculation that began long ago 44 00:02:14,083 --> 00:02:17,708 in Jerusalem in 33 A.D. 45 00:02:17,875 --> 00:02:19,708 [tense music] 46 00:02:19,875 --> 00:02:21,917 In what is then Judea, 47 00:02:22,042 --> 00:02:24,458 part of the all-powerful Roman Empire, 48 00:02:24,583 --> 00:02:27,792 Jesus of Nazareth gathers his followers 49 00:02:27,875 --> 00:02:30,333 for the Last Supper. 50 00:02:30,458 --> 00:02:33,167 - Most scholars, including atheists, 51 00:02:33,333 --> 00:02:35,625 believe that Jesus was a real person, 52 00:02:35,750 --> 00:02:38,542 and they believe he was executed by the Romans. 53 00:02:38,667 --> 00:02:44,042 And the story of Jesus having a Last Supper, 54 00:02:44,167 --> 00:02:48,083 that is pretty much accepted to be authentic. 55 00:02:48,208 --> 00:02:50,292 At the center of the Last Supper is a cup. 56 00:02:50,375 --> 00:02:53,792 In fact, it's the only object that's mentioned in the Bible. 57 00:02:53,917 --> 00:02:55,417 ♪ ♪ 58 00:02:55,542 --> 00:02:58,125 Fishburne: The cup Jesus uses during that meal 59 00:02:58,250 --> 00:03:01,833 will come to be known as the Holy Grail. 60 00:03:01,958 --> 00:03:04,250 ♪ ♪ 61 00:03:04,375 --> 00:03:05,667 - Jesus drinks from it 62 00:03:05,750 --> 00:03:07,500 and passes it around to his disciples. 63 00:03:07,583 --> 00:03:10,292 And he says, "This is the last time we will drink together 64 00:03:10,375 --> 00:03:12,375 before we see each other in heaven." 65 00:03:12,500 --> 00:03:16,000 And what has intrigued people, believers and nonbelievers, 66 00:03:16,083 --> 00:03:19,542 for centuries is the origin of that cup 67 00:03:19,667 --> 00:03:21,833 and what happened to it, where it ends up. 68 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:23,458 ♪ ♪ 69 00:03:23,583 --> 00:03:24,875 Fishburne: After his death, 70 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,458 Jesus' followers spread his teachings abroad. 71 00:03:28,542 --> 00:03:32,125 By 62 A.D., disciples Peter and Paul 72 00:03:32,208 --> 00:03:34,833 are allegedly preaching in Rome. 73 00:03:34,958 --> 00:03:38,667 And according to one theory, the Grail is with them. 74 00:03:38,750 --> 00:03:42,167 [dramatic music] 75 00:03:42,292 --> 00:03:44,792 - If you have a religion that's based on an individual, 76 00:03:44,875 --> 00:03:49,583 on Jesus, and he's gone, how do you convince people 77 00:03:49,708 --> 00:03:52,042 to join up with this new religion? 78 00:03:52,167 --> 00:03:55,250 You have to prove it to them. You have to convince them. 79 00:03:55,375 --> 00:03:58,667 And how do you do that? You show them evidence. 80 00:03:58,792 --> 00:04:02,500 And this evidence comes in the form of relics. 81 00:04:02,625 --> 00:04:04,875 ♪ ♪ 82 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,792 - If you want something that Jesus has touched 83 00:04:07,875 --> 00:04:12,417 to cultivate a sense of loyalty to the church, 84 00:04:12,542 --> 00:04:14,750 that cup is a really good candidate. 85 00:04:14,875 --> 00:04:18,458 ♪ ♪ 86 00:04:18,542 --> 00:04:21,958 Fishburne: But in 64 A.D. when the great fire of Rome 87 00:04:22,083 --> 00:04:23,875 destroys 2/3 of the city, 88 00:04:24,042 --> 00:04:28,000 emperor Nero blames the disaster on Christians. 89 00:04:28,125 --> 00:04:29,625 He crucifies Peter, 90 00:04:29,708 --> 00:04:34,292 the new movement's leader and its first pope. 91 00:04:34,417 --> 00:04:36,500 Despite continuing persecution, 92 00:04:36,667 --> 00:04:39,292 a line of popes replace Peter, 93 00:04:39,375 --> 00:04:43,958 an unbroken succession for nearly 200 years. 94 00:04:44,042 --> 00:04:48,500 These men hold many secrets, among them the whereabouts 95 00:04:48,625 --> 00:04:51,375 of holy relics including the Grail. 96 00:04:51,500 --> 00:04:53,625 - So we have this tradition about a cup 97 00:04:53,708 --> 00:04:57,292 that people revered as the Holy Grail. 98 00:04:57,375 --> 00:05:00,000 - And if you could touch the Holy Grail, 99 00:05:00,083 --> 00:05:03,792 maybe you could possess the power that Jesus had 100 00:05:03,917 --> 00:05:07,167 like healing powers, resurrections, what have you. 101 00:05:07,250 --> 00:05:09,500 The church continues to grow in power, 102 00:05:09,625 --> 00:05:11,333 and membership, and influence, 103 00:05:11,417 --> 00:05:15,000 and these objects are certainly contributing 104 00:05:15,125 --> 00:05:17,875 to that mission. 105 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,542 Fishburne: Then in 258 A.D., 106 00:05:21,708 --> 00:05:24,625 Roman emperor Valerian tries 107 00:05:24,750 --> 00:05:27,375 to destroy the Christian movement. 108 00:05:27,500 --> 00:05:30,167 - Valerian orders the execution of anyone 109 00:05:30,250 --> 00:05:33,500 who doesn't worship the Roman gods. 110 00:05:33,667 --> 00:05:37,875 Valerian's first execution of a Christian 111 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,833 is Pope Sixtus II, who happens to be, 112 00:05:41,958 --> 00:05:46,167 according to tradition, the keeper of the Holy Grail. 113 00:05:46,292 --> 00:05:48,542 ♪ ♪ 114 00:05:48,667 --> 00:05:50,000 Fishburne: Before he's killed, 115 00:05:50,125 --> 00:05:52,708 Sixtus entrusts the treasures of the church 116 00:05:52,833 --> 00:05:56,458 to one of his deacons, Laurence. 117 00:05:56,542 --> 00:05:58,583 - And to keep them from being captured, 118 00:05:58,708 --> 00:06:03,000 St. Laurence actually hands them out. 119 00:06:03,125 --> 00:06:05,708 The problem is now you've got all of these sacred objects 120 00:06:05,833 --> 00:06:07,667 spread out all over the place, 121 00:06:07,750 --> 00:06:09,208 and it's gonna be very difficult 122 00:06:09,333 --> 00:06:11,458 to get them all back. 123 00:06:11,583 --> 00:06:16,292 Whether or not you accept the idea of a Holy Grail 124 00:06:16,417 --> 00:06:19,500 beginning a journey from Jerusalem to Rome, 125 00:06:19,625 --> 00:06:24,833 what we can all agree on is now it's lost. 126 00:06:24,958 --> 00:06:27,708 - There's this object that was regarded 127 00:06:27,875 --> 00:06:31,500 as having incredible power, but it got forgotten. 128 00:06:31,583 --> 00:06:35,083 Fishburne: But it won't be forgotten forever. 129 00:06:35,208 --> 00:06:36,792 - The cup turns up again, 130 00:06:36,875 --> 00:06:42,125 and this time we have an actual date, December 14th, 1134. 131 00:06:42,208 --> 00:06:44,583 Fishburne: At the monastery of San Juan de la Peña 132 00:06:44,708 --> 00:06:46,375 in Northeast Spain, 133 00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:49,500 a monk named Don Carreras Ramirez 134 00:06:49,625 --> 00:06:51,750 is taking inventory. 135 00:06:51,875 --> 00:06:56,833 - And on his list, he writes that he has a chalice 136 00:06:56,917 --> 00:07:03,000 in which Christ our Lord consigned his blood. 137 00:07:03,167 --> 00:07:05,458 So if you believe the lore, 138 00:07:05,583 --> 00:07:08,333 the Holy Grail is back on the map. 139 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:10,208 ♪ ♪ 140 00:07:10,333 --> 00:07:11,667 - It's unclear who brings it to Spain, 141 00:07:11,750 --> 00:07:13,792 but the best part of this is from 1134 142 00:07:13,875 --> 00:07:15,833 when Don Ramirez writes his list, 143 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,167 we know exactly what happens to the cup. 144 00:07:18,250 --> 00:07:21,083 The Grail is mentioned again in 1399 145 00:07:21,208 --> 00:07:25,333 when King Martin I of Aragon acquires it from the monastery. 