In the 13th century, a huge literature emerged around an unlikely tale: Survivors of early Christianity make a perilous journey to Western Europe, start a hidden bloodline, preserve powerful relics of the crucifixion, and carry a secret which, if revealed, would turn the established church on its head. In The Hidden Church of the Holy Graal, A. E. Waite gets to the core of the legend, a mass of narratives that began with the seeds of pagan folklore and grew into an allegorical Christian epic. This massive book will interest academic readers who want a survey of Grail literature, as well as the mystically inclined who seek the Grail itself. The author examines every known source for the Grail legend, discussing and dismissing theories linking the Grail to the Templars, Masons, Cathars, Albigensians and Waldensians, and finally concluding that there is an "inner church" in Christianity-not a conspiracy or underground sect but a mystical core symbolized by the cup of the Last Supper.