St. Joseph of Arimathea
(Mid-1st Century) - Abbot of Glastonbury
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St. Joseph was supposedly Christ's maternal grand uncle. He provided the tomb in which his nephew was buried and, carrying the Holy Grail (a vessel holding the blood & sweat of Christ), he followed St. Philip on his evangelising tour of France. Philip sent Joseph to Britain which he knew well from his days as a merchant. He eventually stopped in Glastonbury and thrust his staff (made from a branch of the same tree which provided Christ's Crown of Thorns) into the ground where it miraculously took root. Joseph then converted the British to Christianity, buried the Holy Grail under a spring at the foot of the Tor and established the great abbey of Glastonbury whose medieval ruins can still be seen there today, alongside the famous 'Glastonbury Thorn' tree, a descendant of the original miraculous staff.
For more details of St. Joseph of Arimathea's life, take a look at our Early British Kingdoms website.
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