146 00:07:25,500 --> 00:07:28,500 After his death, King Alfonso V of Aragon 147 00:07:28,625 --> 00:07:30,833 brings the cup to Valencia. 148 00:07:30,958 --> 00:07:35,458 ♪ ♪ 149 00:07:35,542 --> 00:07:38,500 Fishburne: This cup is made of red agate, 150 00:07:38,625 --> 00:07:40,625 3.5 inches across. 151 00:07:40,750 --> 00:07:43,083 Its base has two curved handles 152 00:07:43,208 --> 00:07:45,083 and a knobbed stem, 153 00:07:45,208 --> 00:07:47,708 both thought to be more recent additions. 154 00:07:47,833 --> 00:07:50,917 - But the main part of the cup, the central part, 155 00:07:51,042 --> 00:07:53,000 is the simple kind of cup 156 00:07:53,125 --> 00:07:57,583 that may have been present at the Last Supper. 157 00:07:57,708 --> 00:08:00,542 Fishburne: Researchers agree the stone likely comes 158 00:08:00,708 --> 00:08:03,542 from a Palestinian or Egyptian workshop 159 00:08:03,667 --> 00:08:06,333 sometime between the fourth century B.C. 160 00:08:06,458 --> 00:08:08,833 and the first century A.D. 161 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:10,625 ♪ ♪ 162 00:08:10,708 --> 00:08:13,792 - The region is correct. The timeline is correct. 163 00:08:13,917 --> 00:08:16,083 The documentary evidence is there 164 00:08:16,208 --> 00:08:18,500 with a nearly complete chain of custody. 165 00:08:18,667 --> 00:08:20,833 If the cup of Christ still exists, 166 00:08:20,958 --> 00:08:24,042 there's a very good argument that this is it. 167 00:08:24,167 --> 00:08:27,500 Fishburne: Currently held in the cathedral of Valencia, 168 00:08:27,625 --> 00:08:29,750 the cup has even been sanctified 169 00:08:29,875 --> 00:08:32,875 by the highest authorities of the Catholic Church. 170 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,625 According to them, this cup is the Grail. 171 00:08:36,708 --> 00:08:39,833 - It's been used by several Popes to celebrate mass, 172 00:08:39,917 --> 00:08:43,083 which makes a lot of sense in Christian theory 173 00:08:43,208 --> 00:08:45,917 because holy communion comes from the idea 174 00:08:46,042 --> 00:08:48,833 of the Last Supper in the gospels. 175 00:08:48,958 --> 00:08:51,042 - Pope John Paul II certainly believed 176 00:08:51,167 --> 00:08:52,458 it was the cup of Christ. 177 00:08:52,542 --> 00:08:57,250 He actually called it a witness to Christ's passage on Earth. 178 00:08:57,375 --> 00:09:01,917 And he and Pope Benedict XVI refer to the cup in Latin 179 00:09:02,042 --> 00:09:06,292 as hunc praeclarum calicem, this beautiful cup, 180 00:09:06,375 --> 00:09:08,500 the term that the early Popes used 181 00:09:08,667 --> 00:09:12,167 to refer to the Holy Grail. 182 00:09:12,292 --> 00:09:16,000 Fishburne: But not everyone believes it's the Grail. 183 00:09:16,125 --> 00:09:18,750 - Curiously, the Valencia cup and other cups 184 00:09:18,875 --> 00:09:21,375 like it have never been associated with any miracles. 185 00:09:21,500 --> 00:09:24,875 Most of the top Christian relics have long histories 186 00:09:25,042 --> 00:09:27,333 of being associated with miraculous healings 187 00:09:27,500 --> 00:09:29,333 or other kinds of supernatural events. 188 00:09:29,458 --> 00:09:30,917 And you would think that this cup, 189 00:09:31,042 --> 00:09:33,958 which Jesus himself blessed, you'd think that this cup 190 00:09:34,042 --> 00:09:36,625 would have a list of miracles a mile long. 191 00:09:36,750 --> 00:09:38,875 Fishburne: If this alleged cup of Christ 192 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,000 lacks the power most expect, 193 00:09:41,083 --> 00:09:43,500 could the Grail be something else entirely? 194 00:09:43,625 --> 00:09:48,833 ♪ ♪ 195 00:09:48,958 --> 00:09:50,750 [dramatic music] 196 00:09:50,875 --> 00:09:53,708 Fishburne: According to many, including Pope John Paul II, 197 00:09:53,875 --> 00:09:57,750 this is the so-called Holy Grail, 198 00:09:57,875 --> 00:10:02,042 a cup used by Jesus during the Last Supper. 199 00:10:02,167 --> 00:10:03,833 But others have doubts. 200 00:10:03,958 --> 00:10:05,500 - In the ancient legends, 201 00:10:05,667 --> 00:10:08,500 the Grail possesses miraculous healing powers, 202 00:10:08,667 --> 00:10:11,792 even supposedly resurrecting the dead. 203 00:10:11,917 --> 00:10:15,375 - Now there are some who believe that the Holy Grail, 204 00:10:15,500 --> 00:10:19,542 this chalice, made its way to Valencia. 205 00:10:19,708 --> 00:10:21,292 We don't know. 206 00:10:21,375 --> 00:10:25,208 The chalice is supposed to possess power to do miracles, 207 00:10:25,333 --> 00:10:30,750 but we don't see that chalice doing many miracles today. 208 00:10:30,875 --> 00:10:32,750 Fishburne: If the cup in Valencia 209 00:10:32,875 --> 00:10:35,167 doesn't demonstrate such powers, 210 00:10:35,333 --> 00:10:37,750 could the Grail be something unexpected, 211 00:10:37,875 --> 00:10:39,958 something ancient and mysterious, 212 00:10:40,083 --> 00:10:44,667 and indeed separate from Jesus? 213 00:10:44,792 --> 00:10:48,375 - So stories about the Grail really predate Jesus' time. 214 00:10:48,542 --> 00:10:49,958 And this is what's interesting about it. 215 00:10:50,042 --> 00:10:53,083 So we find the story that there is a magical object 216 00:10:53,208 --> 00:10:56,250 of some kind that can bring healing and immortality. 217 00:10:56,375 --> 00:10:59,833 It's a precious, sacred object that belonged to the Celts. 218 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:01,583 There's no indication at all 219 00:11:01,708 --> 00:11:04,000 that they had anything like a sacred cup. 220 00:11:04,083 --> 00:11:08,000 They do have something else. They have sacred stones. 221 00:11:08,083 --> 00:11:13,958 ♪ ♪ 222 00:11:14,083 --> 00:11:16,125 Fishburne: The Celtic civilization begins 223 00:11:16,208 --> 00:11:18,583 as early as 1200 B.C. 224 00:11:18,708 --> 00:11:20,833 and spreads to an area spanning England, 225 00:11:20,958 --> 00:11:23,333 Ireland, and most of central Europe. 226 00:11:23,458 --> 00:11:25,958 ♪ ♪ 227 00:11:26,083 --> 00:11:28,667 Their spiritual leaders are powerful mystics 228 00:11:28,792 --> 00:11:31,042 called druids. 229 00:11:31,208 --> 00:11:34,542 - The druids are the most respected of the classes 230 00:11:34,667 --> 00:11:36,667 in Celtic society. 231 00:11:36,792 --> 00:11:38,333 They're religious specialists. 232 00:11:38,458 --> 00:11:42,000 They believe, supposedly, in the immortality of the soul. 233 00:11:42,125 --> 00:11:45,458 And they're practitioners of healing arts. 234 00:11:45,542 --> 00:11:47,750 ♪ ♪ 235 00:11:47,875 --> 00:11:51,917 The Roman authors who write about them are cowed by them. 236 00:11:52,042 --> 00:11:53,250 They're really impressed by them. 237 00:11:53,375 --> 00:11:55,042 They don't know what's going on with the druids. 