Apostle arm reliquary, German, c1190, silver gilt & enamel, 51cm,
Cleveland Museum Art
So every temptation that could fascinate the medieval mind was linked to pilgrimage. A general indulgence was made by Pope Urban II in 1095 to pilgrims to Jerusalem, and later to all pilgrims. The ceremony for blessing departing pilgrims was held in the local parish church; in his habit he lay prostrate before the altar. Each pilgrim received a staff and leather satchel, and wore a grey tunic, scarf and large broad-rimmed hat. A red cross was sewn on his garment.
The natural world was seen by medievals as a chaos in which the perpetual intervention of God was the only guiding law; the only remedies were prayer and the performance of pious acts. The sexually unchaste were shown as deformed, distorted human beings. Detailed descriptions of Hell, involving fire, brimstone and venomous worms, were on the west fronts of Bourges, Conques, Lourdes and Rocamadour. Except for the upper mobility, clergy and wealthy merchants, the vast majority could not read. So the church chose sculptural themes that were most likely to capture citizens’ attention, elicit their emotions and improve their morals.
The greatest relics were those associated with Christ, especially once the holy cross was excavated in Jerusalem. Relics of the Passion were sent westwards, the crown of thorns going to St Louis of France in Ste Chapelle 1239.
In French pilgrimages to the Virgin were the principal means by which devotion of uneducated people was expressed. Virgin statues were placed on altars, carved images, on shrines, column capitals and walls. Relics included: her empty tomb outside Jerusalem; her cloak in the church of Constantinople; and her silk tunic in Chartres’ crypt.
If churches could not have relics from Christ or the Virgin, other holy people were next best eg the head of St John the Baptist was preserved at St Hilaire in Poitiers. This cult of saints led to an unprecedented demand for relics, given that relics were necessary for the consecration of churches. There was a great demand for saints’ literature. Saints’ lives were read in the lessons on their feast days; stories were repeated in sermons; and the themes were often illustrated in wall art or stained glass. Teaching the lives and miracles of the saints greatly simplified doctrinal issues and encouraged uneducated people with the faith.
The relics were not venerated in themselves; they were a link to holy martyrs whose lives were a model to humanity. So the more beautiful, the better. Soon precious reliquaries were being created to honour those divine persons to whom the relics had once belonged. Where possible, reliquaries were shaped as the contents had appeared in life.
The badges were made to boost revenues at pilgrim sites and to limit damage to shrines that were nicked. Cheap lead alloys allowed thin casting and detailed low-relief imagery, allowing for the production of delicate, silver-bright objects, affordable for the majority of medieval pilgrims.
St Michael's Pilgrim brass badge
Reliquary bust, Auvergne, c1160, copper-gilt, ivory & horn, 73cm,
Mairie de Saint-Nectaire
Medieval people were vulnerable to illness. Physical disease had to have spiritual causes, brought on by sin; infection was the physical transfer of devils; and barrenness was a sign of God’s displeasure. The clergy upheld the invocation of the saints as the ONLY sure remedy for sickness. Epidemics led to mass pilgrimage to each of the Blessed Virgin’s sanctuaries. When sick pilgrims came for the Virgin’s intervention, they were nursed in the crypt hospital. They slept IN the cathedral: the nave was sloped for easy sluicing. On saints' feast days, crowds of the sick filled the great basilicas. [The medical profession did not inspire as much confidence as the intercession of St Thomas or St James]. Many of the great healing shrines cultivated their own medical specialities, and the cures were advertised in the saints’ books.
By the late C12th, four shrines vied with Rome & Jerusalem in importance: Compostela, Canterbury (immediately following the 1170 martyrdom of St Thomas Becket), Cologne and Chartres. Compostela’s popularity reached its peak in the mid C12th, with c500,000 pilgrims a year. The best protection for pilgrims in those decades was provided by military monkish orders.
By the late C12th, four shrines vied with Rome & Jerusalem in importance: Compostela, Canterbury (immediately following the 1170 martyrdom of St Thomas Becket), Cologne and Chartres. Compostela’s popularity reached its peak in the mid C12th, with c500,000 pilgrims a year. The best protection for pilgrims in those decades was provided by military monkish orders.
