Jesu Christ

Also known as: Fair Lord / Jesu / Jesus Christ / Our Lord / Saviour / he that suffered upon the cross / our Lord Jesu Christ · Family: Christianity · Role: religious figure · First appears: Book XII, Chapter XIII

In Book XII, Sir Palomides says that in his heart he believes in Jesu Christ and his mild mother Mary. In Book XIII, Sir Launcelot and Galahad are described as being respectively of the eighth and ninth degree from Our Lord Jesu Christ; Queen Guenever commends to him Sir Launcelot and the whole fellowship, while Joseph is remembered as the gentle knight who took Our Lord from the holy Cross. At Sarras, King Evelake is baptized and most of the city’s people convert to Christianity.

In Book XIV, Jesu Christ sends Joseph into the land to teach and preach the Christian faith. King Evelake, once displeased by Our Lord, cries for mercy and asks not to die until the good knight of his blood of the ninth degree arrives. Sir Percivale learns that the lion-rider signifies the new law of holy church, born through Christ’s resurrection and passion, and he is called a servant of Jesu Christ after receiving the homage of Our Lord.

In Book XVI, Sir Bors calls himself Christ’s liege man and prays for Sir Lionel while going to succour a maid. The Sangreal vision is interpreted as representing Christ’s suffering and blood shed for mankind, and Sir Bors’s rescue of two maidens is declared service to Jesu Christ. In Book XVII, Sir Launcelot accepts Christ’s rebuke for his misdeed and recognizes that he is held as a servant; after his prayer, a great clearness fills the house. Mordrains’ prayer is heard as his soul leaves his body, and Jesu Christ feeds Galahad, Sir Percivale, and Sir Bors from the Holy Vessel, identifying its sacred dish as the one used at the Last Supper and declaring that the vessel will depart Logris forever.

Jesu Christ promises that the blood of the spear will restore the Maimed King’s health, and tells Galahad, Sir Percivale, and Sir Bors that two will die in his service while one will return with tidings. At the year’s end, Galahad receives Our Lord’s body from Joseph, and afterward his soul departs to Jesu Christ and is carried to heaven by angels. In Book XXI, Sir Thomas Maleore completes his book as “the servant of Jesu both day and night.”