In
the Middle Ages the Church encouraged people to make pilgrimages to
special holy places called shrines. It was believed that if you prayed
at these shrines you might be forgiven for your sins and have more
chance of going to heaven. Others went to shrines hoping to be cured
from an illness they were suffering from.
The most
popular shrine in England was the tomb of Thomas
Becket
at Canterbury Cathedral. When
Becket was murdered local people managed to obtain pieces of cloth
soaked in his blood. Rumours soon spread that, when touched by this
cloth, people were cured of blindness/ epilepsy and leprosy. It was
not long before the monks at Canterbury Cathedral were selling small
glass bottles of Becket's blood to visiting pilgrims.
Another
important shrine was at Walsingham
in Norfolk where there was a sealed glass jar that was said to contain
the milk of the Virgin Mary. Erasmus
visited Walsingham and described the shrine as being surrounded "on
all sides with gems, gold and silver." He also added that the
water from the Walsingham spring was "efficacious in curing pains
of the head and stomach."
At other
shrines people went to see the teeth, bones, shoes, combs etc. that
were said to have once belonged to important Christian saints. The
most common relics at these shrines were nails and pieces of wood
that the keepers of the shrine claimed came from the cross used to
crucify Jesus.
Important
shrines in the Middle Ages included those at St.
Winifred's Well, Lindisfarne,
Glastonbury, Bromholm
and St. Albans. When people arrived
at the shrine they would pay money to be allowed to look at these
holy relics. In some cases pilgrims were even allowed to touch and
kiss them. The keeper of the shrine would also give the pilgrim a
metal badge that had been stamped with the symbol of the shrine. These
badges were then fixed to the pilgrim's hat so that people would know
they had visited the shrine.
Some people
went on pilgrimages abroad. In Palestine, for example, it was possible
to visit a cave that was supposed to contain the beds of Adam and
Eve and a pillar of salt that had once been Lots wife.
Travelling
on long journeys in the Middle Ages was a dangerous activity. Pilgrims
often went in groups to protect themselves against outlaws.
Wealthy
people sometimes preferred to pay others to go on a pilgrimage for
them. For instance, in 1352 a London merchant paid a man £20
to go on a pilgrimage to Mount Sinai.
In August 1535, Henry
VIII sent a team of officials to find out what was going
on in the monasteries. After reading
their reports Henry
decided to close down 376 monasteries. Monastery land was seized and
sold off cheaply to nobles and merchants. They in turn sold some of
the lands to smaller farmers. This process meant that a large number
of people had good reason to support the monasteries being closed.
In 1538 Henry turned his
attention to religious shrines in England. For hundreds of years pilgrims
had visited shrines that contained important religious relics. Wealthy
pilgrims often gave expensive jewels and ornaments to the monks that
looked after these shrines. Henry decided that the shrines should
be closed down and the wealth that they had created given to the crown.
The Pope and the Catholic
church in Rome were horrified when they heard the news that Henry
had destroyed St. Thomas Becket's
Shrine. On 17 December 1538, the Pope announced to the
Christian world that Henry
VIII had been excommunicated from the Catholic church.
Woodcut
of a pilgrimage (c.1490)
Medieval
Pilgrimage Project
(1)
List of some of the relics held at St. Omer's Church in 1346.
A piece
of Our Lord's Cross... Pieces of the Lord's tomb... A piece of the
Lord's cradle... Some of the hairs of St. Mary. A piece of her robe...
Part of St Thomas of Canterbury's tunic. Part of his chair. Shavings
from the top of his head. Part of the blanket that covered him, and
part of his woollen shirt... part of his hair shirt. Some of his blood.
(2)
Benedict of Peterborough described what happened after the death of
Thomas Becket. (c. 1175)
Some of
the blood was carefully and cleanly collected and poured into a dean
vessel and kept in the church.
(3)
One of the worst diseases in the
Middle Ages was 'sacred fire'. It was believed that a relic kept at
a church in France could cure the disease. Hugh of Avallon, bishop
of Lincoln, visited the church in about 1190.
We saw
youths and maidens, old and young, cured of the 'sacred fire', some
with their flesh eaten away, others with their bones completely destroyed,
others still, having lost one or other of their limbs, living a normal
life... you can see people of all ages of both sexes with their arms
eaten away from wrist to elbow, or from elbow to shoulder, or with
legs rotted from ankle to knees.