Pilgrimage provided a wealth of memorable experiences: new friends, tourism in new lands, soaring gothic spires, physical pains, dazzling shrines and reliquaries, and ultimate relief at the end. Without photos, medieval pilgrim souvenir badges were the best and most evocative memories available to returning pilgrims.
The badges were made to boost revenues at pilgrim sites and to limit damage to shrines that were nicked. Cheap lead alloys allowed thin casting and detailed low-relief imagery, allowing for the production of delicate, silver-bright objects, affordable for the majority of medieval pilgrims.
St Thomas Becket badge, Canterbury
England 15th century
Between the C12th and the C16ths they were sold in their thousands at famous sites, as well more local sites. Smart badge makers would try and reflect the relics relevant to each pilgrimage sites.
The souvenirs were bought for different reasons. 1] For religiously focused pilgrims, badges could serve an important devotional purpose. 2] Medieval artefacts were sparkling, colourful objects, attractive to wear. 3] They advertised the particular shrine that had been most important to that group of pilgrims. 4] They could protect the health of the pilgrims on the long trip home. And 5] for the rest of their lives, the souvenirs would remind the pilgrim of the best time in his entire life. Family and friends would be in awe of the one person in the village who had fulfilled his dream.
Most major pilgrimage sites had at least one easily recognisable image that could be reproduced on a badge. Santiago de Compostela badges were shell-shaped; Amiens’ was John the Baptist's head on a plate; St Albans’ showed the saint's martyrdom. The badge of Thomas Becket at Canterbury was his jewel-encrusted reliquary that housed a holy skull fragment.
The souvenirs were bought for different reasons. 1] For religiously focused pilgrims, badges could serve an important devotional purpose. 2] Medieval artefacts were sparkling, colourful objects, attractive to wear. 3] They advertised the particular shrine that had been most important to that group of pilgrims. 4] They could protect the health of the pilgrims on the long trip home. And 5] for the rest of their lives, the souvenirs would remind the pilgrim of the best time in his entire life. Family and friends would be in awe of the one person in the village who had fulfilled his dream.
Most major pilgrimage sites had at least one easily recognisable image that could be reproduced on a badge. Santiago de Compostela badges were shell-shaped; Amiens’ was John the Baptist's head on a plate; St Albans’ showed the saint's martyrdom. The badge of Thomas Becket at Canterbury was his jewel-encrusted reliquary that housed a holy skull fragment.
22 comments:
Dangerous times to live and to travel and really one had to be careful who they confided in about religious believes, I am glad I don't live in those times
Such a wealth of information in this post. I am astounded by the fact that all forms of physical illness need to have a spiritual explanation. Sins create guilt and fear for people to react to.
Hello Hels, I immediately recognized the iconic arm reliquary from the Cleveland Museum of Art--thank you for including it. Many of the badges and souvenirs of pilgrims from London ended up in the Thames River, and the finding of some of these sparked the infamous Billy and Charlie fakes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadwell_forgeries
--Jim
I think all the crowds of ill people sleeping within a cathedral probably spread more disease than was cured. I'm glad we no longer live in those times, though there probably are still some who see illness and infection as punishment for sins.
Religion never ceases to astound me. I guess it all started with people not understanding their environment and bodies and they needed answers.They sure had some strange ideas, beliefs and behaviours in the Middle Ages and like other commenters i'm glad I didn't live in those times.
What a fascinating post, and sheds so much light on the recent Augustine Camino walk I joined. I have to admit that I seriously doubt the authenticity of all the relics, especially the cross
Very interesting post Hels. Always learning.
Really interesting post, Hels. People still undertake pilgrimages for many of the same reasons as long ago.
