Steven Gilder Mrs. Eckman Wisler British Lit 9/20/16 Medieval Pilgrimages

During the middle ages churches encouraged people to take pilgrimages to holy sites to redeem themselves of sin and increase their chances of getting into heaven, or to cure themselves of an illness and disease, religious artifacts at these Sites were said to cure diseases such as blindness, epilepsy, and leprosy.

Some of the most popular religious shrines were the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket, where monks sold vials of his blood that was said to cure diseases, another popular shrine was at Walsingham in Norfolk where they were said to have a sealed glass jar containing the Virgin Mary’s Milk.

Other than the popular shrines to visit, people visited lesser known sites to see objects such as teeth, bones, shoes, and combs of Saints passed, but most of the time it was nails and pieces of wood that were said to have come from the crucifix that Jesus was hung on. The reason many people made these pilgrimages to these religious shrines was that by seeing these objects and repenting their sins it would give them a better chance to get into heaven

Pilgrimages abroad were a possibility for the wealthier people back then where trips to the middle east occasionally happened but were often dangerous and would require traveling in groups to protect themselves from marauders, and often times people paid others to take pilgrimages for them, eliminating the dangerous aspect of pilgrimages.

In August of 1535 Henry VIII, after hearing the reports of officials he sent to the monasteries, decided to close the shrines and hand over the riches that the monks possessed as well as the land to the throne, in total he closed 376 monasteries which eventually led to his excommunication from the church by the Pope.

List of Famous pilgrimages sites Canterbury, England Known for the shrine of Augustine of Canterbury Compostela, Spain Known most for the Shrine of St. James Cologne, Germany This Town was known most for his enormous gothic cathedral that contained the purported relics of the Three Magi Nidaros, Norway Nidaros (now Trondheim) was one of the most popular sights for pilgrimages mostly because of the Nidaros Church which was built over the grave of St. Olav

The end of Pilgrimages The idea of pilgrimages essentially died out after Henry VIII shut down the monasteries as there was simply too few monasteries to practice pilgrimages

Additional Photos

Work Sited information http://spartacus-educational.com/NORpilgrimage.htm http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-religion/pilgrimage.htm http://classroom.synonym.com/famous-pilgrimage-sites-middle-ages-12269.html

Work Sited Images http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/15th-century-image-of-Rome.jpg http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/hb/hb_43.98.1.jpg http://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Unknown20.jpeg http://twosaintsway.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/middle-ages.jpg http://bluenetworks.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/2/0/12203611/9101376.jpg?395 http://www.transromanica.com/c_medien/73-pilgern-15.jpg