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The Chalice of Doña Urraca is a jewel-encrusted
onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...
chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. R ...
kept at the
Basilica of San Isidoro In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name t ...
in León, Spain, which belonged to ''infanta''
Urraca of Zamora Urraca of Zamora (1033/34 – 1101/03) was a Leonese ''infanta'', one of the five children of Ferdinand I the Great, who received the city of Zamora as her inheritance and exercised palatine authority in it. Her story was romanticized in the '' ...
, daughter of
Ferdinand I of Leon Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
. In March 2014, Spanish authors Margarita Torres and José Ortega del Rio asserted the chalice could be the purported
Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracu ...
(a claim that had never been made during the roughly one thousand years the chalice had been kept in the Basilica). Although the claim was met with disbelief by historians and specialists, who claim the materials and techniques used in the chalice indicate a mid-11th century origin, the allegations led to unprecedented crowds swarming to the Basilica to see it, which led to the setting aside of a separate exhibition room only for the chalice.


Location

The chalice is kept at the
Basilica of San Isidoro In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name t ...
in León, Spain, where historians say it has been since the 11th century.''Historians claim Holy Grail is in church in Leon, northern Spain''
by Bob Fredericks (
News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...
, 1 April 2014)
The publication of ''The Kings of the Grail'' in March 2014, which claims the chalice is the
Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracu ...
, led museum staff at the basilica to swiftly withdraw the chalice from display, saying the crowds seeking to visit the museum were too large for it to handle. The museum now displays the chalice in a separate room in the tower alongside the old library.


History and Holy Grail claims

Authors and researchers Margarita Torres and José Ortega del Rio published their book, ''The Kings of the Grail'', in March 2014 claiming they had traced the origins of the chalice to the
early Christian Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...
communities of
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. The researchers say the chalice was transported to
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...
by Muslim travelers and was later given to an
emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
on the Spanish coast who had assisted victims of a famine in Egypt. From there, the chalice came into the possession of King Ferdinand I of Leon, father of
Urraca of Zamora Urraca of Zamora (1033/34 – 1101/03) was a Leonese ''infanta'', one of the five children of Ferdinand I the Great, who received the city of Zamora as her inheritance and exercised palatine authority in it. Her story was romanticized in the '' ...
, as a peace offering by an Andalusian ruler. Dating suggests the chalice was made between 200 BC and 100 AD. According to Torres, ''"the only chalice that could be considered the chalice of Christ is that which made the journey to Cairo and then from Cairo to León — and that is this chalice"''. Archaeologists quickly sought to dispel Torres and del Rio's claims, pointing out that an estimated 200 different cups and chalices across Europe ''"vie for the title"''.
Diarmaid MacCulloch Diarmaid Ninian John MacCulloch (; born 31 October 1951) is an English academic and historian, specialising in ecclesiastical history and the history of Christianity. Since 1995, he has been a fellow of St Cross College, Oxford; he was form ...
, Professor of the History of the Church at
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, said the claims were "idiotic". The authors expressed uncertainty about whether Jesus actually used the cup.''Spanish historians claim to have found Holy Grail''
by Guy Hedgecoe (
Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
, 28 March 2014)
To make the chalice more accessible, in 2017 it was digitalized, modeled in 3D and made available for watching it wearing VR glasses. Visitor to the museum can have the experience of having the virtual chalice in their hands and analyzing all its details.


References


External links


''Museo San Isidoro de Leon''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalice of Dona Urraca Holy Grail León, Spain