the pure knight in Arthurian romance, son of Lancelot du Lac and Elaine (daughter of Pelles), who achieved the vision of God through the Holy Grail. In the first romance treatments of the Grail story (e.g., Chrétien de Troyes’s 12th-century Conte du Graal), Perceval was the Grail hero. But during the 13th century a new, austerely spiritual significance was given to the Grail theme, and a new Grail winner was required whose genealogy could be traced back to the House of David in the Old Testament. Galahad was, moreover, made the son of Lancelot so that an achievement inspired by earthly love (Lancelot inspired by Guinevere) could be set in contrast to that inspired by heavenly love (Galahad inspired by spiritual fervour). This theological version of the Grail story appeared in the Queste del Saint Graal (“Quest for the Holy Grail”), which forms part of the Prose Lancelot, or Vulgate cycle. The Queste shows signs of strong Cistercian influence, and similarities can be seen between it and the mystical doctrines of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. See also Grail.
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