OMG naughty medieval pilgrim badges 😮

[Prentiss Riddle]

Today I learned that medieval pilgrims wore pilgrim badges, not unlike the souvenir pins worn by pilgrims today. “They were cheap, mass-produced, items, and they could have been used as presents from someone on his or her return from a pilgrimage, or ways of signalling one’s political allegiance.”

If that wasn’t interesting enough, I also learned that some of them were quite naughty!

I’ll post a link in the comments. Don’t click if you have delicate sensibilities. You’ve been warned!

 

[wisepilgrim]

waiting!

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

For example...

TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a tiny URL

preview.tinyurl.com

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I want one!!

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

Or from the collections of the British Musem:

TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a tiny URL

preview.tinyurl.com

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

G-rated background courtesy of Wikipedia:

Pilgrim badge - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

I'm not getting anything at that link! Is this the article you read?

Yes, Jan, that’s it.

I routed my links via Tinyurl to keep the preview images from besmirching the forums.

 

[Jan_D]

Yes, Jan, that’s it.
I routed my links via Tinyurl to keep the preview images from besmirching the forums.

Ha ha ha. Hilarious! I love the idea that the medallions could signify "the real reason why women go on pilgrimage."

(p.s. sorry if my reply disappeared, I deleted it as soon as I got the tinyurl link working - I was just being a techno-idiot - but then you quoted me so too late!)

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

Here’s a site for scholars and collectors of the badges:

Medieval Badges

...with a section about the naughty ones.

 

[Jan_D]

I want one!!

Here you go!

 

[wisepilgrim]

Here you go!

The descriptions are the best.

 

[Jan_D]

The descriptions are the best.

Bahahahahah They're even funnier in this "naughty bits" section.

Oh my word, what a good chuckle. I have tears in my eyes.

 

[t2andreo]

Veeery interesting....indeed!

 

[RJM]

Not having studied Medieval pilgrimages much, were the pilgrimages then known to have a lot of "relations" taking place?

 

[jascreative]

Today I learned that medieval pilgrims wore pilgrim badges, not unlike the souvenir pins worn by pilgrims today. “They were cheap, mass-produced, items, and they could have been used as presents from someone on his or her return from a pilgrimage, or ways of signalling one’s political allegiance.”

If that wasn’t interesting enough, I also learned that some of them were quite naughty!

I’ll post a link in the comments. Don’t click if you have delicate sensibilities. You’ve been warned!

Indeed, medieval pilgrims collected badges at souvenir stalls around cathedrals -- just like modern day Camino pilgrims collect mementos at carts around Obradoiro Plaza!

Besides the “naughty” ones there were others that showed images of saints, shrines, miracles wrought, ‘sins’ committed (those included the naughty ones!), and Biblical references.

English scholar Brian Spencer devoted his research on pilgrim badges (or “signs” as they’re referred to in England) and published “Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges” (there’s also a book in tribute to his work “Beyond Souvenirs and Pilgrim Badges: Essays in Honour of Brian Spencer”). Large deposits of badges have been found in the Thames, where pilgrims & travelers threw them into the river as a superstitious ritual. Then again, badges from Compostela were thought to cure ailments by touching them --

There’s a collection of badges to see at the Museum of London & the Cluny Museum in Paris --they include medieval ampullae too -- small metal or clay containers with images on them & filled with oil or holy water and thought to be curative for pilgrims to take home with them as souvenirs. The Museum of Pilgrimage & Santiago has an ampulla to see (they’re also at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid) but no badges -- perhaps in the future (probably no naughty ones though!) --

 

[trecile]

I'm glad that we now have symbols, and don't have to depict anatomy.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I'm glad that we now have symbols, and don't have to depict anatomy.

Good one, Trecile! I agree!

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

One more: the badge that sent me down this rabbit hole.

 

[Wheelchairpilgrim]

I work as volunteer in a medieval openairmuseum in the Netherlands (archeon) and I always try to get medieval pelgrim badges (replica's) from places I have been on pilgrimage. I prefer the religious ones and leave the naughty ones for others. It is still posible to get them, when you are interested you have to check on websites for people who do reenactment or larp.

 

[wisepilgrim]

Not having studied Medieval pilgrimages much, were the pilgrimages then known to have a lot of "relations" taking place?

Yes. There were fewer bridges and zero sharpie markers, but close parallels can be drawn to most aspects of Medieval and modern pilgrims and pilgrimage.

 

[Anamiri]

One more: the badge that sent me down this rabbit hole.

Of course I had to look....... should post do not open this at work

 

[wisepilgrim]

One more: the badge that sent me down this rabbit hole.

This is the place to go for an improved vocabulary!