238 00:11:55,167 --> 00:11:56,917 They're a little bit frightened, I think, of them 239 00:11:57,042 --> 00:11:59,333 because they know that the druids do these secret rites 240 00:11:59,458 --> 00:12:00,958 that are out there in the woods. 241 00:12:01,042 --> 00:12:03,250 This is one of the most un-Roman ways 242 00:12:03,375 --> 00:12:05,333 of being religious that they could think of. 243 00:12:05,417 --> 00:12:08,625 ♪ ♪ 244 00:12:08,708 --> 00:12:10,000 Fishburne: Could the Holy Grail 245 00:12:10,083 --> 00:12:13,000 be something entirely unexpected, 246 00:12:13,125 --> 00:12:18,083 not a cup but a sacred stone? 247 00:12:18,208 --> 00:12:20,000 ♪ ♪ 248 00:12:20,125 --> 00:12:22,208 - So for the people who espoused 249 00:12:22,333 --> 00:12:23,667 this particular theory, 250 00:12:23,792 --> 00:12:26,833 the story of the Grail stone comes directly 251 00:12:26,958 --> 00:12:31,208 from these Celtic druidic traditions of sacred stones. 252 00:12:31,333 --> 00:12:33,750 So it's clear that there's a pre-Christian tradition 253 00:12:33,875 --> 00:12:35,917 of some kind of a sacred stone. 254 00:12:36,042 --> 00:12:38,333 And once Christianity kind of grows and takes over, 255 00:12:38,458 --> 00:12:40,875 that story gets incorporated 256 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,542 into another story about Jesus' cup. 257 00:12:44,667 --> 00:12:48,375 Fishburne: A sacred stone infused with mysterious power 258 00:12:48,500 --> 00:12:50,000 by the Celtic druids. 259 00:12:50,083 --> 00:12:52,625 If this is the true Holy Grail, 260 00:12:52,708 --> 00:12:55,167 where did it go? 261 00:12:55,250 --> 00:12:59,000 ♪ ♪ 262 00:12:59,167 --> 00:13:01,792 - Now, Christians don't worship sacred stones. 263 00:13:01,917 --> 00:13:03,917 So after the Celts are conquered, 264 00:13:04,042 --> 00:13:05,875 there's no mention of this sort of thing 265 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,833 for about a thousand years. 266 00:13:08,958 --> 00:13:11,000 Fishburne: But the idea of the Grail stone 267 00:13:11,125 --> 00:13:14,833 and its mysterious powers doesn't entirely vanish. 268 00:13:14,917 --> 00:13:17,833 In the Middle Ages, it emerges once more, 269 00:13:17,917 --> 00:13:21,208 first in an unfinished 12th-century romance 270 00:13:21,375 --> 00:13:23,250 by Chretien de Troyes. 271 00:13:23,375 --> 00:13:27,583 A few decades later, it resurfaces again. 272 00:13:27,708 --> 00:13:33,208 - So it shows up in a 25,000-line long poem 273 00:13:33,333 --> 00:13:39,500 by a German poet knight called Wolfram von Eschenbach. 274 00:13:39,667 --> 00:13:42,125 - The poem is called "Parzival." 275 00:13:42,250 --> 00:13:46,625 He refers to the Grail stone as Lapis Exilis. 276 00:13:46,708 --> 00:13:48,333 - And just like in the ancient stories, 277 00:13:48,458 --> 00:13:52,750 this Lapis Exilis brings youth and immortality. 278 00:13:52,875 --> 00:13:55,000 He also says in the poem 279 00:13:55,083 --> 00:13:56,750 that the stone itself is so powerful 280 00:13:56,875 --> 00:13:58,750 that if you approach it and you're wounded 281 00:13:58,875 --> 00:14:01,458 or you're sick, you'll be healed, 282 00:14:01,583 --> 00:14:04,833 ♪ ♪ 283 00:14:04,958 --> 00:14:06,208 Fishburne: But "Parzival" does more 284 00:14:06,333 --> 00:14:09,292 than just name the Grail stone. 285 00:14:09,417 --> 00:14:11,583 - "Parzival" claims to know what happened 286 00:14:11,708 --> 00:14:14,250 to the Grail stone after all these years. 287 00:14:14,375 --> 00:14:16,375 Fishburne: And according to the text, 288 00:14:16,500 --> 00:14:20,000 this powerful relic may have ended up in the hands 289 00:14:20,125 --> 00:14:24,250 of one of history's most legendary orders, 290 00:14:24,375 --> 00:14:30,333 the Knights Templar. 291 00:14:30,458 --> 00:14:33,667 Fishburne: By the Middle Ages, there are multiple theories 292 00:14:33,792 --> 00:14:36,917 surrounding the mysterious Holy Grail. 293 00:14:37,042 --> 00:14:39,167 According to one, 294 00:14:39,292 --> 00:14:42,500 the Grail is an ancient and powerful stone 295 00:14:42,625 --> 00:14:45,458 once held by Celtic pagans. 296 00:14:45,583 --> 00:14:48,917 - So the theory goes that the stone was once 297 00:14:49,042 --> 00:14:52,667 a precious sacred object that belonged to the Celts. 298 00:14:52,792 --> 00:14:55,333 But once the Celts were Christianized, 299 00:14:55,500 --> 00:14:58,167 that stone falls into the hands of the Christians. 300 00:14:58,333 --> 00:15:00,750 Fishburne: From there, the trail is lost 301 00:15:00,875 --> 00:15:02,500 until the stone reappears 302 00:15:02,583 --> 00:15:05,583 in a 12th-century text called "Parzival." 303 00:15:05,708 --> 00:15:07,958 [dramatic music] 304 00:15:08,042 --> 00:15:10,125 - It is an epic poem that claims to know 305 00:15:10,208 --> 00:15:11,667 what happened to the Grail stone 306 00:15:11,833 --> 00:15:13,458 after all these years. 307 00:15:13,542 --> 00:15:16,708 Fishburne: Author Wolfram von Eschenbach 308 00:15:16,875 --> 00:15:19,792 traces the stone's incredible journey. 309 00:15:19,917 --> 00:15:21,083 - According to von Eschenbach, 310 00:15:21,208 --> 00:15:23,167 the Lapis Exilis, the Holy Grail, 311 00:15:23,292 --> 00:15:25,125 is captured by the Christians, 312 00:15:25,208 --> 00:15:27,125 it's taken to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, 313 00:15:27,208 --> 00:15:29,292 where it's guarded by the Knights Templar. 314 00:15:29,417 --> 00:15:32,458 ♪ ♪ 315 00:15:32,583 --> 00:15:35,833 - The Knights Templar are a Catholic military order 316 00:15:35,958 --> 00:15:38,000 operating under the command of the pope 317 00:15:38,125 --> 00:15:39,750 during the Crusades. 318 00:15:39,875 --> 00:15:41,125 - Their official name 319 00:15:41,250 --> 00:15:43,500 is the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ 320 00:15:43,625 --> 00:15:45,167 and of the Temple of Solomon. 321 00:15:45,333 --> 00:15:47,125 But don't let that name fool you. 322 00:15:47,250 --> 00:15:49,833 The Templar Knights become the wealthiest, most famous, 323 00:15:49,917 --> 00:15:51,167 and most powerful fighting force 324 00:15:51,333 --> 00:15:54,000 that the church has ever had. 325 00:15:54,083 --> 00:15:55,500 It doesn't matter how many soldiers 326 00:15:55,625 --> 00:15:56,917 are in the opposing army, 327 00:15:57,042 --> 00:15:58,292 the Templar Knights' reputation 328 00:15:58,375 --> 00:16:00,167 and their execution of their reputation 329 00:16:00,292 --> 00:16:03,208 is so fearsome that when they're captured, for example, 330 00:16:03,375 --> 00:16:05,667 the other side rarely ransoms them. 331 00:16:05,750 --> 00:16:08,667 They execute them. They're that afraid of them. 332 00:16:08,833 --> 00:16:12,458 Because of this reputation, the popes give them wide reign 333 00:16:12,542 --> 00:16:14,667 to conduct their business the way they want to 334 00:16:14,833 --> 00:16:16,833 in order to execute their job. 335 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,167 Pope Innocent II gives them the responsibility 336 00:16:20,250 --> 00:16:22,167 of policing pilgrim routes in the Holy Land 337 00:16:22,250 --> 00:16:24,833 to keep pilgrims and other Christians safe. 338 00:16:24,958 --> 00:16:27,167 ♪ ♪ 339 00:16:27,292 --> 00:16:29,042 Fishburne: The Templars set their headquarters 340 00:16:29,208 --> 00:16:35,208 on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the source of their name. 341 00:16:35,375 --> 00:16:38,083 - This is where the famed King Solomon built his temple 342 00:16:38,208 --> 00:16:41,167 nearly 2,000 years before the Crusades. 