Quest and Question: Perceval and the Grail

The immediate concern was the violence of knights, epitomised by Gawain. The solution lay in a form of monastic spirituality of which Perceval was the product, but also required reform of aristocratic institutions and values that were the context that gave legitimacy to knightly violence. The critiques of aristocratic institutions and values were blasphemous and seditious, they required rebuttal which revealed mediaeval religious controversy. A new synopsis is included for those not interested in the analysis of the stories.