pilgrimages-msg - 10/24/07
Medieval pilgrimages. References.
NOTE: See also the files: relics-msg, Relics-fr-all-art, casting-msg, saints-msg, crusades-msg, pilgrm-badges-msg, Saints-Lives-art, indulgences-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 06:48:04 EDT
From: WOLFMOMSCA at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Food for Pilgrimage
I don't know if this volume would contain much in the way of actual food
descriptions, but it is a new translation of the Iter Sancti Jacobi and the
Liber Sancti Jacobi. It is titled The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago de
Compostella, published by Italica Press and written by William Melczer. The
ISBN is 0-934977-25-9.
Wolfmother
From: "Karyn Schmidt" <karyn at rconnect.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Pilgrimage Badge Pictures?
Date: 12 Sep 1998 22:30:09 GMT
Fvigil <fvigil at aol.com> wrote in article
> Can anyone recommend some sources showing a variety of pilgrimage badges?
You want some steenking badges....
F.E. Halliday. Chaucer and his world. NY, Viking, 1968, page 112, has two
-- a bell and a pair of open hands.
Derek Brewer. Chaucer and his World. NY, Dodd, Mead, 1978, page 202 has
three -- a head (of Becket) a head contained in a ring, and something like
a buckle, and page 203 shows one with two figures in a frame.
Alan Kendall. Medieval Pilgrims. (Putnam Documentary History Series) NY,
G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1970, page 113 has a very clear line drawing showing
Becket's head in a round frame. The frontispiece shows a painting of a
pilgrim wearing a shell on his hat. I recommend this book as an
introduction to the phenomenon of pilgrimage. It's loaded with pictures.
There's a start for you.
Kudrun ?e Pilegrim
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:57:12 -0500
From: Margritte <margritt at mindspring.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: RE: looking for info on woodcuts
I have to admit that when I did my blocks, I used linoleum rather than
wood. I was trying to replicate the prints that were often made at or near
pilgrims' shrines, especially in the later part of the Middle Ages. Small
pieces of paper with an imprint of the local saint were sold as souvenirs.
-Margritte
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2000 12:25:23 -0700
From: "David Dendy" <ddendy at silk.net>
Subject: SC - Drinking Water
I have observed the discussion about whether people in the middle ages drank
water, but I haven't followed it very closely, as the absurdity of
suggesting otherwise is obvious to anyone who has actually read much in the
documents of the time. However, I had the discussion in mind when I was
re-reading a favourite book, entitited FRIAR FELIX AT LARGE by H.F.M.
Prescott, which is an description of the pilgrimages to Jesusalem in 1480
and 1483 by a German-Swiss friar. This is based on Friar Felix's own lengthy
account of his travels.
It is obvious from what Friar Felix has to say that water is the usual drink
of the ordinary people who made up the mass of pilgrims, though the noble
and rich may have drunk mostly wine (thinned with water, however -- the
pilgrim manuals warn west Europeans not to drink the strong wines of Cyprus
straight: "drunk neat it will burn up the entrails, therefore dilute it with
anything up to four quarts of water." [p. 45]). The pilgrim's bottle (which
he carried along with his scrip) normally contained water for drinking.
Wine, particularly in Palestine which was under Saracen control at that
time, was carried separately, usually well-hidden in the bottom of bags or
boxes, to avoid the disapproval of the Muslims, who were likely to pour it
on the ground if they saw it.
Friar Felix frequently comments on the flavour of various streams and wells
they stopped at on their way. Some of them he spoke of highly. The water of
the Jordan River, however, had little to recommend it except the religious
connections: "It was not very pleasant to drink, being warm, and as muddy as
a swamp." [p. 157]
The importance of water for drinking may be seen in what happened, on the
voyage to the Holy Land, when contrary winds kept the ship out of port.
"Water ran short; the sailors now could sell any that was not foul, 'albeit
it was lukewarm, whitish, and discoloured,' at a higher price than wine.
