The Idea of Pilgrimage

[Margaret Butterworth]

I first came across the idea of pilgrimage when I studied English Literature at school. One of our set books was the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. A merry band of pilgrims set off from London to travel to Canterbury. Their destination was the tomb of Thomas a Becket, who was murdered in 1170. “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest” is an unsubstantiated quote of Henry II. Four knights did just that, right there in Canterbury Cathedral. The interesting thing to me, as a modern day pilgrim, is that these medieval pilgrims rode on horseback. Nowadays, purists believe that you should walk every step of the way to Santiago de Compostela. In the Middle Ages, the mode of transport was not important. You just had to get there!

 

[Kirkie]

I first came across the idea of pilgrimage when I studied English Literature at school. One of our set books was the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. A merry band of pilgrims set off from London to travel to Canterbury. Their destination was the tomb of Thomas a Becket, who was murdered in 1170. “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest” is an unsubstantiated quote of Henry II. Four knights did just that, right there in Canterbury Cathedral. The interesting thing to me, as a modern day pilgrim, is that these medieval pilgrims rode on horseback. Nowadays, purists believe that you should walk every step of the way to Santiago de Compostela. In the Middle Ages, the mode of transport was not important. You just had to get there!

View attachment 178441

What a lovely image! And who will rid me of these turbulent other people? I am actually joking. I love the notion of pilgrimage. It may or may not be a Camino. When the two are in harmony, it is the alignment of forces that can lead to change, healing, discovery. I am just trying to take up your invitation, OP, to explore a little bit the idea of Pilgrimage. Thanks, it will help me to remember that my pilgrimage is never over, until it is!

 

[dougfitz]

Nowadays, purists believe that you should walk every step of the way to Santiago de Compostela.

I think we do ourselves and others a disservice by suggesting those who believe this are purists. It might be my personal goal, I expect many others will share that, and even perhaps encourage it. But while I am not sure what best describes those who want to mandate such notions, I know it certainly wouldn't be 'purist'.

 

[David]

Canterbury Tales is a truly funny book - the first in English too - but it isn't really about the pilgrimage to Canterbury, nor 'true' of pilgrimage to Canterbury. The pilgrimage is merely a vehicle to write a funny and caustic satire on society of that time.
The same with Trimalchio's Feast (by Petronius). It is not actually about a Roman dinner party, nor are the courses relevant or real - what it is is a hilarious and biting satire on wealthy Roman society of that time using a fictional feast as the vehicle for it.

As for the actual real pilgrimage, sure, most pilgrims walked - to own a horse meant wealth, a rare thing in those times (and these).

As an aside, leaving Pons (a few days north of Bordeaux) and passing through the old pilgrim hospital, the road through it has stone benches along either side for weary pilgrims and a long sealed up hatch to give out food .. there is plenty of medieval carved graffiti and about halfway down on the right hand side high up someone has carved their heraldic shield, using their dagger I should think. It could only have been carved by someone on horseback, an aristo, a knight - but plenty are at pedestrian pilgrim level.

 

[williamlittig]

I first came across the idea of pilgrimage when I studied English Literature at school. One of our set books was the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. A merry band of pilgrims set off from London to travel to Canterbury. Their destination was the tomb of Thomas a Becket, who was murdered in 1170. “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest” is an unsubstantiated quote of Henry II. Four knights did just that, right there in Canterbury Cathedral. The interesting thing to me, as a modern day pilgrim, is that these medieval pilgrims rode on horseback. Nowadays, purists believe that you should walk every step of the way to Santiago de Compostela. In the Middle Ages, the mode of transport was not important. You just had to get there!

View attachment 178441

Yes, Pilgrims have intent, purpose and destination. They rely on their wits to find food and shelter. Schedules change as do routes and weather, yet they persist. It isn't a vacation, Pilgrims support themselves, reliance on transportation, booking reservations and baggage transport would have been laughable, some still laugh today.

 

[Robo]

Nowadays, purists believe that you should walk every step of the way to Santiago de Compostela. In the Middle Ages, the mode of transport was not important. You just had to get there!

Fair points.

And that opens up the question of whether it is the journey or the destination that is of importance.

In the Middle Ages, it was likely about the destination. After all the journey was somewhat perilous! And the only modes of transport were horses / wagons for the rich, and walking for the poor.

