From Selfless Piety To The Sick And Needy
Pilgrimages were important phenomena in European Christian culture during the Middle Ages. The early pilgrimages, such as Etheria’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem, differed from other types of travel and migration in where she went, the motivation to go, and the privileges she got. As pilgrimages evolved and became more widespread and local, they stayed similar in the type of destinations and dangers of the world, but the motivations behind changed. Pilgrims traveled because they were forced, paid, or wished to be healed, and this resembles non-religious migrations. Early pilgrimages were quite different than other travels, but as they grew commonplace in Europe and changed, the motivations to leave parallel nonreligious travels of the time.
Etheria’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem is a stereotypical example of early Christian pilgrimages, and it differs from other nonreligious migrations of the time in where she went, how she got there, and why she went. Around 380 A.D. the Spanish Abbess Etheria left Spain to travel across Europe to Jerusalem. She traveled to various famous Christian sites in the area, such as Mount Sinai and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher , and unlike nonreligious travelers of the time, who, if possible, took horses or boats to travel long distances to a …show more content…
Many churches had penitentials, documents which described which acts warranted pilgrimage or exile, and for how long. For example, theft of relics or from a holy place warranted exile from the thief’s home country for five to seven years, possibly forever. Smaller crimes such as theft warrant a year of exile and pilgrimage. This type of pilgrimage is a forced migration, similar to refugees fleeing their home country, or being exiled against their will. Not all who needed to be cleansed of sin were able to make the penances, and they had to find others to do it for them after their
Pilgrimages were important phenomena in European Christian culture during the Middle Ages. The early pilgrimages, such as Etheria’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem, differed from other types of travel and migration in where she went, the motivation to go, and the privileges she got. As pilgrimages evolved and became more widespread and local, they stayed similar in the type of destinations and dangers of the world, but the motivations behind changed. Pilgrims traveled because they were forced, paid, or wished to be healed, and this resembles non-religious migrations. Early pilgrimages were quite different than other travels, but as they grew commonplace in Europe and changed, the motivations to leave parallel nonreligious travels of the time.
Etheria’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem is a stereotypical example of early Christian pilgrimages, and it differs from other nonreligious migrations of the time in where she went, how she got there, and why she went. Around 380 A.D. the Spanish Abbess Etheria left Spain to travel across Europe to Jerusalem. She traveled to various famous Christian sites in the area, such as Mount Sinai and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher , and unlike nonreligious travelers of the time, who, if possible, took horses or boats to travel long distances to a …show more content…
Many churches had penitentials, documents which described which acts warranted pilgrimage or exile, and for how long. For example, theft of relics or from a holy place warranted exile from the thief’s home country for five to seven years, possibly forever. Smaller crimes such as theft warrant a year of exile and pilgrimage. This type of pilgrimage is a forced migration, similar to refugees fleeing their home country, or being exiled against their will. Not all who needed to be cleansed of sin were able to make the penances, and they had to find others to do it for them after their