Soon 'even putrid stinking water was precious and the captain and all the
pilots were scared that we should run out even of . . . that.' No water at
all could be spared for the beasts; and Felix watched them with pity as they
licked the dew from the ship's timbers." [p. 58-59]
If we want to know the proportions used by the relatively well-off pilgrim,
we might look at the instructions in manuals for pilgrims proivisioning
themselves at Venice before the voyage: they should buy three barrels, two
for wine and one for water. "The best water for keeping is to drawn at St.
Nicholas, and when that is used fill the barrel again at any port of call."
[p. 45] (Keep this in mind -- it suggest that the wine was supposed to last
the entire voyage, while the water would be replenished repeatedly.)
Incidentally, water was the requisite drink during fasts, particularly the
more solemn ones such as Good Friday, when bread and water were enjoined (if
you were well enough off, though, no great hardship ensued -- the Duc de
Berri devotedly stuck to bread and water on fast days, but it was
gingerbread and spiced water!)
Yours aquatically,
Francesco Sirene
David Dendy / ddendy at silk.net
partner in Francesco Sirene, Spicer / sirene at silk.net
Visit our Website at http://www.silk.net/sirene/
From: noramunro at aol.comclutter (Alianora Munro)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Date: 19 Feb 2001 05:35:01 GMT
In article <3A90A46E.B3A3A7F at mediaone.net>, Tetsubo <tetsubo at mediaone.net>
writes:
>My girlfriend posed a question that I have not be able to answer. She
>has read that scallop shells were carried by pilgrims on their way to
>shrines. She would like to know why the scallop shell is associated with
>pilgrimmages. Any idea why? My thanks.
The scallop shell is specifically associated with the pilgrimage to Santiago de
Compostela (St James the Greater, in NW Spain), for the simple reason that the
site is near the seashore, and the scallop shells wash up on the beach, and
make a convenient token as sign that one has been there. Palms from Jerusalem
were used in a similar way; indeed nearly every shrine had its particular
marker. Sometimes these were cast in lead or potmetal and available for sale
near the shrine. As one who has made the pilgrimage to St Andrews, I wear a
saltire badge on my hood.
At some point it became customary to wear pilgrimage badges *on the way to* the
shrine as well as on the way home, as a sign that one was undertaking the
worthy journey, and possibly also to discourage highwaymen (the area around
Santiago was notorious for the Basque bandits that attacked travellers).
Sometimes the badges were discarded on the way home (or at home) as a
thank-offering to the saint for a safe trip.
Quite a bit has been written on the Camino de Santiago recently (including
something by Shirley Maclaine -- argh), but if you can track it down, there is
a surviving mediaeval "tourist guide" to the journey by Aimery Picaud, who
describes the sights along a couple of possible routes from Paris to Santiago,
and is wonderful reading.
Regards,
Alianora Munro, Bright Hills, Atlantia
From: "Brian L. Rygg/Brendan Pilgrim" <rygbee at hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Scallops and Pilgrims
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 00:23:23 -0700
Tetsubo wrote:
> My girlfriend posed a question that I have not be able to answer. She
> has read that scallop shells were carried by pilgrims on their way to
> shrines. She would like to know why the scallop shell is associated with
> pilgrimmages. Any idea why? My thanks.
The scallop shell was originally a symbol of having _completed_ a
pilgrimage -- specifically, it was a souvenir of the pilgrimage to Santiago
(Saint James) de Compostello, in Spain, one of the most famous/popular
Medieval pilgrimages. (Even today, it's a popular religious/historic
pilgrimage.) [James the Apostle purportedly travelled to Spain after the
crucifixion. ]
*Why* the scallop shell was a symbol of that particular pilgrimage, I
don't know. I've read _one_ source claiming that lepers who trekked there
in the Middle Ages ate seafood from the Compostello bay and were cured. But
it certainly wasn't only the sick who made that trip.
