Editing Joseph of Arimathea (section)

===Holy Grail===
The legend that Joseph was given the responsibility of keeping the Holy Grail was the product of [[Robert de Boron]], who essentially expanded upon stories from ''Acts of Pilate''. In Boron's {{ill|Joseph d'Arimathie (poem)|fr|Joseph d'Arimathie (roman)|lt=''Joseph d'Arimathie''}}, Joseph is imprisoned much as in the ''Acts of Pilate'', but it is the Grail that sustains him during his captivity. Upon his release he founds his company of followers, who take the Grail to the "Vale of Avaron" (identified with [[Avalon]]), though Joseph does not go. The origin of the association between Joseph and Britain, where Avalon is presumed to be located, is not entirely clear, though in subsequent romances such as ''[[Perlesvaus]]'', Joseph travels to Britain, bringing relics with him. In the [[Lancelot-Grail]] cycle, a vast Arthurian composition that took much from Robert, it is not Joseph but his son [[Josephus of Arimathea|Josephus]] who is considered the primary holy man of Britain.

Later authors sometimes mistakenly or deliberately treated the Grail story as truth. Such stories were inspired by the account of [[John of Glastonbury]], who assembled a chronicle of the history of Glastonbury Abbey around 1350 and who wrote that Joseph, when he came to Britain, brought with him vessels containing the blood and sweat of Christ (without using the word Grail).<ref>Edward Donald Kennedy, "Visions of History: Robert de Boron and English Arthurian Chronicles" in, [[Norris J. Lacy]], editor, ''The Fortunes of King Arthur'', page 39 (D. S. Brewer, Cambridge, 2005). {{ISBN|1-84384-061-8}}</ref> This account inspired the future claims of the Grail, including the claim involving the [[Nanteos Cup]] on display in the museum in [[Aberystwyth]]. There is no reference to this tradition in ancient or medieval text. John of Glastonbury further claims that King Arthur was descended from Joseph, listing the following imaginative pedigree through King Arthur's mother:
{{blockquote|1=Helaius, Nepos Joseph, Genuit Josus, Josue Genuit Aminadab, Aminadab Genuit Filium, qui Genuit Ygernam, de qua Rex Pen-Dragon, Genuit Nobilem et Famosum Regum Arthurum, per Quod Patet, Quod Rex Arthurus de Stirpe Joseph descendit.}}

Joseph's alleged early arrival in Britain was used for political point-scoring by English theologians and diplomats during the late Middle Ages, and [[Richard Beere]], Abbot of Glastonbury from 1493 to 1524, put the cult of Joseph at the heart of the abbey's legendary traditions. He was probably responsible for the drastic remodelling of the Lady Chapel at [[Glastonbury Abbey]]. A series of miraculous cures took place in 1502 which were attributed to the saint, and in 1520 the printer [[Richard Pynson]] published a ''Lyfe of Joseph of Armathia'', in which  the [[Glastonbury Thorn]] is mentioned for the first time.<ref>Stout, Adam (2020) ''Glastonbury Holy Thorn: Story of a Legend'' Green & Pleasant Publishing, pp. 13-16  {{ISBN| 978-1-9162686-1-6}}</ref>   Joseph's importance increased exponentially with the [[English Reformation]], since his alleged early arrival far predated the Catholic conversion of AD 597. In the new post-Catholic world, Joseph stood for Christianity pure and Protestant. In 1546, [[John Bale]], a prominent Protestant writer, claimed that the early date of Joseph's mission meant that original British Christianity was purer than that of Rome, an idea which was understandably popular with English Protestants, notably Queen 
[[Elizabeth I]] herself, who cited Joseph's missionary work in England when she told Roman Catholic bishops that the Church of England pre-dated the Roman Church in England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/elizabeth1.html|title=Elizabeth's 1559 reply to the Catholic bishops|work=fordham.edu|access-date=11 May 2006|archive-date=4 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504123437/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/elizabeth1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Stout, Adam (2020) ''Glastonbury Holy Thorn: Story of a Legend'' Green & Pleasant Publishing, pp. 23-24  {{ISBN| 978-1-9162686-1-6}}</ref>