Joseph ben Matthat of Arimathaea

   Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Joseph ben Matthat of Arimathaea  [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  Death	aft 35 AD
  Siblings	3 Siblings
  + 1. Joseph ben Matthat of Arimathaea   d. aft 35 AD + 2. Enygeus   d. Yes, date unknown ▻ King Brân Fendigaid, " the Blessed" + 3. Hedi   d. Yes, date unknown ▻ + 4. Joachim   d. Yes, date unknown ▻ Anna
  Person ID	I114888	Geneagraphie | Voorouders HW
  Last Modified	19 Mar 2010

  
  

  Father	Matthat ben Levi   d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	NN   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F46248	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Children	+ 1. Anna, "The Prophetess"   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F46250	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	19 Mar 2010

  
  

• Notes

  REF: "Britannia Internet Magazine": Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy disciple of Jesus, who, according to the book of Matthew 27:57-60, asked Pontius Pilate for permission to take Jesus' dead body in order to prepare it for burial. He also provided the tomb where the crucified Lord was laid until his Resurrection. Joseph is mentioned in a few times in parallel passages in Mark, Luke and John, but nothing further is heard about his later activities. Legend, however, supplies us with the rest of his story by claiming that Joseph, accompanying the Apostle Philip on a preaching mission to Gaul, was sent to Britain for the purpose of converting the island to Christianity. The year 63 AD is commonly given for this "event", with 37 AD sometimes being put forth as an alternative. It was said that Joseph achieved his wealth in the metals trade, and in the course of conducting his business, he probably became acquainted with Britain, at least the southwestern parts of it. Cornwall was a chief mining district and well-known in the Roman empire for its tin and other metals. Some have even said that Joseph was the uncle of Jesus, and that he may have brought the young boy along on one of his business trips to the island. It was only natural, then, that Joseph should have been chosen for the first mission to Britain, and appropriate that he should come first to Glastonbury, that gravitational center for legendary activity in the West Country. Much more was added to Joseph's legend during the middle ages, and he was gradually inflated into a major saint and cult hero. For example, he is said to have brought with him either a cup, said to have been used at the Last Supper and also used to catch the blood dripping from Christ as he hung on the Cross. A variation of this story is that Joseph brought with him two cruets, one containing the blood and the other, the sweat of Christ. Either of these items are known as The Holy Grail, and were the object(s) of the quests of the Knights of King Arthur's Round Table. The legend goes on to suggest that Joseph hid the "Grail" in Chalice Well at Glastonbury for safe-keeping. There is a wide variance of scholarly opinion on this subject, however, and a good deal of doubt exists as to whether Joseph ever came to Britain at all, for any purpose.

  
  

• Sources

  [S8] Ernst-Friedrich Kraentzler, Ancestry of Richard Plantagenet & Cecily de Neville, (published by author 1978 , , Repository: J.H. Garner), Chart 1827, p 393 (Reliability: 0). [S405] Britannia Internet Magazine, LLC, (Repository: http://www.britannia.com/index.html).