that it is grateful and acceptable to him that eateth
therein, as well for that which containeth the victual, for
that haply it is of silver or other precious material, as
for the contents thereof, to wit, the manifold courses of
costly meats. I have not been able to find this history
written in Latin, but it is in the possession of certain
noblemen written in French only, nor, as they say, can it
easily be found complete. This, however, I have not
hitherto been able to obtain from any person so as to read
it with attention. As soon as I can do so, I will translate
into Latin such passages as are more useful and more likely
to be true." (9)

A comparison of this passage with the Introduction to the present work
(10) leaves no doubt that Helinand here refers to this "Book of the
Graal", which cannot therefore be of a later date than that at which he
made this entry in his "Chronicle". At the same time, the difficulty
he experienced in obtaining even the loan of the volume shows that the
work had at that time been only lately written, as in the course of a
few years, copies of a book so widely popular must have been
comparatively common. The date, therefore, at which Helinand's
"Chronicle" was written determines approximately that of the "Book of
the Graal".

In its present state, the "Chronicle" comes to an end with a notice of
the capture of Constantinople by the French in 1204, and it has been
hastily assumed that Helinand's labours as a chronicler must have
closed in that year. As a matter of fact they had not then even begun.
At that time Helinand was still a courtly troubadour, and had not yet
entered on the monastic career during which his "Chronicle" was
compiled. He was certainly living as late as 1229, and preached a
sermon, which assuredly shows no signs of mental decrepitude, in that
year at a synod in Toulouse. (11)

Fortunately a passage in the "Speculum Historiale" of Vincent of
Beauvais, himself a younger contemporary and probably a personal
acquaintance of Helinand, throws considerable light on the real date of
Helinand's "Chronicle". After recounting certain matters connected
with the early years of the thirteenth century, the last date mentioned
being 1209, Vincent proceeds:--

"In those times, in the diocese of Beauvais, was Helinand
monk of Froid-mont, a man religious and distinguished for
his eloquence, who als