The Quest

Mercado continued, “The pope, Leo I, and the Christian emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, Marcian, had a disagreement with the Egyptian and Ethiopian emissaries to this meeting because these emissaries refused to accept the complex doctrine of the Trinity and insisted that Christ was one and that he was wholly divine. These emissaries were expelled, and the dissenting churches came to be called Egyptic, and later Coptic, and this was the beginning of Ethiopia’s isolation from the larger Christian world, which persists to this day.”

“I noticed.”

“In any case, the missing piece of the journey of the Grail could be this-Perceval and Gauvain-”

“Who we last saw sailing off in a fog.”

“Reached the Holy Land, which was part of the Eastern Roman Empire, ruled by the emperor in Constantinople.” He continued, “Perceval and Gauvain would have given the Grail to the Christian bishop in Jerusalem, who was at that time a powerful figure in the church.” He informed Purcell, “There is some documentary evidence here in the archives that the Grail was circulated among the important Christian churches in Jerusalem over the next few centuries.”

Mercado continued, “But in A.D. 636, Jerusalem was conquered by the armies of Islam, and many important Christian religious objects were lost or were spirited away to Rome, Constantinople, and Alexandria, Egypt, which was still part of the Eastern Roman Empire.”

“How’d it wind up in Ethiopia, Henry?”

“I’m speculating that the Grail wound up in Alexandria, or someplace else in Egypt, and six years later, in 642, Christian Egypt fell to Islam. I’m further speculating that the Grail, now in the possession of Coptic priests or monks in Egypt, was taken by Nile riverboat to Ethiopia for safekeeping in Axum.” He explained, “That would make sense, historically, geographically, and in terms of theology-the Egyptians were Copts, and they came into possession of the Grail from Christian refugees from Jerusalem who were fleeing Islam. Six years later, they themselves were conquered by Islam, and they needed to safeguard the Grail, so they took it by a safe route on the Nile to their co-religionists in Ethiopia.”

“That’s an exciting story.”

“And based on known historical events. Also, after this time, there are historical references to the Holy Grail in Ethiopia-and no references to it being anywhere else.”

Purcell did not respond.

“I’m not asking you to suspend belief. I’m trying to fill in the blanks between when the Grail left Glastonbury and when it is mentioned in primary source documents as being in Ethiopia.”

A far simpler explanation, Purcell thought, was that the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper had never left Jerusalem. But the Brits liked their story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and the Holy Grail, and people like Mercado worked it into the legend. In the end, it didn’t matter how it got to Ethiopia, assuming it did, and assuming it existed.

Purcell said, “You understand, Henry, that we are not trying to locate the Holy Grail or even figure out how it got to Ethiopia. We have been told by a credible source-Father Armano-that it’s sitting in the black monastery. Now all we have to do is go find this place.”

“And I’ve explained to you that our journey-spiritual and intellectual-begins here.”

“I’m not arguing with you, Henry. I just want this part of the journey to end before lunch.”

“If we do find the Grail, it would be important if we could establish its provenance, as you would do with any ancient object-to establish its authenticity.”

“If we find the Grail, Henry, we will know it is authentic. Especially if it has a lance dripping blood into it. And even if it doesn’t, we will know it when we see it. We will feel it. That much I believe. And that’s what you should believe. So it doesn’t matter how it got there, and we don’t have to prove anything to anyone.” He said, “Res ipsa loquitur. The thing speaks for itself.”

Mercado looked at him and said, “I didn’t know you spoke Latin.”

“Neither did I.”

Both men stayed silent. Then Mercado asked, “But did I make my case?”

“You did an excellent job.” He asked Mercado, “Did you do all this on company time? Or are you doing it for the company?”

Mercado did not reply.

Purcell closed his notebook and said, “Well, I have enough to write the story. Now let’s find the black monastery so I can write the end.”

Purcell stood, and Mercado said to him, “For a writer, a journey of a thousand miles begins in a library and ends at the typewriter.”

“We should be so lucky as to end this journey at a typewriter.”

They left the room and Mercado said something in Italian to a monk, who walked toward the reading room with a large key in his hand.

They walked out into the December sunshine, then headed into the Vatican gardens toward the Ethiopian College, where Purcell hoped they’d find a map with a notation saying, Black monastery-home of the Holy Grail.

They should be that lucky. Or not.

Chapter 19