Lecture 3:

Pilgrimages in the High and Late Middle Ages

Pilgrimage = a long journey to a sacred place or shrine undertaken to gain divine intercession, to
demonstrate devotion, to give thanks for divine intervention and aid or as a form of punishment. A
pilgrimage is a quest for spirituality, for physical and spiritual healing. In the High Middle Ages this
practice relied mainly on the upsurge of the Cult of Relics.

Relics = were literally ‘objects left behind’, physical evidence of the saint’s existence (including
Virgin Mary and even Jesus). They were either fragments of the saint’s body or objects that were
associated with the saint’s existence e.g. the Virgin’s Holy Tunic (sancta camisa), a highly revered
relic which had been brought from Constantinople and offered to Chartres in the ninth century.
(Note: Unsurprisingly, the Holy Tunic is hardly the only tunic of the Virgin believed to have
existed. Around the mid-thirteenth century, Aachen also claimed to have a Tunic of the Virgin. To
avoid confusion some believed the tunic of Aachen to be the Virgin’s shroud while the tunic of
Chartres was said to be the garment worn by the Virgin at the time of the Annunciation. However,
this distinction did not put an end to the speculations regarding either the authenticity of the relics
or, what is more, the mere existence of them. Thus, in 1712 the ecclesiastical authorities of Chartres
decided to open the Sainte Châsse – the reliquary casket in which the relic was kept – for the first
time in official memory and “no tunic was found – only a length of silk immediately interpreted as a
veil”. Even the nature of the Aachen relic was unknown until the Marian shrine had been damaged
by a fire in 1237. When the relics were removed from the damaged shrine, four cloth relics,
including a whole tunic were found. Since their authenticity could not be established at the time and
neither can it be determined nowadays despite the developments of scientific technology and the
astounding method of radiocarbon dating, the genuineness/authenticity of the relics continues to rest
on faith.)

Reasons for the inflation of relics:

- the Second Council of Nicaea (8th century) had decreed that no church was to be consecrated
without relics → the demand for relics exceeded the ‘offer’ by far.
- a means toward a profitable ‘business’. So popular was the trade in relics that a counterfeit
industry grew during this period, with desperate vendors resorting to robbing graves for
human bones, which they could pass off as the remains of a saint.

Medieval England was a society in which spatial mobility was extremely limited. Serfdom bound
peasants to the land and even free peasants could not move at their free will, their mobility was
circumscribed by law or custom. This society, which is often called “feudal” because of its social
contracts, provided a set place for each person, depending on ancestry. One was simply born into a
role, which guaranteed one a good deal of security and meaning as long as one faithfully carried
out that role.
So, travelling in the Middle Ages was not encouraged because it would have made social identity
fluid. At the same time, this was a dangerous enterprise. The pilgrim left the security of everyday
life to travel through an unknown landscape in order to encounter a place where the manifestation
of the sacred could be found. Before he set out, he would make out his will and receive a special
blessing, especially if he embarked upon a long journey to Jerusalem or Rome. He would also
undergo a ritual of separation before his departure.
Getting to Jerusalem in medieval times had never been easy or cheap, so a pilgrim had to
carry enough money to pay his own way. However, bringing large sums of money was frowned
upon for both religious and practical reasons. Pilgrims were supposed to emulate (imitate) the
simple, austere life of Jesus Christ, even through the special outfit they wore, which resembled that
of the penitent: a coarse gown with large sleeves, a broad-brimmed hat, a belt, a pouch strapped (=
prins cu curea) across theirs backs or around their waist to carry food, personal items and money
and a pilgrim’s staff for walking over rough terrain but also for protection. He was not allowed to
carry any weapons.
One medieval guidebook, probably exaggerating for effect, put forward this injunction (=
ordin):
“The pilgrim may bring with him no money at all, except perhaps to distribute it to the poor on the
road. Those who sell their property before leaving must give every penny of it to the poor, for if
they spend it on their own journey they are departing from the path of the Lord. (…) The pilgrim
who dies on the road with money in his pocket is permanently excluded from the Kingdom of
Heaven.”
In practice, one had to pay their own way especially when travelling long distances (to
Jerusalem, for instance). Nevertheless, bringing too much money would have been considered to be
both sinful and foolish. An obvious display of wealth was an invitation to a thief, or it would have
attracted robbers.