343 00:16:41,292 --> 00:16:43,125 But the Templars get a lot more than a name 344 00:16:43,208 --> 00:16:44,833 from being in that location. 345 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,042 It's a seat of power and prestige. 346 00:16:48,167 --> 00:16:50,750 It is reputed to be a seat of wealth, 347 00:16:50,875 --> 00:16:53,542 and Christian treasures are supposedly stored there, 348 00:16:53,667 --> 00:16:57,000 including, according to the story, the Grail stone. 349 00:16:57,167 --> 00:16:59,208 Membership in the Templars eventually rises 350 00:16:59,375 --> 00:17:01,875 to maybe around 20,000 people. 351 00:17:02,042 --> 00:17:05,250 They formed their own rudimentary bank system. 352 00:17:05,375 --> 00:17:08,292 They have hundreds of various buildings scattered 353 00:17:08,375 --> 00:17:09,750 throughout Europe, the Mediterranean, 354 00:17:09,875 --> 00:17:10,875 the Holy Land. 355 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:12,333 They could be considered 356 00:17:12,500 --> 00:17:15,417 to be the world's first multinational corporation. 357 00:17:15,542 --> 00:17:18,667 Fishburne: The Templars thrive for nearly two centuries, 358 00:17:18,792 --> 00:17:20,417 and von Eschenbach thinks 359 00:17:20,542 --> 00:17:23,500 he knows the secret to their success. 360 00:17:23,625 --> 00:17:26,875 - This isn't a coincidence according to von Eschenbach. 361 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:30,500 This is because of divine power. 362 00:17:30,625 --> 00:17:35,583 He says that the Templars live by a stone of the purest kind. 363 00:17:35,708 --> 00:17:37,333 - A stone with endless powers 364 00:17:37,458 --> 00:17:40,083 that they possess everlasting life, 365 00:17:40,208 --> 00:17:43,792 wisdom, wealth, the Grail stone. 366 00:17:43,875 --> 00:17:45,500 ♪ ♪ 367 00:17:45,625 --> 00:17:48,667 - Easy to think that von Eschenbach 368 00:17:48,792 --> 00:17:50,458 is making this whole thing up. 369 00:17:50,542 --> 00:17:53,125 And of course, there's a lot of creative license there, 370 00:17:53,250 --> 00:17:57,500 but he is probably working from a few facts. 371 00:17:57,667 --> 00:18:01,292 Most poets in the Middle Ages had a patron. 372 00:18:01,417 --> 00:18:03,333 And von Eschenbach's patron was a man 373 00:18:03,458 --> 00:18:04,958 by the name of Count Hermann. 374 00:18:05,042 --> 00:18:06,000 He was a German knight, 375 00:18:06,083 --> 00:18:07,875 and he had fought in the Crusades 376 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,417 alongside the Knights Templar. 377 00:18:10,542 --> 00:18:13,375 Fishburne: Von Eschenbach supplements Count Hermann's 378 00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:17,333 firsthand accounts with extensive research. 379 00:18:17,458 --> 00:18:19,833 - Wolfram also goes to a Morrish library 380 00:18:19,917 --> 00:18:22,333 in Toledo where he absorbs everything 381 00:18:22,500 --> 00:18:25,125 that he can about the Knights Templar. 382 00:18:25,250 --> 00:18:28,333 Wolfram is writing poetry, and he's creating fiction, 383 00:18:28,500 --> 00:18:30,042 but he also wants to ground it 384 00:18:30,167 --> 00:18:32,333 in some kind of historical reality. 385 00:18:32,458 --> 00:18:33,875 Fishburne: Unfortunately, 386 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,333 within a few decades of "Parzival," 387 00:18:36,500 --> 00:18:39,833 the trail of the stone goes cold. 388 00:18:39,958 --> 00:18:43,500 On Friday, October 13th, 1307, 389 00:18:43,667 --> 00:18:46,917 the Knights Templar are brutally disbanded. 390 00:18:47,042 --> 00:18:48,458 - The French King Philip IV, 391 00:18:48,583 --> 00:18:51,417 who's actually in significant debt to the Templars, 392 00:18:51,542 --> 00:18:54,792 forces Pope Clement V to remove their authority, 393 00:18:54,875 --> 00:18:56,708 to seize their assets. 394 00:18:56,833 --> 00:18:59,542 Some of them are executed rather brutally. 395 00:18:59,667 --> 00:19:03,083 Others are removed from the Order of the Temple 396 00:19:03,208 --> 00:19:05,375 and moved to other orders. 397 00:19:05,500 --> 00:19:07,167 Fishburne: And their great wealth, 398 00:19:07,250 --> 00:19:10,083 including perhaps the Grail stone, 399 00:19:10,208 --> 00:19:13,792 ultimately disappears. 400 00:19:13,917 --> 00:19:17,333 - If there was a Grail stone in the Templar's treasures, 401 00:19:17,500 --> 00:19:19,333 as Eschenbach says there was, 402 00:19:19,458 --> 00:19:21,167 it could have gone to the French kings, 403 00:19:21,292 --> 00:19:22,458 it could have gone to the Pope, 404 00:19:22,583 --> 00:19:25,000 but it wouldn't be clear where it had gone. 405 00:19:25,125 --> 00:19:27,750 - So the stone disappears, 406 00:19:27,875 --> 00:19:31,708 and the story of the stone Lapis Exilis, 407 00:19:31,833 --> 00:19:33,625 Holy Grail, also disappears. 408 00:19:33,708 --> 00:19:35,083 People stop reading it. 409 00:19:35,208 --> 00:19:38,000 And all that's left is this other tradition 410 00:19:38,083 --> 00:19:39,792 about the cup. 411 00:19:39,875 --> 00:19:42,000 ♪ ♪ 412 00:19:42,083 --> 00:19:43,375 - And in a way, that's too bad 413 00:19:43,542 --> 00:19:45,125 because who wouldn't rather find the stone? 414 00:19:45,208 --> 00:19:47,083 That's where all this power lies. 415 00:19:47,208 --> 00:19:50,208 Imagine the key to immortality just sitting 416 00:19:50,333 --> 00:19:53,125 in a storage room somewhere, or in a landfill, 417 00:19:53,208 --> 00:19:55,250 or who knows where, 418 00:19:55,375 --> 00:19:58,208 all thanks to a case of mistaken identity. 419 00:19:58,375 --> 00:20:01,917 Fishburne: Two theories, two different objects, 420 00:20:02,042 --> 00:20:04,583 but which one is the true Grail? 421 00:20:04,708 --> 00:20:07,000 - For 200 years, 422 00:20:07,083 --> 00:20:09,250 you have the cup, and you have the stone, 423 00:20:09,375 --> 00:20:11,125 and it basically stays that way. 424 00:20:11,250 --> 00:20:13,333 ♪ ♪ 425 00:20:13,417 --> 00:20:15,958 Fishburne: That is, until 1982, 426 00:20:16,083 --> 00:20:20,542 when a shocking new theory on the Grail appears. 427 00:20:20,708 --> 00:20:25,000 What if the Holy Grail isn't a physical object at all? 428 00:20:25,125 --> 00:20:30,625 ♪ ♪ 429 00:20:30,708 --> 00:20:33,667 - After 2,000 years of debate 430 00:20:33,750 --> 00:20:37,458 on what the Holy Grail is and where it could be, 431 00:20:37,583 --> 00:20:40,333 a new theory emerges in 1982, 432 00:20:40,458 --> 00:20:43,125 and it's a bombshell. 