Jo-Anne
They were indeed very dangerous times in the 18th century. But the medieval pilgrims took every precaution possible before they left home e.g the departing pilgrims were blessed in their local parish church and pilgrims travelled in convoy with armed guards to protect themselves against robbers along the roads.
roentare
I am afraid there weren't many explanations for physical illness other than religious faith. Even if the sick person could have found a doctor in rural areas, would the doctor have known about the existence of infections etc? Absolutely not.
Only Islamic doctors were beginning to understand proper health care.
Parnassus
The German Arm Reliquary of the Apostles (c1190) was from Hildesheim, and gorgeous because it was of gilt-silver and champlevé enamel. But its most important role was holding the lower arm bone that belonged to one of Christ's apostles. We probably will never know if the reliquary was a fake or if the arm bone inside was really from an apostle. So I will read your fake and forgeries material carefully.
River
imagine people sleeping on top of each other on a cathedral floor when one or more of those people had smallpox, leprosy or the Black Death. When closely exposed to the plague or syphilis, they often turned to superstitious/religious rites and magic.
diane
when people are desperate and no real medicine is available, they will turn to anything else offering hope. Especially since devout Christians truly believed Jesus and his disciples (and no-one else) would cure whatever ailed them.
This sounds a bit like devout Christians' response when Covid broke out. Didn't they oppose the COVID-19 vaccine because their faith told them that God would protect them?
Mandy
if we didn't doubt the authenticity of all the relics, especially the cross, then we too might have joined the pilgrims en route to the holy sites. And we probably would have bought any symbol or herb that might have helped.
Am I correct in assuming that Christian Scientists still avoid traditional medial treatment. Instead they treat their illnesses with spiritual healing, stressing the importance of prayer and communion with God.
Margaret
I first wrote these notes when I was lecturing at TAFE back in the 1990s. And yet we are still learning more and more.
jabblog
absolutely so! Camino de Santiago in northern Spain alone sees hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walking on the route each year, on average for 35 days. And I know it is true... I saw them, from inside my car :)
For other important pilgrim destinations today, see Holy Blog https://www.holyart.com/blog/religious-items/5-places-of-pilgrimage-to-go-to-at-least-once-in-a-lifetime/.
It's interesting how many of these pilgrim journeys there were. I knew they were common, but not that common. I guess I should reread the Wife of Bath.
Walkers still follow many if the old pilgrim routes but not for the same reasons. A fascinating post.
Fun60
I was never sure why walkers still go along the old routes to pilgrimage sites todays. But examine what the Centre for Christian Pilgrimage recorded:
https://christian-pilgrimage.org.uk/what-is-pilgrimage/why-do-people-go-on-piligrimages/
1. To echo the journey in the footsteps of Christ, and his short stay on earth.
2. To arrive at the sacred destination.
3. To ask a favour.
4. To seek forgiveness.
5. To escape the everyday.
6. To heal.
These reasons would have sounded familiar to medieval pilgrims.
Erika
the Wife of Bath was an interesting character, going on pilgrimage for fewer religious reasons and more intellectual or social reasons. Perhaps she wanted to socialise with friends, to find a husband or to see a particularly appealing church.
Most pilgrims only took the risks of distant travel once in their life. But the Wife of Bath visited Jerusalem, Rome, St James of Compostela and other sites. Clearly she enjoyed every experience, a born traveller.
Muslims are expected/encouraged to make a pilgrimage to Mecca which is supposed to be the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad. It's interesting that Christianity doesn't have geographical ties to Holy Sites in the same way that Islam or Judaism does. E.g. Muslims pray towards Mecca etc.
In part, I think it is because the objective historicity of Jesus is so thin & sparse. In Jerusalem, pilgrims visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, despite its location being little more than a guess by Constantine's mother as to where Jesus' tomb was located.
I still want to visit it one day.
Thanks for the interesting post.
Liam
I half agree with you. The original Christian pilgrimages WERE created at sites specifically connected to Christ's birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection - whether these sites were exactly located or not.
But later Christian pilgrimage sites may definitely have been added to boost the Church's economies or to increase their religious tourism. Nothing wrong with France, Spain or Britain having pilgrimage sites, as long as the pilgrims understood that those places had never been identified in the Bible.
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