Reasons for pilgrimage: mainly religious, also secular, or both:

- pious veneration of the memory of saints
- offered spiritual improvement through learning about the saints and desiring to fall into their
steps
- held out in hope of pardon for sin, the assurance of deliverance for misdeeds (Heaven-
Purgatory-Hell → lessening the time spent in Purgatory); The tripartite organisation of the
eschatological universe (Paradise-Purgatory-Inferno) corresponds to a social thirteenth
century triumvirate with the new born bourgeoisie (mediocres) placed between the cleric,
monastic and secular aristocracy (majores) on the one hand, and the poor ordinary people
(minores) on the other hand. The alteration of the social life is not accidental and has its own
impact on (against) the feudal system as a whole. The emergence of the money economy
dramatically changed the status of aristocracy. Starting with the thirteenth century, a power-
centred opposition potens/paupers was being replaced by the binary rich/poor. The social
hierarchic system, which relied heavily on the vertical disposition of ordines is gradually
 replaced by a horizontal system of estates which evolve mainly in towns: merchants,
doctors, guildsmen e.g. craftsmen: stone masons, carpenters, bakers, glaziers etc.
- intercessory function: finding an intermediary with God in solving personal problems:
finding a cure for an illness or healing for physical and mental afflictions, giving thanks for
successful healings/cures or, finding solutions to personal misfortunes; the Church accepted
and even encouraged the medical motivation for pilgrimage and canonization processes
included miracle lists (miraculous healings) as evidence of the saint’s miracle working
abilities. Illiterate Christians, irrespective of their gender, could learn or simply re-activate
their memories of holy stories and holy men by visiting holy places. And, as any good story,
sacred places could stir the curiosity of pilgrims and encouraged them to find out more.
Hagiographic accounts, fables and exempla i.e. short stories meant to illustrate a moral
truth, narrative stratagems meant to instruct the flock and strengthen its faith, pictorial
representations of miracles in stained glass windows, all contributed to the enlargement of
the devotional space and to the enhancement of the devotional message.
- for vagabonds, thieves, prostitutes etc. going on a pilgrimage was a means to practise their
illicit ‘trades’ while posing for pilgrims; they would have ‘accompanied’ pilgrims to satisfy
their own desires. Vagabonds who roamed the country going from shrine to shrine or from
abbey to abbey to take their share of alms, or who took on occasional labour at the time of
harvest or at vintage, called the issue of mobility again into question. Within a society
committed to a rigid distribution of social roles and a well-defined hierarchy of orders,
wandering about and straying from the scope of life was equivalent to willful disobedience
and open defiance against God’s authority.
- a pilgrimage could be also an imaginary journey to sacred places; “a change of place does
not amount to approaching God, rather, wherever you are, God will come to you.” (Gregory
of Nyssa) In other words, one should not mistake travelling in space – even if the intent of
the journey was purely devotional – with spiritual progression. This cautionary advice
mostly targeted monastic pilgrims. For those who dedicated their lives to Christ, it was
unduly to travel the world in search of Him. This was only the attribute of the lay who were
in constant need of reassurance to keep up their faith.
- (especially in the Late Middle Ages) a means of satisfying one’s curiosity or simply a way
of escape from days of boredom when nothing exciting was happening; some ‘pilgrims’
were accused of being animated only by the desire to seek distraction than to purify their
soul. What is more, the Church allowed for the practice of selling indulgences to develop.
The full or partial remission (= reducerea) of one’s sins was greatly condemned by Martin
Luther, who would initiate the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
- a pilgrimage could be imposed on a person as a form of punishment (it differed greatly from
the self-imposed penitential pilgrimage) it was for sinners who had committed serious public
offences: murder, sacrilege, transgressions. These people were commanded to undergo
penitential pilgrimage, as a form of public atonement (= ispăşire) for their offences. This
‘motivation’ is obviously external. It did not imply the consent of the culprit. It is a form of
exile and mild excommunication, because it was issued to punish a person who had
committed serious offence either against church rules or against secular authorities – which,
in both situations, was a case of defiance against God’s will; nevertheless, the accused was
exempt of communion until he/she proved his/her return to grace and renewed his vows of
obedience willfully. If, in case of excommunication, the anathema could have a permanent
character, the voyage of penance was limited in time. Once the pilgrimage was completed,
the guilt was expiated, and the sinner pardoned and absolved. These pilgrims were required
to wear a special garment by which everyone could recognize the person’s crime e.g.
heretics were sometimes required to wear a black garment with a white cross on front and
back, those who had committed a capital crime might have to wear chains around their
necks, arms or waist.
Identifying pilgrims