Whereas now, whilst the destination is certainly important, perhaps we also cherish the journey? The freedom from day to day duties, the community, the chance to get out in the fresh air, be active, to live a simple life...... These may not have been objectives in the Middle Ages

Have we, in modern times, raised the importance of the actual 'journey'? And Why?

 

[Margaret Butterworth]

The point I was trying to make is this: there is no prescriptive requirement to walk every step on the Camino (apart from the last 100k). In the Middle Ages, you could ride a horse if you wished. On my last couple of Caminos, I often travelled some parts by bus. At my age, I needed to take a break from walking. Regarding the destination issue: in medieval times people would be more interested in the need to secure a place in heaven, which is why they were on pilgrimage.

 

[Sirage]

Who knows? History tends to be written by, or for, the rich. (In other circumstances by the winners.)

We choose our own way.

 

[Walkalong]

Purists? Sounds exclusionary. There is no requirement to walk the last 100K, or collect stamps, or participate in clever mid-evil or modern marketing schemes.

But there is a lot to be said for a journey, preferably a long journey, undertaken by the simple means, carrying minimal kit, with minimal planning, sharing kindness with others. It can be a very humbling, freeing experience.

 

[Kirkie]

Yes, Pilgrims have intent, purpose and destination. They rely on their wits to find food and shelter. Schedules change as do routes and weather, yet they persist. It isn't a vacation, Pilgrims support themselves, reliance on transportation, booking reservations and baggage transport would have been laughable, some still laugh today.

You bring to mind a hardy pilgrim i know who lives in Warsaw. She does what it says on the tin. I could not do justice to describing her approach, it is based on some planning, but a lot of counting on being recognised in her pilgrim status. It works for her. I do not mean recognised in terms of fame, rather as being welcomed in a climate where pilgrimage is respected. On a camino path in Poland.

 

[Turga]

high up someone has carved their heraldic shield, using their dagger I should think. It could only have been carved by someone on horseback, an aristo, a knight

Pilgrim on stilts? Pilgrim carrying a ladder?

 

[JabbaPapa]

The interesting thing to me, as a modern day pilgrim, is that these medieval pilgrims rode on horseback. Nowadays, purists believe that you should walk every step of the way to Santiago de Compostela. In the Middle Ages, the mode of transport was not important. You just had to get there!

Most modern pilgrimages are agnostic as to the means of transportation, and when I say "most", that's actually the vast majority of them.

Without even considering the many non-Christian pilgrimage destinations in the world, most Christian pilgrims travel by coach or by train in groups with their parish or diocese, or in smaller self-organised groups, family and/or friends. Our local 1st May Marian Pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Laghet gathers hundreds of pilgrims, some going up by coach, most by private car, some on foot.

I'm no longer sure of the stats at Compostela itself, as the numbers of foot/bike/horse pilgrims going there via the Camino has grown massively over the past ten years, but a decade ago and longer the non-Camino pilgrims to Santiago were clearly the majority of pilgrims ; and even in the 2020s, foot pilgrims are a minority of people in the Pilgrim Masses at the Cathedral.

Even just in Spain, I believe that more make a pilgrimage to Montserrat in any year year than to Santiago, and Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Zaragoza, the other major Jacobean pilgrimage destination, has pilgrim numbers comparable to those at Santiago.

What's peculiar about Santiago is its strong tradition of foot pilgrimages as a major proportion of travels to it, something it shares with the other major Christian pilgrimages only in the pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Fátima. Of course all of the pilgrimage destinations both East and West have some degree of foot pilgrimage, from the smaller and most local ones to the most major of them. But as to the pilgrimage to Rome for instance, whilst there is a huge network of Via Romea foot pilgrimage routes throughout Europe, exactly comparable to the Camino, as to the Roman pilgrimage itself the means of travel there is completely irrelevant, except for one's own personal reasons.

The Way of Saint James to Santiago de Compostela is greatly exceptional in this regard in comparison to Christian Pilgrimages in general.

 

[Corned Beef]

As travelling by horse / coach in the Middle Ages would be for the well-heeled (pun), pilgrimage by foot would be the default choice. Of course you could also use Shank's Pony or 'sur la mule de cordeliers'

 

[David Tallan]

Canterbury Tales is a truly funny book - the first in English too - but it isn't really about the pilgrimage to Canterbury, nor 'true' of pilgrimage to Canterbury. The pilgrimage is merely a vehicle to write a funny and caustic satire on society of that time.
The same with Trimalchio's Feast (by Petronius). It is not actually about a Roman dinner party, nor are the courses relevant or real - what it is is a hilarious and biting satire on wealthy Roman society of that time using a fictional feast as the vehicle for it.

