Introduction: A History of Pilgrimage

Open a book and you’re a pilgrim at the gates of a new city.

Hebrew proverb

Throughout contemporary and medieval literature, the concept of ‘pilgrimage’ is thought to have acquired different meanings for different cultures, eras, levels of society and even religions. Accordingly, a precise definition of the term has often eluded scholars but, in essence, historical pilgrimage involved any journey undertaken for a specifically religious purpose and which involved an overnight stay at a pilgrimage centre, particularly the latter. Canon law defined it as a mandatory journey imposed as penance for wrongdoing, or a voluntary act which involved a preliminary vow – and both had to be undertaken in the appropriate manner, that is, carrying the pilgrim insignia of scrip and staff. Derived from the Latinperegrinatio, or wandering/travelling around, pilgrimage journeys thus usually have a specific underlying religious intention. On the other hand, theMiddle English Dictionary attributes a wide range of meanings to the term ‘pilgrim’, from the Latin wordperegrinus (per, through, andager, field, country, land), including: a traveller to a holy place; a wayfarer; an alien/foreigner/stranger/sojourner/exile for the Christian faith; or man or soul as an alien, especially one whose home/destination is heaven.

The zenith of pilgrimage to these blessed sites in Britain was from the mid to late Middle Ages. The acquisition of relics was vital to the income of a church, and it was believed that the possession of saintly relics increased a church’s spiritual authenticity. Parish churches, monasteries and cathedrals all vied for pilgrims’ custom with sacred relics or, failing that, a locally associated saint was very much an in-demand entity. People would travel far and wide just to get a glimpse of the shining beacons of their faith: the shrines of saints, due to their promises of hope and the ridding of sins. And in addition to an historical form of tourism – a sort of ‘been there, done that’ – it is this penitential hope, the quest for penance of one’s sins, that motivated most and forced some to direct others to go on their behalf both in life and, making suitable provision in their wills, also after death.

Many faiths still believe in pilgrimage as an act of penance or spiritual cleansing. Yet, although there is penitential motivation in subjecting the body to the rigours of the journey to rid oneself of past sin, Christianity required pilgrims to endeavour upon such journeys as a form of insurance in order to gain indulgences that would release them from time spent in Purgatory. It was, it could be argued, the desire to obtain indulgences that populated the idea of pilgrimages. Controlled by the medieval Western Church, indulgences were used to encourage visits to shrine sites, and ultimately led to the idea of ‘buying salvation’. Both popes and bishops granted indulgences, perhaps equally for the intentions