433 00:20:43,208 --> 00:20:45,333 A team of British researchers published 434 00:20:45,458 --> 00:20:47,042 the best-selling book, 435 00:20:47,208 --> 00:20:49,708 "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," 436 00:20:49,833 --> 00:20:52,375 which makes a bold claim, 437 00:20:52,542 --> 00:20:56,750 the Holy Grail isn't an object at all. 438 00:20:56,875 --> 00:21:00,083 The author's theory dates back to the Middle Ages, 439 00:21:00,208 --> 00:21:03,875 and it begins with a word. 440 00:21:04,042 --> 00:21:07,208 When medieval manuscripts refer to the Holy Grail, 441 00:21:07,333 --> 00:21:10,708 they call it San Gréal. 442 00:21:10,833 --> 00:21:15,125 - The term appears in writings beginning in the 12th century 443 00:21:15,250 --> 00:21:17,167 with authors like Chrétien de Troyes 444 00:21:17,292 --> 00:21:19,208 and Robert de Boron. 445 00:21:19,333 --> 00:21:21,833 - You've got a word that's already a combination 446 00:21:21,958 --> 00:21:23,375 in its etymology. 447 00:21:23,542 --> 00:21:24,958 You have san that comes from sanctus, 448 00:21:25,083 --> 00:21:26,375 from the Latin for holy. 449 00:21:26,542 --> 00:21:29,417 And you have gréal, which is a Celtic word, 450 00:21:29,542 --> 00:21:32,500 which means a vase or a vessel of some kind. 451 00:21:32,625 --> 00:21:34,667 Fishburne: But could the term San Gréal 452 00:21:34,792 --> 00:21:37,417 have been translated by mistake? 453 00:21:37,542 --> 00:21:39,250 - So a lot of the words that we find 454 00:21:39,375 --> 00:21:41,542 in our common modern English 455 00:21:41,708 --> 00:21:45,000 come from older linguistic traditions. 456 00:21:45,083 --> 00:21:47,833 This is something that is part of how we get our language. 457 00:21:47,958 --> 00:21:50,458 Our language is made up usually of elements 458 00:21:50,542 --> 00:21:52,333 from a lot of different language groups. 459 00:21:52,458 --> 00:21:54,875 - What they argue in this theory is 460 00:21:55,042 --> 00:21:57,542 that there's a mishearing here 461 00:21:57,708 --> 00:21:59,750 of what the word actually was. 462 00:21:59,875 --> 00:22:01,292 [dramatic music] 463 00:22:01,375 --> 00:22:02,458 Fishburne: If correct, 464 00:22:02,583 --> 00:22:05,000 the Grail is not the San Gréal. 465 00:22:05,125 --> 00:22:07,167 It is the Sang Réal, 466 00:22:07,292 --> 00:22:10,000 which translates to "royal blood." 467 00:22:10,167 --> 00:22:12,125 - In this case, it's not an object. 468 00:22:12,250 --> 00:22:14,000 It's something else more ephemeral. 469 00:22:14,125 --> 00:22:15,083 It's royal blood. 470 00:22:15,208 --> 00:22:21,333 ♪ ♪ 471 00:22:21,500 --> 00:22:23,833 Fishburne: And the royal blood in question is 472 00:22:23,958 --> 00:22:27,542 that of Jesus of Nazareth and his alleged descendants. 473 00:22:27,667 --> 00:22:31,500 - The idea of a bloodline of Jesus 474 00:22:31,625 --> 00:22:36,333 goes against 2,000 years of Christian teachings. 475 00:22:36,458 --> 00:22:37,958 At the same time, 476 00:22:38,083 --> 00:22:40,833 it's not completely out of the range of possibilities 477 00:22:40,917 --> 00:22:44,750 when you consider that Jesus was a Jewish man 478 00:22:44,875 --> 00:22:47,167 in the Roman empire coming from a culture 479 00:22:47,292 --> 00:22:50,833 that very much valued family and marriage. 480 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:52,375 He was in his 30s, 481 00:22:52,500 --> 00:22:54,167 and the idea that he wasn't married at all 482 00:22:54,292 --> 00:22:56,208 would have been quite unusual. 483 00:22:56,333 --> 00:22:58,292 ♪ ♪ 484 00:22:58,417 --> 00:23:00,917 [soft music] 485 00:23:01,042 --> 00:23:04,000 Fishburne: Is it possible the many authors of the Bible 486 00:23:04,083 --> 00:23:05,958 have been trying to hide the secret family 487 00:23:06,042 --> 00:23:07,833 of Jesus for millennia? 488 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,667 - Jesus became for the church a model for priesthood, 489 00:23:12,792 --> 00:23:15,083 and so the church had a vested interest 490 00:23:15,208 --> 00:23:17,375 in presenting Jesus as chaste. 491 00:23:17,542 --> 00:23:19,792 They want him to be divine. 492 00:23:19,875 --> 00:23:23,208 - The theory goes like this, that the historical Jesus 493 00:23:23,375 --> 00:23:25,042 marries Mary Magdalene 494 00:23:25,208 --> 00:23:28,333 and that the two of them had one or more children. 495 00:23:28,500 --> 00:23:30,167 - But Mary Magdalene is definitely a character 496 00:23:30,292 --> 00:23:31,792 that pops up in the Jesus tradition. 497 00:23:31,875 --> 00:23:34,333 And we see her not only in the canonical gospels, 498 00:23:34,458 --> 00:23:37,542 but she also pops up as a follower of Jesus 499 00:23:37,708 --> 00:23:40,083 in several noncanonical gospels 500 00:23:40,208 --> 00:23:42,292 written in the second century. 501 00:23:42,375 --> 00:23:44,458 - She travels with Jesus. 502 00:23:44,583 --> 00:23:47,625 She's financially supporting his ministry. 503 00:23:47,750 --> 00:23:50,083 She is there for his death, 504 00:23:50,208 --> 00:23:51,458 and in some of the gospels, 505 00:23:51,583 --> 00:23:54,333 is the first witness to his resurrection. 506 00:23:54,458 --> 00:23:56,667 ♪ ♪ 507 00:23:56,750 --> 00:23:58,250 Fishburne: But their connection 508 00:23:58,375 --> 00:24:00,042 might not end there. 509 00:24:00,167 --> 00:24:03,667 - So the authors of this theory continue on to say 510 00:24:03,833 --> 00:24:07,625 that after Jesus' death, Mary Magdalene, 511 00:24:07,708 --> 00:24:10,500 possibly her family, traveled to France, 512 00:24:10,625 --> 00:24:12,833 and the bloodline of Jesus continues. 513 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:14,875 Fishburne: The authors of "The Holy Blood 514 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,333 and The Holy Grail" insist they have proof. 515 00:24:19,458 --> 00:24:21,500 - There are these documents 516 00:24:21,583 --> 00:24:25,167 that have been miraculously found in Paris 517 00:24:25,333 --> 00:24:27,500 buried in the French national library 518 00:24:27,625 --> 00:24:31,208 that connect the bloodline of Jesus 519 00:24:31,333 --> 00:24:34,708 to something called the Priory of Sion. 520 00:24:34,833 --> 00:24:36,833 Fishburne: According to the text, 521 00:24:36,917 --> 00:24:39,583 the Priory of Sion is a secret organization 522 00:24:39,708 --> 00:24:43,667 that's existed since at least 1099. 523 00:24:43,792 --> 00:24:46,708 Its illustrious members allegedly include 524 00:24:46,833 --> 00:24:51,667 Leonardo da Vinci and Sir Isaac Newton. 525 00:24:51,750 --> 00:24:55,167 - The text even suggests that the Priory of Sion 526 00:24:55,250 --> 00:24:56,708 created the Knights Templar 527 00:24:56,875 --> 00:24:59,375 as its military and financial branch 528 00:24:59,542 --> 00:25:01,333 and that their job, 529 00:25:01,500 --> 00:25:03,042 their entire reason for existence, 530 00:25:03,167 --> 00:25:06,000 was to protect the bloodline and the offspring. 531 00:25:06,083 --> 00:25:08,875 - The Priory of Sion is essentially at war 532 00:25:09,042 --> 00:25:10,167 with the Catholic Church 533 00:25:10,250 --> 00:25:13,375 because the Catholic Church and its system of popes 534 00:25:13,542 --> 00:25:17,000 want to hold onto their power and discredit 535 00:25:17,125 --> 00:25:20,667 or push away the story of the bloodline of Jesus. 