Pilgrimages are a method of showing religious devotion by visiting holy places, often the burial place of a saint, the place of death of a religious martyr, or the place of a sacred relic. Although several religions used this practice, none were as popular or widespread as the religious pilgrimages of Christians in the Middle Ages. Because the Church encouraged an associative theology in the Middle Ages, pilgrims believed that the relics of saints preserved at pilgrimage sites guaranteed the saint's presence. They would undertake a pilgrimage to achieve better health for themselves or their loved ones, promising that if they or their loved ones were healed, they would make a pilgrimage to the saint's tomb as thanks. People also went on pilgrimage as a means of penance, to keep a vow, to fulfill a religious obligation, or to gain protection from enemies (EMPP). While pilgrimages originally commonly consisted of a solitary pilgrim quietly going about his business, as they gained popularity they quickly became a means of punishment, reconciliation, and scandal to name a few. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The garb of a pilgrim in the Middle Ages resembled the garb of a Dominican monk. It generally consisted of a long apron, over which a hooded cloak was worn. They wore low-crowned, wide-brimmed hats to protect against damp weather, tied under the chin by two cords long enough to allow the pilgrim to let it hang on his back when not needed. They wore a belt that crossed their chest and from which their wallets hung. Wallets were intended to hold cases for food, money, memorabilia, and any other necessities. They also often carried bells in their hands, or “some other pilgrims will have bagpipes with them; so that every town they passed through, both with the noise of their songs and with the sound of their flutes and with the tinkling of their Canterburie bells, and with the barking of the dogs behind them, which made more noise than if King came there with all his trumpets and many other minstrels” (Foxe, 'Acts and Monuments of the Church', 493). They also carried a walking stick, which was made of two sticks tied together, a 'stick with a broad tie around it, like a honeysuckle wrapped all around' (Langland, 325). Due to an incident on St. Richard's Day in 1487, when pilgrims beat each other to death with their sticks to get close to St. Richard's tomb, pilgrims were banned from carrying sticks. Then they could only carry banners and crosses (Bede). Another important part of the pilgrims' clothing were their signs. Pilgrim marks were badges sewn onto their hats or clothing to allow them safe passage, even through hostile territory. The Signs also served to identify where the pilgrim came from, where he was going and where he had been. A pilgrim could purchase signs from pilgrimage sites to show that he had been there. They were color coded depending on the country and had different designs to identify where the pilgrim was going. many crosses on his cloak and the keys of Rome, and the vernicula in front so people would know, by seeing his marks, what sanctuaries he had been to” (Langland, pg 325, lines 519-524) Because of the physical gravity of a pilgrimage, they were often used as a means of doing penance. Mr. Phillip Barker, an archaeologist studying the remains of a 15th century pilgrim, described the condition of the skeleton: “More than 500 years after his death, the condition of the remains of thepilgrim. . . shows that a lifetime of strenuous walking has left him with severe arthritis in his legs, toes, spine, ribs and pelvis. In addition to causing him considerable pain, this led to the fusion of some bones in the spine, coccyx, ribs and sternum which would have had a paralyzing effect." Pilgrimages imposed by law were called "judicial pilgrimages". This allowed the community to avoid the cost of incarcerating criminals and at the same time free themselves from them. Judicial pilgrims had to collect signatures at the sites they had been ordered to visit to prove that they had been there. The distance they had to travel depended on the severity of their crime; the more serious the situation, the further they were forced to travel. They were often ordered to complete their pilgrimage barefoot or, in extreme cases, completely naked, as described in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the first part of Parson's tale: contree, and thanne hooly chirche for juggementDestreyneth hym to do open penance . . For example, if their crime had been murder, they would have worn the murder weapon around their neck, or if they were heretics they would have worn two yellow crosses on their chest and back. Because they were easily identifiable, they did not enjoy the hospitality usually offered to pilgrims. Rather, they were subjected to public scorn and ridicule as part of their punishment (EMPP). Many people who undertook pilgrimages as penance were completely voluntary, with the purpose of their journey between themselves and God alone. They would go on a pilgrimage to repent of whatever crimes they had committed against God to secure their place in heaven. According to a Canon promulgated under King Edgar, “It is a profound penance for a layman to lay down his weapons and travel far barefoot and nowhere spend a second night and fast and watch much and pray fervently, day and night and willingly bear the toil and be so squalid that the iron does not come to the hair or nails” (Thorpe, 411). The hardships of pilgrimages are described in 'Syr Isenbras,' an Old English ballad, in which it is said: "They show with them no way of ThyngeThat was worth a farthyngeCattell, golde, ne fe; But mekely they ask theyre meatWhere that they might happen . For Saynct Charyt." The Catholic church even drafted “mandates of reconciliation,” which were a legal document that ensured a person's readmission into the Christian community at the end of their pilgrimage (Bede). Another reason for pilgrimages was to relieve restlessness. In the Middle Ages, people were often tied to specific locations due to family and work obligations, and also because recreational travel was not commonly accepted. Life in the Middle Ages was tightly controlled and people rarely left their village or surrounding areas. A pilgrimage was a socially acceptable way to get out of the village, away from your spouse, children, or parents, and see the world. This, however, also ultimately sparked scandal as domestic duties were neglected in favor of the adventure of travel. These 'recreational pilgrims' were mentioned in 'Piers Plowman' as “Big lubbers who don't like to work” (Langland, p. 320, line 55). In the 4th century, as we read in the 'Peregrinatio Silvi', groups, mostly clerics, organized specific travel packages for pilgrims, complete with planned itinerary, meals and armed escorts (Bede). Indulgence was also an important part of pilgrimages in the Middle Ages, and over time it became an object of contempt by many. The Indulgence was the idea that because Jesus and the saints had done so much good, the Church had a treasure ofextra merits, or Indulgences. These