Arthur's father, Uther, was the king of Britain. He was at war with a man named the Duke of Cornwall but at the same time was in love with the duke's wife, Ygerne. Merlin the magician helped Uther disguise himself as the duke then he presented himself to Ygerne. She gave birth to a son named Arthur. Merlin then took him away and placed him under the care of Sir Ector to be raised as his foster child. When Uther died, Arthur was not told that he was the rightful heir to the throne. With no single king to unite the country, all the lessor kings started to fight for the throne. The archbishop of Canterbury invited all the British nobles to London to try to settle the fighting. He sho ...view middle of the document...
Each night had his name painted on a seat, but one place, called the Siege Perilous, was reserved for the knight who would find the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail was the mystical cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper. Any other knight that sat there would die. Many of the knights had perilous adventures of their own. Arthur's kingdom continued to grow from this. It extended over the British Isles as well as the European Continent. Arthur's greatest threat came from Rome. He refused to pay tribute to the Roman Emperor, and he made an attack against the emperor's forces. The emperor sent an army to France to stop the British forces. The armies met at Troyes in France and Arthur's army won. He then ruled over France and was declared by the pope, Emperor of Italy. Under Arthur's rule, Europe enjoyed a long and peaceful period. One night at Camelot a vision of the Holy Grail appeared. Loud thunder and a brilliant light accompanied it. It floated into the hall where the knights were eating. After the vision passed through the hall, many of the knights vowed to go in search for the Grail. Some of them were Bors, Perceval, Lancelot, his son Galahad, and Arthur's nephew Gawain. Arthur agreed to let them go. He knew that the knights would face grave dangers and that many would die. The order of the Round Table and Arthur's reign was fast coming to an end. The knights rode out, each going on their own separate quest. They wandered around in unknown parts of Britain. They had mysterious visions and met strange hermits who taught them lessons on how to make their lives better. They often wanted to stop their quests but kept going. But as Arthur predicted, many failed to survive the obstacles they encountered and never returned to Camelot. Because of his many virtues, Lancelot was given a glimpse of the Holy Grail in the enchanted castle of Carbonek. Bors, Peceval, and Galahad latter on arrived at Carbonek, where they were given a longer glimpse. Christ appeared to the knights and told them that the Grail would have to be taken out of Britain because of the sinfulness of the people. Bors, Perceval, and Galahad boarded the ship that the Grail was on, bound for the Spiritual Palace in the mystical city of Sarras. There, they were permitted to see the Grail one last time. Only Galahad, the most saintly of the knights, was allowed to gaze at it at length and understand what it had to reveal. Moments later he died and the Grail was taken up into heaven. Bors returned to Britain, and recounted his adventures to what was left of Arthur's court. Peceval stayed in Sarras, where he became a noble knight and later on died. Neither ever learned what Galahad really saw. The dispersal of the knights on quests for the Holy Grail weakened the foundations of Camelot and the Round Table. Arthur was also starting to suspect that Lancelot was in love with Queen Guinevere. Arthur ignored what was happening because he didn't want to fight w...
