Pilgrimages are nothing new. For thousands of years, people have travelled to various religious sites for different reasons. However, there was never a more popular time for religious pilgrimages than during the Middle Ages.
In medieval times, people made long trips to visit the relics or resting places of revered saints. Many of these journeys, to far away places such as Jerusalem or Rome, could take months and often, the travellers never returned, such were the risks of travelling to an unknown destination.
The Journey of a Medieval Pilgrim
Many medieval people chose to travel in groups, reasoning that there was safety in numbers. One particularly famous group of fictional pilgrims are the characters from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. They were based on real life people and reflected the fact that pilgrims came from all walks of life.
Rich or poor, everyone needed hospitality whilst on the road and there were many places along popular pilgrim routes which catered for travellers, just as today’s motorway service stations allow us to rest during our journeys. One of the earliest forms of hospitality was the monastery. It was traditional during the Middle Ages that anyone who presented themselves at a monastery door would be given food and shelter.
However, as the number of pilgrims increased, there were simply too many people to be housed in monastic buildings and so inns and boarding houses offered an alternative. Here, people would swop stories with other travellers, finding out about places they had visited. They could also gain valuable information from people who had visited the pilgrimage sites and were on their way back home, picking up information about places to eat and stay.
Pilgrim Destinations
Just as nowadays, in the Middle Ages, during times of political hostility or war, there were places which were too dangerous for the traveller to visit, even if he or she was part of a group. Many pilgrims who were unable to take on the huge prospect of a visit to the Holy Land would instead travel to Rome, home of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, or Santiago de Compostella in Spain, where the shrine of St James was housed.
Wayside crosses pointed the route to travellers who were far from home and just as today, there were chances to acquire souvenirs, in the form of religious statues, drawings and, particularly during medieval times, religious relics, some of which were of dubious authenticity.
Reasons for a Medieval Pilgrimage
Why did medieval people go on pilgrimage? Obviously, for the majority of people, there were religious reasons for their trip. Many believed their successful journey to a chosen shrine would secure them a place in heaven.
Others, like some modern-day pilgrims, sought a cure from illness or, failing that, personal peace and solace. And some went to a shrine as an act of thanksgiving or atonement, or to make a special request of the saint associated with the site. A pilgrimage could also be imposed by a member of the clergy, in order to punish a penitent.
A pilgrimage was often one of the only chances for people from all walks of life to really associate with each other. Like the characters in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, what each person gained from their journey depended very much on their own personality and circumstances.
Sources
Hopper, Sarah, To Be A Pilgrim, The Medieval Pilgrimage Experience [Sutton Publishing, 2002)
Chaucer, Geoffrey, The Canterbury Tales [written in the 14th century, various editions available from Amazon]
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