As for the actual real pilgrimage, sure, most pilgrims walked - to own a horse meant wealth, a rare thing in those times (and these).

As an aside, leaving Pons (a few days north of Bordeaux) and passing through the old pilgrim hospital, the road through it has stone benches along either side for weary pilgrims and a long sealed up hatch to give out food .. there is plenty of medieval carved graffiti and about halfway down on the right hand side high up someone has carved their heraldic shield, using their dagger I should think. It could only have been carved by someone on horseback, an aristo, a knight - but plenty are at pedestrian pilgrim level.

To be sure, the pilgrimage is a vehicle to tell the tales that Chaucer wished to tell, some of which were very satirical, some of which were not. But I am not so sure as you that it is completely false to pilgrimage at the time. Personally, I think that would make it a less effective vehicle.

We do know from the Codex Calixtinus that some pilgrims rode. He talks of the dangers to pilgrims' horses, and some of the stages are of a distance that only makes sense for a rider.

I suspect that pilgrims in the middle ages traveled according to their means. The lower classes walked, and the middle and upper classes rode. There were certainly a lot more peasants than middle class or nobility, but I'm not sure whether the demographics of the Camino matched those of society as a whole.

In terms of the present day, we've heard the story of one of our members who had just walked to Santiago and was told by a pilgrim purist, arriving in a bus from Germany with a number of other pilgrims and some priests, that he wasn't really a pilgrim because he hadn't travelled as she had, with priests. Purists come in different flavours.

Here on the forum, especially in a thread like this one, let's all be cognizant of Rule #3. While it is okay to talk about the nature of pilgrimage, it isn't okay to say to someone, as the German bus lady told our Forum member, that they are not a real pilgrim.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

[...] that he wasn't really a pilgrim because he hadn't travelled as she had, with priests. Purists come in different flavours.

Such as those who say suffering on the journey is required. Anyway, I'm wondering how to draw the Venn diagram here.

 

[Kathar1na]

While it is okay to talk about the nature of pilgrimage, it isn't okay to say to someone, as the German bus lady told our Forum member, that they are not a real pilgrim.

The German bus lady - she is becoming a forum fixture.

We know nothing about her. I like to think that she came from Bavaria where Catholic group pilgrimages on foot with singing and praying have an uninterrupted tradition of many centuries. I think that she should be forgiven that she had not been familiar with Camino culture which at the time (around 2002) had barely been developed and was really not more than some 10 years old.

I think that these are three different worlds with only superficial parallels: the medieval pilgrimages; Catholic group pilgrimages; Caminos. And that is why it is of little relevance for Camino peregrinos, imho, that Chaucer’s group travelled on horseback, as interesting as it may be.

This is probably what a foot pilgrimage looked like for the German bus lady in the year 2002, namely something similar to this tradition, 200 years old without interruption and, btw, over 110 km:

 

[dick bird]

Just to illustrate the point about modern pilgrimage, this (the one on the RHS, obviously) was on a wall in Logroño.

 

[markie6]

Mode of transport for the Purists could also be High Horse

 

[David]

Thinking about 'walking purists' - is quite funny really as no one walks their pilgrimage to Santiago ... unless they actually live on a Camino everyone uses transport; aeroplanes, trains, ships, buses, cars ... then they get off before they arrive in Santiago (wherever they have decided "the start" is) and walk the rest .... a true purist would surely have to step out of their front door and walk all the way? -
- might get a bit wet crossing oceans but this might work ..

 

[Pafayac]

Have we, in modern times, raised the importance of the actual 'journey'? And Why?

Because the destination does not matter.
Indeed most of Camino pilgrims don't care about the fact that St James is or not really buried in Santiago, if his relics are there...
However, consider true live pilgrimage like Mecca, Lourdes, Fatima, Virgen de Guadalupe... in these case the journey does not matter, the goal is to reach the target.