(4)
Gervase of Canterbury, The Deeds of Kings (c.1210)
(Henry
II) returned to England (1174)... he set out with a sad heart to the
tomb of St. Thomas at Canterbury... he walked barefoot and clad in
a woollen smock all the way to the martyr's tomb. There he lay and
of his free will was whipped by all the bishops and abbots there present
and each individual monk of the church of Canterbury.
(5)
Matthew Paris,
Greater Chronicle (c.1260)
A man came
to St. Albans... He had a cross of wood that he said was made from
the same cross on which Christ was crucified. But no one believed
him. At last he came to a monastery called Brabham, in Norfolk. It
was miserably poor... The monks were overjoyed to have such a treasure...
miracles began in the monastery. The dead are raised to life, the
blind have their sight, the lame walk, and those possessed of devils
are freed.
(6)
Part of a letter written by Margaret
Paston to her husband in 1484.
When I
heard you were ill I decided to go on pilgrimage to Walsingham...
for you.
(7)
One of the most unusual diseases
in the Middle Ages was St Vitus dance. People who suffered from the
disease found it difficult to keep their limbs still and so it looked
like they were dancing. It was believed that if you attended St AImedha's
church in Wales, you would be cured of the disease. In his book. Description
of Wales, Gerald
of Wales described
a group of pilgrims visiting this church, (c. 1195)
The day
was August 1st. Many people came here from distant parts... hoping
to be healed... Men and women could be seen in the church and churchyard,
singing and dancing. Suddenly they would fall down quite motionless,
as if in a trance, and then as suddenly leap up again like lunatics...
They accompanied these tasks with songs, but the notes were all out
of tune... Later you could see the same people offering gifts at the
altar, after which they appeared to rouse themselves from their trance
and recover.
(8)
Matthew
Paris wrote about Bromholm
Monastery in around 1250.
There he sent for the Prior and some of his
brethren, and showed them the above-mentioned Cross, which was constructed
of two pieces of wood, placed one across the other, and almost as
wide as the hand of a man; he then humbly implored them to receive
him into their order with the cross and the other relics which he
had with him, as well as his two children.
(9)
Erasmus
visited the Shrine
of Our Lady of Walsingham
in 1513.
When you look in you would
say it is the abode of saints, so brilliantly does it shine on all
sides with gems, gold and silver… Our Lady stands in the dark
at the right side of the altar… a little image, remarkable neither
for its size, material or workmanship.
(10)
D. J. Hall, English Medieval
Pilgrimage (1965)
For centuries men lived
with 'the firm belief that the end of the world was near and they
also believed without question in the reality of Hell: from the pictures
they saw and the descriptions given by the Church they were well acquainted
with its inhabitants and the torments they practised. Their minds
were therefore continually called upon to cope with situations in
which their natural desires caused these beliefs to conflict. The
expectancy of life being short, they were impelled to indulge their
passions to the full; awareness of the awful fate which was the reward
of sin drove them to almost any religious extravagance that might
possibly bring redemption.
Violent antithesis is
the essence of the middle ages. The contrast between rich and poor
was vast, often as great as between men and beasts even though the
conduct of both might be similar. For everyone life was precarious;
hygiene was non-existent and horrible diseases were widespread; murder
and robbery were everyday risks, the poor struggled desperately to
survive and the rich were constantly on guard to protect their position
or trying to destroy before being destroyed.
To the present century
the middle ages appear romantic or horrifying or both, but it is impossible
to gauge the happiness of people living at a time so totally different
from the present. There are aspects of today which would numb a 12th-century
man with horror and nausea, and our bigoted nationalism would seem
to him as much out of order as his individual selfishness seems to
us. The acceptance of signs and wonders, relics and miracles, by the
most highly developed men of their age may seem to us incredible;
but they might think it no less strange that the greater part of mankind
today accepts, just as ignorantly, the manifestations of science.
(11)
H. Amold-Forster, A History of England (1898)
Some of the monks lived good lives
and did good work in teaching and helping the poor... there were others
who lived bad lives, and spent their money upon themselves... When
Henry made up his mind to destroy the monasteries and nunneries, it
was not hard for him to find out many bad things which could truly
be said of the monks and nuns, and which he could use as an excuse
for taking away their property.
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