Another story has it that James was beheaded by Herod, and his
followers took his *remains* to Spain. Saint James saved a bridegroom
whose horse ended up in the ocean off the coast, and both horse and rider
came out covered with scallops.
Perhaps it was just a matter of "See, I went all that way -- I've got a
shell that's not from around here to prove it." Similarly, palm leaves were
a souvenir of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which is why a pilgrim might also
be called a palmer.
According to a discussion on the Conchologists of America List (I am
*not* making that up), the shell -- or a similar one -- became a symbol of
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, too. To add to the confusion, St. James was
apparently a Patron Saint of the Crusades, and Santiago de Compostello was a
de rigeur stop on the way to the Crusades . . . and/or an increasingly
popular pilgrimage destination during the Crusades when *non*-Crusaders
couldn't _get_ to Jerusalem.
I hadn't before heard of the pilgrim badge being worn until the trip
back, but I guess I can see it as a way of saying, "Yes, I know I'm a
stranger, but I'm not in your lands for any foul purpose. See? I'm on a
pilgrimage."
At any rate, the scallop shell eventually were associated with
pilgrimages and pilgrims in general, and the escallop became a charge in
heraldry as far back as the time of Henry III of England.
As a badge or default position in heraldry, by-the-by, the scallop
shell is depicted with the hinge *up*. Modern tastes (whether influenced
by or exemplified by the Shell Oil symbol, I don't know which) tend to put
the hinge down. (Taken as a whole, SCA devices show their modern creation
in that regard -- they seem to have their escallops inverted more often than
not.)
In a related note, now that Prince William of England has officially
taken up his arms as Heir to the Prince of Wales (who in turn is heir to the
throne), the shield of course has a "label" -- the charge that looks a
little like a capital E turned on its side so that the "prongs" are pointed
down, traditionally used as a cadency mark for the first son. (The lion &
unicorn supporters, and the lion on the crown crest, also have that label,
looking rather like a collar.) What's different in this case is that the
white label, each of the four times it appears on the full achievement of
arms, is charged with a red escallop on the center prong. It's a tribute to
his mother, Diana; the red shells have apparently been featured on the
Spencer arms since the 16th century.
Brendan Pilgrim
From: noramunro at aol.comclutter (Alianora Munro)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Date: 19 Feb 2001 15:52:14 GMT
Subject: Re: Scallops and Pilgrims
bronwynmgn at aol.comnospam (Bronwynmgn) writes:
>noramunro at aol.comclutter (Alianora Munro) writes:
>>As one who has made the pilgrimage to St Andrews, I wear a
>>saltire badge on my hood.
>
>Yes, I have a scallop shell for Compostela - a real one found and drilled by
>a friend of mine - as well as badges for St. Werburga and St Thomas of
>Canterbury.
Heh, that wasn't quite my meaning -- which I admit wasn't precisely
transparent. My modern self made the trip to St Andrews (for my PhD studies),
where I lived just across the street from the cathedral ruins for three years.
During a brief exhibition of pilgrimage badges at the local museum I was able
to buy a reproduction of a 14th-C badge, and so I wear it on my hood at events.
It's a particular quirk of mine that Alianora the mediaeval lady doesn't wear
pilgrimage badges for places the 20th/21st-C person hasn't visited, too.
Hence, no scallop shell (though I probably have dozens collected from beaches
elsewhere), no veronica (Rome), no Jerusalem cross, and so on. Visiting
pilgrimage sites (or making plans to) is one of my ways of making contact with
the real Middle Ages and the spirituality which was one of the hallmarks of
European culture during that time, and which is so profoundly different from
modern beliefs. One of the things I'm saving up for *is* a trip to Santiago
down the of the old pilgrimage roads.
Incidentally, the French name for scallops is still "coquilles Saint-Jacques"
-- St James' cockles. :-)
>There is one more I really want, but I have to look it up again -
>it's one of the Marion shrines, I believe in Norfolk - the one where a
>reconstruction (supposedly) of Mary's home was built.