536 00:25:20,750 --> 00:25:22,333 Fishburne: But could this be true? 537 00:25:22,458 --> 00:25:24,500 [tense music] 538 00:25:24,583 --> 00:25:28,167 - As it turns out, this is completely bogus, 539 00:25:28,292 --> 00:25:31,000 100% false. 540 00:25:31,167 --> 00:25:32,667 ♪ ♪ 541 00:25:32,792 --> 00:25:34,875 - So there's one major problem here. 542 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:36,792 I mean, there are a lot of problems here, 543 00:25:36,917 --> 00:25:42,208 but the biggest problem is that the Priory of Sion is a hoax. 544 00:25:42,333 --> 00:25:46,667 Fishburne: The Priory of Sion isn't created in 1099 A.D. 545 00:25:46,750 --> 00:25:49,250 It's created in 1956. 546 00:25:49,375 --> 00:25:53,583 And despite the long list of famed members it claims, 547 00:25:53,708 --> 00:25:56,750 it's actually the work of a French con artist 548 00:25:56,875 --> 00:25:59,542 named Pierre Plantard. 549 00:25:59,708 --> 00:26:02,417 - This guy Plantard wants to be royalty. 550 00:26:02,542 --> 00:26:03,792 I mean, he's not royalty, 551 00:26:03,875 --> 00:26:05,625 but he really wants to be royalty. 552 00:26:05,708 --> 00:26:08,917 So he pulls off what is still thought to be one 553 00:26:09,042 --> 00:26:13,000 of the greatest hoaxes in French literary history. 554 00:26:13,167 --> 00:26:16,000 Fishburne: Plantard creates a fake secret society 555 00:26:16,125 --> 00:26:20,000 complete with an imaginative backstory. 556 00:26:20,125 --> 00:26:21,750 To add credibility, 557 00:26:21,875 --> 00:26:24,417 he plants false documents around France. 558 00:26:24,542 --> 00:26:25,833 - He commissions a friend 559 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,167 to make two forged medieval parchments, 560 00:26:28,292 --> 00:26:32,500 and they hide those in the French national library. 561 00:26:32,625 --> 00:26:35,833 - Plantard and his pal create a paper trail. 562 00:26:35,958 --> 00:26:39,458 They say that this Priory of Sion 563 00:26:39,542 --> 00:26:41,000 originated in the Middle Ages, 564 00:26:41,167 --> 00:26:44,875 that they produced a long line of grandmasters, 565 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:49,500 and that they protected this whole bloodline, 566 00:26:49,583 --> 00:26:54,167 which, remarkably, Plantard himself claimed 567 00:26:54,292 --> 00:26:56,000 to be a descendant. 568 00:26:56,125 --> 00:26:57,458 ♪ ♪ 569 00:26:57,583 --> 00:26:59,042 Fishburne: And it's this document 570 00:26:59,208 --> 00:27:01,583 that co-author Henry Lincoln discovers 571 00:27:01,708 --> 00:27:04,875 and uses to form the basis of the bestselling book, 572 00:27:05,042 --> 00:27:07,458 "The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail," 573 00:27:07,583 --> 00:27:09,833 along with two colleagues. 574 00:27:09,917 --> 00:27:13,000 - "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" was published 575 00:27:13,083 --> 00:27:15,583 by Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln, 576 00:27:15,708 --> 00:27:16,667 and Richard Leigh. 577 00:27:16,792 --> 00:27:19,500 It was an immediate bestseller. 578 00:27:19,667 --> 00:27:21,917 - You can just imagine Henry Lincoln stumbling 579 00:27:22,042 --> 00:27:24,833 upon this and finding what he thinks 580 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:26,667 is the Holy Grail itself, 581 00:27:26,750 --> 00:27:29,000 and it's all fake. 582 00:27:29,125 --> 00:27:31,000 ♪ ♪ 583 00:27:31,167 --> 00:27:33,458 To be fair, when Lincoln writes his book, 584 00:27:33,542 --> 00:27:35,792 Plantard hasn't been caught yet. 585 00:27:35,875 --> 00:27:39,792 It's not until 1993 that French police raid his house 586 00:27:39,875 --> 00:27:42,750 and find all kinds of documents 587 00:27:42,875 --> 00:27:46,917 that Plantard used to create this terrible hoax. 588 00:27:47,042 --> 00:27:49,167 - Plantard eventually admits under oath 589 00:27:49,292 --> 00:27:53,708 that all of this was a lie, all of this was a hoax. 590 00:27:53,875 --> 00:27:55,375 - Now, some people have come forward and said, 591 00:27:55,500 --> 00:27:56,792 "No, wait, wait, wait. 592 00:27:56,875 --> 00:28:00,000 "Just because the Priory of Sion is a hoax 593 00:28:00,125 --> 00:28:02,125 "doesn't mean that Jesus and Mary Magdalene 594 00:28:02,250 --> 00:28:05,000 couldn't have produced a child." 595 00:28:05,125 --> 00:28:07,000 Fishburne: The bloodline theory continues 596 00:28:07,125 --> 00:28:09,667 to inspire stories of the Holy Grail today, 597 00:28:09,792 --> 00:28:12,583 including Dan Brown's bestseller, 598 00:28:12,708 --> 00:28:15,000 "The Da Vinci Code." 599 00:28:15,125 --> 00:28:17,167 But there's another more recent theory 600 00:28:17,292 --> 00:28:20,083 that also has Mary Magdalene at its center, 601 00:28:20,208 --> 00:28:24,000 and it puts the Grail over 3,000 miles 602 00:28:24,125 --> 00:28:30,292 from Jerusalem. 603 00:28:30,375 --> 00:28:32,792 Fishburne: When it comes to theories on the Holy Grail, 604 00:28:32,875 --> 00:28:36,417 researcher Graham Phillips has heard them all. 605 00:28:36,542 --> 00:28:37,792 - I'm thinking to myself, 606 00:28:37,875 --> 00:28:40,708 I know every story about the Holy Grail, 607 00:28:40,875 --> 00:28:46,708 the cup of the Last Supper, the enchanted stone, 608 00:28:46,833 --> 00:28:52,125 the bloodline of Mary Magdalene, and more. 609 00:28:52,250 --> 00:28:53,667 [dramatic music] 610 00:28:53,750 --> 00:28:55,333 Fishburne: So what does Phillips think 611 00:28:55,458 --> 00:28:57,000 the Holy Grail is? 612 00:28:57,167 --> 00:29:00,667 - It's a powerful cup, yes. That much I believe. 613 00:29:00,833 --> 00:29:04,583 But I don't believe that it has anything to do 614 00:29:04,708 --> 00:29:06,333 with the bloodline of Mary Magdalene. 615 00:29:06,458 --> 00:29:09,958 However, I do think that Mary Magdalene 616 00:29:10,042 --> 00:29:11,667 once possessed the cup. 617 00:29:11,792 --> 00:29:13,500 ♪ ♪ 618 00:29:13,583 --> 00:29:14,708 Fishburne: According to Phillips, 619 00:29:14,833 --> 00:29:17,792 there is not one but two sacred cups 620 00:29:17,917 --> 00:29:21,375 used during the last days of Jesus Christ, 621 00:29:21,542 --> 00:29:23,500 and a majority of Grail seekers 622 00:29:23,667 --> 00:29:26,083 have been looking for the wrong one. 623 00:29:26,208 --> 00:29:28,333 - I don't believe that it is the cup 624 00:29:28,458 --> 00:29:32,167 of the Last Supper that we should be seeking, 625 00:29:32,250 --> 00:29:35,583 but a cup that belonged to Jesus' follower, 626 00:29:35,708 --> 00:29:37,375 Mary Magdalene. 627 00:29:37,500 --> 00:29:39,833 The gospels describe how 628 00:29:39,958 --> 00:29:43,250 she anointed Jesus' body with oils, 629 00:29:43,375 --> 00:29:48,125 and these came in a small scent jar. 630 00:29:48,250 --> 00:29:50,167 Fishburne: Early Christian tradition states 631 00:29:50,292 --> 00:29:52,250 that Mary Magdalene visits the site 632 00:29:52,375 --> 00:29:53,917 of Jesus' crucifixion. 633 00:29:54,042 --> 00:29:56,458 There, she collects some of his blood 634 00:29:56,542 --> 00:29:58,250 in a sacred vessel. 635 00:29:58,375 --> 00:30:02,958 That small jar becomes known as the Marian Chalice, 636 00:30:03,083 --> 00:30:05,333 the cup Graham Phillips believes 637 00:30:05,417 --> 00:30:07,167 is the true Holy Grail. 