 

[Jodean]

Why so many badges may have had "winged things"

Romans Used to Ward Off Sickness With Flying Penis Amulets

Maybe it worked?

www.atlasobscura.com

 

[Canuck]

... medieval ampullae too -- small metal or clay containers with images on them & filled with oil or holy water ...

I guess I'm lucky to have one of those.
It's made of lead in the shape of a shell. (Sorry, not picture available. Won't be back home before end of April)
It was given to me by a relative who found it in England while doing metal detecting as a hobby.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

One more: the badge that sent me down this rabbit hole.

Yep, that picture would certainly send you down down that rabbit hole for sure!

 

[Terry Callery]

These original badges given out to Pilgrims came with a plenary indulgence from
the Catholic Church. This was a "get out of jail card" for the soul which would
then go directly to heaven without having to spend time suffering in Purgatory.
Guess what?
Medieval counterfeiters started selling fake badges to people who had not walked
The Camino Pilgrimage but who wanted amnesty for their souls.
The modern Compostela today came from "evidentiary letters" which were written
in Latin by the clergy.
Since common people, including the counterfeiters, could not read or write, the
Compostal Latin Documents were counterfeit-proof and this is why we get
A piece of paper and not a badge at the end of our journey today in Santiago de
Compostela!!!!!
Found this out researching my Camino books I wrote.
Terence Callery

 

[BlaBlah]

Pilgrim badges are sometimes cast on medieval bells. Pilgrim badges are found chiefly in German and Scandinavian regions, but also on bells cast by bell-founders in and from the former Low Countries.
Pelgrimsinsignes op ‘Nederlandse’ klokken / Elly van Loon-van de Moosdijk, p. 112-127.

[URL="http://www.academia.edu/27250743/Hybrid_Creatures_Moving_Beyond_Sexuality_in_the_Medieval_Sexual_Badges[/URL]"]www.academia.edu/27250743/Hybrid_Creatures_Moving_Beyond_Sexuality_in_the_Medieval_Sexual_Badges[/URL]

 

[RJM]

Yes. There were fewer bridges and zero sharpie markers, but close parallels can be drawn to most aspects of Medieval and modern pilgrims and pilgrimage.

Oh those cursed sharpie's. The weapon of choice of the trash bin poets and wannabe philosophers on the Camino.

 

[Irish Bernie]

I was soooo shocked by these badges I had to take to my bed :O!!!!!!!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

So much for thinking folks in the middle ages were mostly prudes! I think I may qualify as one more than they did, and I didn't even blush at the photos!

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

Of course I had to look....... should post do not open this at work

That’s this whole thread! I put a big warning at the top.

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

Why so many badges may have had "winged things"

Romans Used to Ward Off Sickness With Flying Penis Amulets

Maybe it worked?

www.atlasobscura.com

From now on I’ll think of this whenever I see a royal wearing a “fascinator”!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

That’s this whole thread! I put a big warning at the top.

Those warnings only serve to get our curiosity up to peek, not less! I once posted "For ladies' only!" It went kind of viral for awhile and I think men were taking some looks at it, too!

 

[Kathor1]

Not having studied Medieval pilgrimages much, were the pilgrimages then known to have a lot of "relations" taking place?

The "naughty" pilgrim badges are not porn in the modern sense. As far as I can tell, nobody knows what their purpose is although there's lots of speculation of course. Popular interpretations are that they served as some sort of amulet or they served as parody or satire and making fun of religion / clergy / religious rituals. Unlike traditional pilgrim badges, the "naughty" ones date mainly from the later Middle Ages when criticism of this kind was not unknown of (think Reformation).

Apparently, badges with male sexual organs far outnumbered those with female sexual organs, and they were mainly produced in the more Northern parts of Europe, ie Low Countries, Germany, Northern France, England etc. So unlikely to be found in Santiago de Compostela.

 

[Kathor1]

Whatever the reaction of medieval pilgrims to these "naughty" badges was, it was most likely different from the reactions in this thread.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Kathar1a, you are always a wealth of knowledge on history relating to the camino and more! Thanks for your interjection!

 

[David Tallan]

Here you go!

The person who runs the site and makes the reproductions has been a friend of mine for decades now. In fact, I introduced her to the hobby that started her in that line of artistry. As soon as I saw this topic, I immediately thought of her.

 

[Jan_D]

The person who runs the site and makes the reproductions has been a friend of mine for decades now. In fact, I introduced her to the hobby that started her in that line of artistry. As soon as I saw this topic, I immediately thought of her.

That's amazing! Please tell your friend that her product descriptions are absolutely brilliant.

 

[David Tallan]

That's amazing! Please tell your friend that her product descriptions are absolutely brilliant.

Done. The wonders of Facebook Messenger.

 

[Canche]

For example...

TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a tiny URL

preview.tinyurl.com

Oh I love this