Sounds like one of the Loreto shrines; there was one in Scotland, in
Midlothian, and several on the continent, as well.
Alianora Munro, Bright Hills, Atlantia
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Scallops and Pilgrims
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 22:15:12 GMT
Bronwynmgn wrote:
> it's one of the Marion shrines, I believe in Norfolk - the one where a
> reconstruction (supposedly) of Mary's home was built.
>
> Brangwayna Morgan
Might that be Walsingham? They have a website at:
--
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain (mka Robin Carroll-Mann)
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East
From: clevin at ripco.com (Craig Levin)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Scallops and Pilgrims
Date: 20 Feb 2001 22:11:24 GMT
Organization: Ripco Internet, Chicago
Brian L. Rygg/Brendan Pilgrim <rygbee AT montana DOT Sea Oh! Em> wrote:
> According to a discussion on the Conchologists of America List (I am
>*not* making that up), the shell -- or a similar one -- became a symbol of
>a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, too. To add to the confusion, St. James was
>apparently a Patron Saint of the Crusades, and Santiago de Compostello was a
>de rigeur stop on the way to the Crusades . . . and/or an increasingly
>popular pilgrimage destination during the Crusades when *non*-Crusaders
>couldn't _get_ to Jerusalem.
Santiago became a patron saint of Crusaders because of the
Reconquista, which sometimes got the same attention as the at-
tempt to sustain a Christian hold on the Holy Land. The
Reconquista was seen, to some extent, as a crusade that was
nearby (for people in England and France) and lucrative (PoW
ransoms, plunder, and so on).
Pedro (Never been up to Santiago de Compostella, but I have been
to Koeln (allegedly has relics of the Three Wise Men) and
Jerusalem-palm and Jerusalem cross aside, what else could I
wear?)
--
clevin at rci.ripco.com
Craig Levin
Subject: ANST - Period Travel Guides
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 19:40:42 -0400
From: fitzmorgan at cs.com
To: ansteorra at ansteorra.org
> I assume that people wrote "travel guides" during the Middle Ages and
> Renaissance. Have any survived? Where can they be found? What do they
> cover?
>
> Jovian
Look for "The Pilgrims Guide To Santiago De Compostela" Written in , I
think, the 12th Century. and translated by William Melczer. Italica Press,
INC. ISBN 0-934977-25-9 for $17.50 if it's still in print. This is a travel
guide for pilgrims telling of dangers to avoid and sites to see on your
pilgrimage.
It tells which rivers you can safely drink from and which are unsafe.
It says some rude things about the Basque. And tells short stories about the
many Saints who's shrines you will see on the way. It's well worth reading.
Robert Fitzmorgan
Barony of Northkeep
Subject: ANST - Re: Period Travel Guides
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 22:25:53 -0500
From: "Nathan Jones" <bigbeartx at msn.com>
To: ansteorra at ansteorra.org
>Scot and Domino Eddy wrote:
>>I assume that people wrote "travel guides" during the Middle Ages and
>>Renaissance. Have any survived? Where can they be found? What do they
>>cover?
>There's one written on pilgrimage to Compostella. 15th Century?
>- --Perronnelle
Perronnelle is right. The book she is probably referring to
is the Codex Calixtinus, written in the 12th century, here
are some notes about it.
From the liner notes of "The Way of the Pilgrim: Medieval
Songs of Travel" by The Toronto Consort:
"The route to Santiago was well enough travelled to occasion
a popular 'pilgrim's guide,' the earliest copy of which is
found in the cathedral archival library in Santiago in a
manuscript known as the Codex Calixtinus. The codex is a
five-part compilation containing liturgies, accounts of
miracles, a description of how the body of St. James was
"translated" to Compostela, as well as the 'Pilgrim Guide.'