638 00:30:07,333 --> 00:30:11,042 ♪ ♪ 639 00:30:11,167 --> 00:30:14,958 - Forget metaphorical bloodlines. 640 00:30:15,083 --> 00:30:17,875 What we're talking about is an actual relic 641 00:30:18,042 --> 00:30:20,208 which contained Jesus' blood. 642 00:30:20,333 --> 00:30:23,500 And if so, its value would be immeasurable. 643 00:30:23,625 --> 00:30:25,000 ♪ ♪ 644 00:30:25,125 --> 00:30:29,292 The question is, where does it go from there? 645 00:30:29,375 --> 00:30:31,750 - That theory says that Mary Magdalene 646 00:30:31,875 --> 00:30:34,042 left the cup in Jesus' tomb 647 00:30:34,208 --> 00:30:36,875 and that it remained there undisturbed, undiscovered 648 00:30:37,042 --> 00:30:38,500 for about 400 years 649 00:30:38,625 --> 00:30:41,083 until the Roman Empire finally becomes Christian, 650 00:30:41,208 --> 00:30:44,042 and people start to search for those kinds of things. 651 00:30:44,208 --> 00:30:46,542 Fishburne: Around 326 A.D., 652 00:30:46,667 --> 00:30:49,167 Roman emperor Constantine orders 653 00:30:49,250 --> 00:30:52,792 the excavation of the Holy Sepulchre, 654 00:30:52,917 --> 00:30:57,833 a potential site of Jesus' tomb in Jerusalem. 655 00:30:57,917 --> 00:31:01,333 - So during the excavation, a vessel is uncovered, 656 00:31:01,417 --> 00:31:03,500 which is thought to be this Marian Chalice, 657 00:31:03,583 --> 00:31:04,833 or the Holy Grail. 658 00:31:04,958 --> 00:31:08,083 And it's taken from there in Jerusalem to Rome, 659 00:31:08,208 --> 00:31:09,917 where the leaders of the church believe 660 00:31:10,042 --> 00:31:12,042 that it had special powers. 661 00:31:12,167 --> 00:31:14,208 ♪ ♪ 662 00:31:14,333 --> 00:31:17,708 - It remains in Rome until 410 A.D. 663 00:31:17,833 --> 00:31:20,292 when the city is sacked by barbarians. 664 00:31:20,417 --> 00:31:22,250 ♪ ♪ 665 00:31:22,375 --> 00:31:24,958 But the chalice, along with other treasures, 666 00:31:25,042 --> 00:31:28,792 is taken out of Rome in a convoy of armed carts 667 00:31:28,917 --> 00:31:31,083 and eventually brought to the safety 668 00:31:31,208 --> 00:31:36,292 of one of the last outposts of the Roman empire, Britain. 669 00:31:36,375 --> 00:31:39,542 Fishburne: From there, Mary Magdalene's chalice 670 00:31:39,708 --> 00:31:41,833 becomes the inspiration for one 671 00:31:41,958 --> 00:31:45,250 of the most famous legends in history. 672 00:31:45,375 --> 00:31:47,042 - This idea of the Marian Chalice 673 00:31:47,208 --> 00:31:49,375 in England is what inspires some 674 00:31:49,500 --> 00:31:52,000 of the Arthurian tales. 675 00:31:52,125 --> 00:31:53,958 In the story of King Arthur and his knights, 676 00:31:54,083 --> 00:31:56,250 the Holy Grail is kept in a secret chapel 677 00:31:56,375 --> 00:31:58,667 in a fortress called the White Castle 678 00:31:58,792 --> 00:32:01,292 in a place known as the White Town. 679 00:32:01,375 --> 00:32:02,833 Fishburne: And as it turns out, 680 00:32:02,958 --> 00:32:06,042 those locations aren't entirely fictional. 681 00:32:06,167 --> 00:32:08,500 - Actually, most of the Arthurian stories 682 00:32:08,625 --> 00:32:10,875 have a lot of historically accurate detail. 683 00:32:11,042 --> 00:32:12,833 They're mixed in with fantasy, 684 00:32:12,917 --> 00:32:16,208 but some of it is absolutely true. 685 00:32:16,333 --> 00:32:21,292 - In the early 13th century, a real-life Crusader knight 686 00:32:21,375 --> 00:32:24,000 by the name of Fulk Fitzwarin claimed 687 00:32:24,125 --> 00:32:27,000 to have possessed the Chalice of Magdalene. 688 00:32:27,125 --> 00:32:31,917 And he kept it in the chapel of his castle, 689 00:32:32,042 --> 00:32:35,417 which was known as the White Castle, 690 00:32:35,542 --> 00:32:37,917 exactly the same as where the Grail is kept 691 00:32:38,042 --> 00:32:40,083 in the Arthurian romances. 692 00:32:40,208 --> 00:32:43,333 It's in a town known as Whittington, 693 00:32:43,417 --> 00:32:47,042 which is old English for White Town, 694 00:32:47,167 --> 00:32:52,125 exactly, once again, as in the Arthurian romances. 695 00:32:52,208 --> 00:32:55,292 Fishburne: Unfortunately, once Fitzwarin dies, 696 00:32:55,375 --> 00:32:57,958 his White Castle spends several centuries 697 00:32:58,042 --> 00:33:00,000 falling into disrepair. 698 00:33:00,083 --> 00:33:02,542 If the Marian Chalice was once held here, 699 00:33:02,667 --> 00:33:04,542 it's not likely it remains. 700 00:33:04,667 --> 00:33:09,000 - Modern society has fallen out with the idea of magic, 701 00:33:09,167 --> 00:33:12,833 the hope of something powerful and unexpected. 702 00:33:12,917 --> 00:33:16,333 The Holy Grail wasn't just gonna show up. 703 00:33:16,458 --> 00:33:19,500 I was gonna have to go and search for it. 704 00:33:19,625 --> 00:33:24,792 ♪ ♪ 705 00:33:24,917 --> 00:33:27,000 [dramatic music] 706 00:33:27,125 --> 00:33:28,625 Fishburne: For thousands of years, 707 00:33:28,708 --> 00:33:31,208 the faithful have searched for the Holy Grail, 708 00:33:31,333 --> 00:33:33,333 a mysterious object believed 709 00:33:33,500 --> 00:33:36,000 to grant healing and eternal life. 710 00:33:36,125 --> 00:33:39,167 - It pops up here. It pops up there. 711 00:33:39,333 --> 00:33:42,500 This person has it. That person has it. 712 00:33:42,667 --> 00:33:46,417 It's everywhere at once, yet nowhere at all. 713 00:33:46,542 --> 00:33:48,542 Fishburne: According to English researcher 714 00:33:48,708 --> 00:33:53,125 Graham Phillips, the Grail is a small oil jar 715 00:33:53,250 --> 00:33:55,125 that was used by Mary Magdalene 716 00:33:55,250 --> 00:33:58,167 to catch Jesus' blood. 717 00:33:58,333 --> 00:34:02,083 - The last known whereabouts of the Chalice of Magdalene 718 00:34:02,208 --> 00:34:05,875 is with Fulk Fitzwarin and his castle 719 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:10,208 at Whittington in the early 1200s. 720 00:34:10,333 --> 00:34:14,917 And where the trail ends is where I begin. 721 00:34:15,042 --> 00:34:20,000 The chalice resurfaces in the mid-19th century 722 00:34:20,125 --> 00:34:23,792 with one of Fulk Fitzwarin's direct descendants, 723 00:34:23,875 --> 00:34:25,750 Thomas Wright. 724 00:34:25,875 --> 00:34:27,667 Thomas Wright actually claims 725 00:34:27,792 --> 00:34:32,083 that the cup had been handed down to him by his ancestors. 726 00:34:32,208 --> 00:34:35,208 It is described as a small stone cup 727 00:34:35,333 --> 00:34:38,542 made from alabaster or green onyx. 728 00:34:38,667 --> 00:34:42,542 And Thomas Wright is absolutely convinced 729 00:34:42,667 --> 00:34:46,042 that this was the very cup that Mary Magdalene used 730 00:34:46,167 --> 00:34:48,667 to collect drops of Christ's blood 731 00:34:48,750 --> 00:34:50,875 during the crucifixion. 732 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,083 In 1855, with no children to hand it on to, 733 00:34:55,208 --> 00:34:58,125 Thomas Wright decides to hide the cup 734 00:34:58,208 --> 00:35:03,042 and leave a series of clues as to where it is hidden 735 00:35:03,167 --> 00:35:06,667 for some future generation to follow. 