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Knights seek to emulate Galahad—the honorable, steadfast, incorruptible knight whose heart was pure enough to retrieve the Holy Grail. The Galahad tale was written by Catholic monks of the Order of Cistercian. As a result, Galahad lives as purely and chastely as a monk, and resists the sins and temptations of the world. The most popular representations of Galahad’s quest for the Grail show him in full armor, resisting the beckoning of beautiful forest nymphs. For Galahad’s priestly creators, the corruption of the Church can be corrected—and the world repaired—by a return to strict adherence to principle.

For Knights, the best, truest hero acts like a knight in shining armor, the one who saves the world by doing the purest, most correct thing despite impossible odds.

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