The guide describes towns and shrines which could be visited
en route to Santiago, and includes such practical information
as warnings about unsafe water and extortionist ferrymen, and
recommendations of friendly towns and where good wine is to be
had. The last chapter is entitled 'How Pilgrims of Saint James
are to be Received." [...] Then follow cautionary tales of
devine punishment visited on people or towns who wwere
inhospitable to pilgrims, including one French villiage in
which a thousand houses were burnt because two pilgrims had
been refused accommodation. Clearly the attraction of
pilgrimages, by which certain towns and churches profited
so much, depended on the safety and hospitality of the
towns en route."
Here are some links that talk about the Codex Calixtinus:
http://personal.readysoft.es/oborras/csantiago/codex.htm
This site seems to contain a wonderfully organized online v
ersion of the codex in modern Spanish. It does have the
5th book of the codex, which is the travelogue, in English,
but only transcribed up to chapter five. The English text is
from William Melczer's book _The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago De
Compostela_.
Here is a link to the English portion.
http://personal.readysoft.es/oborras/csantiago/book5.htm
_The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago De Compostela_ by William Melczer.
The 5th book of the Codex Calixtinus in English. Haven't seen the
book, but it's available from Amazon for $25. It's paperback and
coffetable sized. Looks cool. (It would make a great birthday gift
for me. Really. I wouldn't say no. June 27th, mark it in your
calendars. )
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Blair/Courses/MUSL242/f98/santiago.htm
Has a summary of the codex, but not actual text. Focus is on the
music included in the manuscript.
http://www.nd.edu/~medvllib/musnot/calix.html
Not much info here, but has some pics of the actual codex. Also has
links to facimilies of other period documents.
http://www.italicapress.com/index82.html
This one is an advertisement for a CD that has "an interactive
tour of the medieval Pilgrim's Road from France to Santiago de
Compostela in northwestern Spain. It presents a series of medieval
texts relating to the pilgrimage to, shrine of, and cult of St.
James, including the twelfth-century Codex Calixtinus, now in the
library of the cathedral of Santiago, as well as descriptions and
excerpts from travelers in the later Middle Ages and Renaissance.
The Road to Compostela also features a Gazetteer of historic places
along the Camino, a Dictionary of Saints met along the Road, and a
complete Bibliography. It includes a General Map of the Road and 4
interactive detail maps of the route, 12 city maps, 17 plans, and 150
color photos." I thought it was pretty cool, but no way am I going to
pay for it or endorsing it's purchase. (However...June 27th....)
--Giovanni di Cellini
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 18:27:40 EST
From: Devra at aol.com
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks Digest, Vol 21, Issue 94
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> Or maybe the season for going on pilgrimage didn't start till after Lent.
Wan that April with his showers sweet
The drought of March hath pierced to the root
And bathed every vein in swich liquor
Of which virtue engendered is the fleur...
Than longen folk to go on pilgrimages...
Geoffrey Chaucer, the prologue
It seems as though the nicer weather was an impetus to travel, and
with Easter as a movable feast, the two must have coincided occasionally.
Devra
Devra Langsam
www.poisonpenpress.com
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 20:46:36 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks Digest, Vol 21, Issue 94
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
-----Original Message-----
From: Devra at aol.com
Wan that April with his showers sweet
The drought of March hath pierced to the root
And bathed every vein in swich liquor
Of which virtue engendered is the fleur...
Than longen folk to go on pilgrimages...
Geoffrey Chaucer, the prologue
It seems as though the nicer weather was an impetus to travel, and
with Easter as a movable feast, the two must have coincided occasionally.
Devra
______________________________________________
Some of the lines that you omitted are more specific:
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne...
Halfway through Aries is about April 5. I found a website that gives
the dates of Easter Sunday in the 14th century:
http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/cal/key14.htm
(The Canterbury tales were written 1387-1392)
Now, halfway through through Aries is about when the pilgrimage season
started, and that might well be in Lent. But perhaps these pilgrims
headed out a little later in the season. Chaucer says he went to the
Tabard, "in that seson on a day". I don't know if there's any detail
later on that might narrow down the date.
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
<the end>