736 00:35:06,792 --> 00:35:08,333 ♪ ♪ 737 00:35:08,417 --> 00:35:11,917 Fishburne: Wright hides his clues in an 1855 poem 738 00:35:12,042 --> 00:35:14,208 he publishes called 739 00:35:14,333 --> 00:35:17,083 "Sir Gawain and the Red Knight." 740 00:35:17,208 --> 00:35:19,958 - It concerns Arthur's knight, Gawain, 741 00:35:20,042 --> 00:35:22,583 and his search for the Marian Chalice. 742 00:35:22,708 --> 00:35:25,375 And he finds it at the end of the poem 743 00:35:25,542 --> 00:35:29,333 and then hides it again, but we're not told where. 744 00:35:29,500 --> 00:35:30,875 ♪ ♪ 745 00:35:31,042 --> 00:35:32,667 Fishburne: To figure it out, 746 00:35:32,750 --> 00:35:34,250 Phillips analyzes the poem 747 00:35:34,375 --> 00:35:36,417 as it was originally published. 748 00:35:36,542 --> 00:35:39,208 - There are two lines of Roman numerals 749 00:35:39,333 --> 00:35:41,667 on the title page of the book. 750 00:35:41,750 --> 00:35:46,000 They seem to have absolutely no purpose. 751 00:35:46,125 --> 00:35:49,333 And at the end of the poem are the final lines, 752 00:35:49,458 --> 00:35:52,333 "The shepherd's songs to guide the way, 753 00:35:52,417 --> 00:35:55,667 the horn was blown, the treasure lay." 754 00:35:55,792 --> 00:35:59,042 The only thing that comes to mind about shepherd's songs 755 00:35:59,167 --> 00:36:01,125 is the Psalms in the Bible. 756 00:36:01,208 --> 00:36:02,833 They are said to have been written 757 00:36:02,958 --> 00:36:05,292 by the Israelite King David 758 00:36:05,417 --> 00:36:08,667 when he was a young man and just a shepherd. 759 00:36:08,792 --> 00:36:10,000 ♪ ♪ 760 00:36:10,167 --> 00:36:11,750 Fishburne: When Phillips compares the Psalms 761 00:36:11,875 --> 00:36:13,833 to the cryptic Roman numerals, 762 00:36:13,958 --> 00:36:17,667 Thomas Wright's secret message is finally revealed. 763 00:36:17,750 --> 00:36:21,208 - I think perhaps the top line refers 764 00:36:21,375 --> 00:36:23,292 to the number of the Psalm, 765 00:36:23,375 --> 00:36:26,000 and the second line might refer 766 00:36:26,125 --> 00:36:29,292 to the verse of that particular song. 767 00:36:29,375 --> 00:36:31,083 Fishburne: Based on his theory, 768 00:36:31,208 --> 00:36:35,125 Phillips begins with Psalm 31 verse 3. 769 00:36:35,208 --> 00:36:37,667 "For thou art my rock and my fortress: 770 00:36:37,792 --> 00:36:42,833 Therefore for my name's sake, lead me and guide me." 771 00:36:42,958 --> 00:36:46,208 - A rock and a fortress, but where? 772 00:36:46,333 --> 00:36:48,542 At the end of the poem, Sir Gawain, 773 00:36:48,667 --> 00:36:51,000 when he has hidden the Chalice of Magdalene, 774 00:36:51,125 --> 00:36:53,333 he stands on the battlements 775 00:36:53,458 --> 00:36:55,833 of a place called the Red Castle. 776 00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:01,167 ♪ ♪ 777 00:37:01,292 --> 00:37:03,542 Fishburne: Phillips visits the Red Castle 778 00:37:03,667 --> 00:37:05,667 and from there follows more clues left 779 00:37:05,792 --> 00:37:10,833 by the Psalms through a series of caves, 780 00:37:10,958 --> 00:37:15,500 which lead to a small church in the village of Hodnet. 781 00:37:15,625 --> 00:37:19,667 ♪ ♪ 782 00:37:19,792 --> 00:37:25,625 - And when I enter the church, the next verse reads, 783 00:37:25,708 --> 00:37:29,667 "I turn upon my right hand and behold." 784 00:37:29,792 --> 00:37:34,042 ♪ ♪ 785 00:37:34,167 --> 00:37:35,542 And when I look up, 786 00:37:35,667 --> 00:37:39,167 I see I am staring at a stained glass window, 787 00:37:39,333 --> 00:37:41,792 and the window was designed 788 00:37:41,875 --> 00:37:47,583 and paid to be installed by Thomas Wright in 1855, 789 00:37:47,708 --> 00:37:51,792 exactly the year he wrote the poem. 790 00:37:51,875 --> 00:37:54,083 Fishburne: Unfortunately, Phillips arrives 791 00:37:54,208 --> 00:37:56,083 at the church too late. 792 00:37:56,208 --> 00:37:58,500 - In the stained glass window, we have a figure that looks 793 00:37:58,583 --> 00:38:02,208 exactly like Mary Magdalene holding a chalice. 794 00:38:02,333 --> 00:38:05,583 And above her head is the figure of an eagle. 795 00:38:05,708 --> 00:38:08,292 And I discovered that years ago, 796 00:38:08,375 --> 00:38:11,792 when the eagle statue at Hawkstone Park 797 00:38:11,875 --> 00:38:15,917 in the caves is being moved, it falls over, breaks, 798 00:38:16,042 --> 00:38:19,583 and in the base, they discover what is described 799 00:38:19,708 --> 00:38:25,625 as an interesting curio, a small stone cup. 800 00:38:25,708 --> 00:38:26,833 ♪ ♪ 801 00:38:26,917 --> 00:38:28,875 Fishburne: This cup is found by a worker 802 00:38:29,042 --> 00:38:32,625 named Walter Langham. 803 00:38:32,708 --> 00:38:35,667 - He didn't know what it was, but he found it interesting, 804 00:38:35,750 --> 00:38:37,583 so he kept it. 805 00:38:37,708 --> 00:38:41,792 I discover that his descendants still have it, 806 00:38:41,917 --> 00:38:46,250 and it's kept amongst a load of junk in their attic. 807 00:38:46,375 --> 00:38:47,750 ♪ ♪ 808 00:38:47,875 --> 00:38:49,375 Fishburne: Phillips then tracks down 809 00:38:49,500 --> 00:38:52,833 Langham's descendants and acquires the cup. 810 00:38:52,958 --> 00:38:56,083 ♪ ♪ 811 00:38:56,208 --> 00:38:58,833 - And here it is, 812 00:38:58,958 --> 00:39:03,958 a small stone cup made from green alabaster. 813 00:39:04,042 --> 00:39:06,375 ♪ ♪ 814 00:39:06,500 --> 00:39:09,750 It matches every description I've read. 815 00:39:09,875 --> 00:39:16,792 ♪ ♪ 816 00:39:18,583 --> 00:39:20,292 Fishburne: Next, he has it analyzed 817 00:39:20,417 --> 00:39:22,792 by the British Museum. 818 00:39:22,917 --> 00:39:27,500 - It's found to have been a Roman scent jar 819 00:39:27,625 --> 00:39:29,917 dating from the first century. 820 00:39:30,042 --> 00:39:31,750 It's from the right time. 821 00:39:31,875 --> 00:39:33,917 It's made from the right material. 822 00:39:34,042 --> 00:39:38,500 It is the long-lost chalice of Mary Magdalene 823 00:39:38,625 --> 00:39:42,417 once used to collect a few drops 824 00:39:42,542 --> 00:39:44,333 of Christ's blood. 825 00:39:44,458 --> 00:39:49,500 A holy stone, a Grail stone. 826 00:39:49,583 --> 00:39:52,625 This is the Holy Grail. 827 00:39:52,750 --> 00:39:56,833 ♪ ♪ 828 00:39:56,917 --> 00:40:00,333 - Although Phillips believes his cup is the true Grail, 829 00:40:00,458 --> 00:40:02,667 we may never know the answer. 830 00:40:02,750 --> 00:40:06,958 If it turns out he's right, imagine the implications. 831 00:40:07,042 --> 00:40:08,833 The Holy Grail itself, 832 00:40:08,917 --> 00:40:11,667 perhaps the most coveted object in history, 833 00:40:11,792 --> 00:40:14,750 one day simply falls out of the base 834 00:40:14,875 --> 00:40:18,083 of a broken statue and is quietly purchased 835 00:40:18,208 --> 00:40:20,167 from an English attic. 836 00:40:20,333 --> 00:40:23,500 Or could it still be out there 837 00:40:23,625 --> 00:40:26,167 hiding in plain sight? 838 00:40:26,250 --> 00:40:28,167 I'm Lawrence Fishburne. 839 00:40:28,333 --> 00:40:32,167 Thank you for watching "History's Greatest Mysteries." 840 00:40:32,250 --> 00:40:37,625 ♪ ♪