merits could be awarded to people who completed pilgrimages to various shrines, thus saving them from hell, purgatory or at least shortening their life time in Purgatory. It was believed that if someone went on a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. John in Santiago, the time spent in Purgatory could be halved. In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales gathered one hundred years of indulgences into a few weeks by traveling to Rome and visiting as many pilgrimage sites as possible (EMPP). In the 14th century, pilgrimage sites competed with each other, offering larger indulgences to attract "customers", much like the modern shops they sell. Some sites offered hundreds or thousands of years' worth of indulgences. Martin Luther set the Protestant Reformation in motion with his "Ninety-Five Theses," which was an argument against the church issuing indulgences. It is not surprising that in the midst of all this duplicity, professional pilgrims began to emerge, offering their services for a price ranging from twenty to one hundred marks. Those who could not travel due to age or illness could hire a professional pilgrim to accompany them. These were called "vicarious pilgrimages" and were actually very common. For safety reasons, pilgrims often traveled in groups. This allowed people to make new friends while staying safe, but it also led to more scandals as groups held raucous parties and told lewd stories. The Canterbury Tales seem to be a perfect example of the storytelling that occurred during these group pilgrimages. At the sanctuaries, as the multitude grew, the wine abounded and the crowds were noisy. The priests of Santiago de Compostella complained that "all kinds of noises and languages ​​are heard together, discordant shouts, barbaric songs in German, English, Greek and every other language under the sun." Some pilgrims have even engraved their surname or coat of arms in the sanctuary itself. The name of Ghillebert de Lannoy is still visible on Mount Sinai. Because of all this bad behavior, some sanctuaries have hired security to maintain order (EMPP). Not surprisingly, the public eventually began to tire of offering hospitality to pilgrims. Despite all this, the church was willing to go to war and fight to protect pilgrimages to Jerusalem. When pilgrims visited the Holy Sepulchre, the tomb where Jesus was laid before rising from the dead, they wrote accounts of their travels and the shrines they visited. These accounts are called peregrinationes and have made the Western world familiar with the Eastern one. During one of these pilgrimages, the most famous on record because it contained nearly 12,000 pilgrims, the group was attacked by an army of Bedouins outside Caesarea. When the story of the attack reached Europe, it sparked outrage and as a result the Eastern Crusades began (Bede). Of course there were many other issues involved too and the chronology goes beyond just the Middle Ages. However, to put it simply, the Christians wanted Jerusalem, and the motivating factor was the Christian relics that Jerusalem contained. Obviously the importance of relics has a direct correlation with pilgrimages. In addition to the Crusades, there were many developments resulting from pilgrimages in the Middle Ages. Miraculous plays had originally been performed by pilgrims at the shrines they were visiting or while traveling there. Whatever shrine of saint or martyr they were visiting would be the subject of the work (Bede). They reenacted the miracle or heroic story of martyrdom for inspiration or to teach history to those who did not know it.they knew. Eventually, the Miracle plays made their way to the West, where they were performed on the streets of Europe. This was to teach the sacred stories to people who could not read the Bible on their own because they could not read or were unable to understand the Latin verse in which it was written. Many religious services were also held in Latin, so ordinary people could not even learn Bible stories there. When people were able to discover the stories in a way they could understand, it brought their religion closer to them, creating a faith considerably more personal than the Catholic Church had previously allowed. This was the kind of thing that gave credence to the Reformation. The rise and fall of cities were directly linked to pilgrimages. If an otherwise obscure city contained an important relic, the inevitable pilgrim traffic would expand the city. Businesses would open to accommodate them and townhomes would grow as a result. This was the case with Canterbury, which grew larger than Winchester at the height of religious pilgrimages in the Middle Ages, but which dwindled to relative insignificance after the Reformation when pilgrimages declined (Bede). As a result of the pilgrimages roads were created and a knowledge of geography was acquired. The wanderings that the pilgrims wrote down were worth like maps because they gave detailed accounts of their routes and the cities they passed through. Pilgrims literally created paths with their feet as they walked along the paths. In this way a road was created through the Syrian desert to Jerusalem and from the coast to Canterbury (Bede). These rough tracks laid the foundation for larger roads that could accommodate wagons and foster trade. As the roads became busier and pilgrims passed through different lands, relations between the countries opened up. Before the pilgrimages, the villages were quite isolated from each other. At the height of pilgrimages, people even used pilgrims as postmen, waiting at the door with their letter until a pilgrim passed, then using the pilgrim to deliver it. Countries also guaranteed foreign pilgrims safe passage through their lands, even during war (Bede). Religious orders were also founded, largely to protect pilgrims. The most famous of these are the Knights Templar. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay During the pilgrimages of the Middle Ages, scandals were rampant, with people neglecting their duties at home, pilgrims' boorish behavior that doesn't exactly fit the religious mission, relic keepers aggressively publicizing the he importance of pilgrimages, the church generously handing out indulgences, and people getting tired of constantly offering hospitality to pilgrims. All these things, and the beginning of the Reformation, greatly reduced religious pilgrimages. However, many good things also came from pilgrimages, including the creation of roads that brought relations between countries closer, increased trade, improved knowledge of geography, education brought to common people through miracle performances, and personal experience. enrichment that many individuals have received from their journey. Even though the pilgrimages of the past no longer exist, people continue to participate in them today. The Internet is full of travel agencies offering an "authentic" pilgrimage experience to the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and many other sites in the East, Greece and Rome. Works Cited Barker, P. (2013). Medieval pilgrim skeleton with arthritis.