12. Grail Stories Did Not Surface Until Well Into the Middle Ages
Medieval Roman Catholicism, particularly during the Dark Ages (the first few hundred years of the Middle Ages, from approximately the collapse of Rome until the beginning of the Crusades), placed a high value on relics that were connected to an aspect of biblical history. For example, a swindler might travel from village to village with a few splinters of wood, claiming that they were from the cross upon which Jesus died, and earn money showing them to people. Undoubtedly, some people peddled what they claimed to be the cup that is now referred to as the Holy Grail. However, no large-scale legends were surrounding it, at least none of which modern scholars are aware.
During the Crusades, European Christians traveled en masse to Jerusalem for the first time in history, where they walked in the exact places where Jesus walked. The crusading fervor, coupled with the reality of being in the Holy Land, created an atmosphere in which finding the relics from the life of Jesus took on an unprecedented importance. They believed that touching with their own hands the items that had been used by Jesus would impart to them grace. Of particular interest was the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, which they believed possessed a mystical, healing property.