Special outfit = the outfit of a penitent: cloak made of coarse material, a belt, a broad-brimmed hat,
a staff, a pouch in which all the pilgrim’s belongings were carried; a pilgrim could wear badges
(worn on their cloak or hat): from Compostella – the scallop shell; from Canterbury: the head of St.
Thomas or a picture of St. Thomas wearing his mitre etc. As everyone wanted to say that they had
been to a particular site, some pilgrims started to abuse the official pilgrim badge system of the
Church and they developed a ‘trade’ of selling fake pilgrim badges.
Medieval pilgrims enjoyed a special status. During the journey, they were above all laws except for
those of the Church. They were exempt from paying taxes, their debts were written off, their
properties could not be confiscated, and they could not be arrested. They could sleep in churches
and ask for meals. The belief was that aiding a pilgrim would allow one to share in his grace.
The most popular shrine in England was the tomb of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.
When Becket was murdered local people managed to obtain pieces of cloth soaked in his blood.
Rumors soon spread that, when touched by this cloth, people were cured of blindness/ epilepsy and
leprosy. It was not long before the monks at Canterbury Cathedral were selling small glass bottles
of Becket's blood to visiting pilgrims.
Another important shrine was at Walsingham in Norfolk where there was a sealed glass jar that was
said to contain the milk of the Virgin Mary. Erasmus visited Walsingham and described the shrine
as being surrounded "on all sides with gems, gold and silver." He also added that the water from the
Walsingham spring was "efficacious in curing pains of the head and stomach."
Geoffrey Chaucer – The Canterbury Tales
- a collection of stories in a frame story, between 1387 and 1400. It is the story of a group of thirty
people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury Cathedral. The pilgrims, who come from all layers of
society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury.
Chaucer never finished his enormous project and even the completed tales were not finally revised
(he only completed 24 stories). Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales. As the printing
press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, The Canterbury Tales has been passed
down in several handwritten manuscripts.
The General Prologue is the key to The Canterbury tales which narrates about the gathering of a
group of people in an inn to go on a pilgrimage to Canterbury next morning. In the General
Prologue, the narrator of The Canterbury Tales, who is one of the intended pilgrims, describes the
members of the group and the reasons why and how The Canterbury Tales is to be told. If we trust
the General Prologue, Chaucer determined that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to
Canterbury and two tales on the way back. The host of the inn offers to be and is appointed as judge
of the tales as they are told and is supposed to determine the winning tale. (see seminar).
Bibliography: The Crusades Reference: “Pilgrimages to the Holy Land …” – pp.33-45; The Birth
of Europe: “Pilgrimages” – pp.64-67. Women and Pilgrimage (optional); Norton Anthology of
English Literature: Geoffrey Chaucer – pp.93-121.