Wrote a Grail romance c. 1195-1216. Von Eschenbach openly disparaged and criticized other versions of the Grail story, claiming his version was the most accurate, received from the “learned master Kyot de Provence.” He claimed that Kyot in turn received the story from a learned “heathen” named Flegetanis, “descended from Solomon.” The identity of Flegetanis is a mystery, but Kyot is most probably Guiot de Provins, a famous wandering minstrel, also an outspoken ally of the Templars.
Von Eschenbach’s version of the Grail story, Parzival, as with other early Grail romances, focuses on the “Grail family,” not the Grail itself. It is set in France during the reign of the Merovingians.
The text of Parzival constantly alludes to the fact that the Grail is not a physical object, but a metaphor for something else. As in de Troyes’ version of the story, it is borne by a woman in and is never described as a cup, only as the “Perfection of Paradise, both root and branch.”
Von Eschenbach also stated that the Templars are the guardians of the Grail.