 

[Kathar1na]

where Catholic group pilgrimages on foot with singing and praying have an uninterrupted tradition of many centuries

Just in case it isn't clear for those who are not familiar with this idea of pilgrimage on foot: The singing of hymns and other songs and the praying is done while the group is walking. If you zoom into the photo you do not only see the person at the front who carries a crucifix decorated with flowers, you also see a member of the group carrying a loudspeaker. That is standard equipment for a pilgrimage on foot; it is used for the communal singing and praying.

Note that the conversation between the forum member and the German bus lady was not about mode of transport although she travelled by bus and he was on foot. It was about the idea of pilgrimage, about the inner catalogue that each of us has.

So perhaps we ought to ask ourselves what informs and forms our inner catalogue about what the "idea of pilgrimage" and in particular the "idea of Camino" is. A movie from 2010? Blogs and vlogs and YouTube videos about walking the Camino de Santiago? Who and what makes us believe that we ought to walk 500 km or 800 km on foot to Santiago and makes us talk about taxigrinos and busgrinos in a dismissive or mocking manner which is a nearly daily occurrence on the forum, or who and what makes us become defensive when we ourselves or others don't walk all the way? I think that is the question we ought to ask ourselves ...

BTW, there is a market for loudspeakers for pilgrimages on foot in Germany with numerous different models. Below is another newspaper photo. This pilgrimage has a tradition that goes back to 1672. It is a group pilgrimage on foot to the Apostle Saint Matthew's relics in Trier. Over 120 km btw and about 40 km daily. Of course they have a bus at their disposal for those who can't walk it all on each day. The organiser is quoted as saying "Wemme he net bedde, komme me net ahn!“" - "If we don't pray we won't arrive!" And that's one reason why they carry a loudspeaker.

 

[Bristle Boy]

I just don't think it necessary to engage your "inner Silas" to atone for your sins nor to explain a motivation or your dedication for walking a camino.
.

 

[JabbaPapa]

the destination does not matter.

????!!!?? I cordially disagree.

However, consider true live pilgrimage like Mecca, Lourdes, Fatima, Virgen de Guadalupe... in these case the journey does not matter

Of course the journey matters in these cases !!

 

[Pafayac]

????!!!?? I cordially disagree.

Santiago, the destination matters in the sense that it is the attraction pole for many people, and because most of us intent to meet them.
But, please suppose that among the first time Camino walkers, some cannot walk the Camino (because of injury, disease, lack of time...): how many would try to reach Santiago by other means ?

Of course the journey matters in these cases !!

Travelling to Mecca, Lourdes, Fatima... implies finding a transport mean to reach the destination but I never heard about the right way to go there.
Another example is Chartres: every year, in May, many pilgrims start from Paris to Chartres by feet. The target is not very particular in the sens that there is a beautiful cathedral but no specific meaning attached to it. It's just a pretext to gather on the route.
If one year Chartres becomes unreachable, the pilgrimage can remain toward Orleans or Le Mans or Beauvais...
It is not true for Mecca, Lourdes or Fatima.

 

[Kathar1na]

Another example is Chartres: every year, in May, many pilgrims start from Paris to Chartres by feet. The target is not very particular in the sens that there is a beautiful cathedral but no specific meaning attached to it. It's just a pretext to gather on the route.

I agree to some extent but not to all of it .

The pilgrimage that you refer to is a modern Catholic group pilgrimage on foot from Paris to Chartres. Again, btw, over some 120 km or so. It is, however, somewhat inspired by the medieval pilgrimage to a relic known as Veil of Our Lady, i.e. one of the Marian pilgrimages that became especially popular towards the end of the Middle Ages, I think, and that are nowadays the main idea of pilgrimage in Europe and elsewhere: Fatima and Lourdes are essentially Marian pilgrimages. They are related to Marian appearances and not to the relics of saints.

The Caminos do not fit into this idea of pilgrimage. The contemporary idea of Camino de Santiago is essentially secular.

 

[Kathar1na]

What a lovely image!

It is indeed a lovely image. I've seen it before and today I got a little curious.

I had always assumed that it is an illustration from a manuscript of Chaucer's tale. Imagine my surprise when I learnt today that it isn't. It is an illustration from the "Troy Book and the Siege of Thebe" by John Lydgate. The author apparently imagines meeting the Southwark pilgrims after their arrival in Canterbury. The image shows them leaving Canterbury.

Nevertheless: It is an illustration from a 15th century manuscript and they are on horseback.

This, of course, may give rise to questions about the Idea of Returning from Santiago de Compostela ...