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When you decide to walk one of the many pilgrimage trails in Europe, you become part of an old tradition. For almost two thousand years, people have been walking these ancient trails hoping to find faith and inspiration.

Although the concept of a sacred journey can be found in several of the world religions, this post will focus on the history of pilgrimage in Europe.

In the past, going on a spiritual journey was primarily part of religious life. Most people undertook pilgrimages in order to visit shrines, temples, or other religious sites.

Even though religious pilgrimage may have become less common among modern-day pilgrims, there is still something to walking a pilgrim trail that continues to draw people out.

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More than a Physical Journey

If you’ve walked one of the many pilgrimage routes in Europe, you probably know that a pilgrimage is much more than just a walk. There’s a level of depth and purpose that you won’t find on an ordinary stroll in the park.

When you decide to journey on foot across land, you quickly realize that the people you meet and the places you visit have a profound effect on you.

If anything, your experiences will result in a collection of memories and experiences that’s increasingly hard to find in the modern world and that sets a pilgrimage apart from any other travel.

Origins of Christian Pilgrimage

When we think of the word pilgrim, we might think of poor, scruffy-looking travellers walking the dusty roads in medieval times. However, pilgrimage is a lot older than that, and its origin goes back well beyond the Middle Ages to the early centuries after the founding of Christianity.

The earliest examples of Christian pilgrimage go back to the most important spiritual event in Christianity: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The First Christian Pilgrims

Did you know that the first true pilgrims appear in the Bible? When the disciples heard that Jesus had risen from the dead, the gospel of Luke tells how a number of them ran towards the empty grave to visit the site of the miracle themselves.

According to early Christian tradition, pilgrimage wasn’t about visiting holy relics or shrines. They believed that God was everywhere, so there was simply no need to travel.

European Christians visiting the Holy Land were curious. They wanted to deepen their faith by meeting the local people and by seeing places from the Bible, such as Jerusalem and Bethlehem, with their own eyes.

The Pivotal Fourth Century

All of this changed when the Byzantine emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 AD. Under Constantine, the idea took hold that you could encounter God in certain holy places.

In the following centuries, many holy places from the life of Christ or his apostles were ‘rediscovered’. Also, places such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome were built to mark them.

These discoveries changed the nature of pilgrimage. Gradually, pilgrimage to Jerusalem became about visiting the shrines and relics in the Holy City rather than its people.

New Destinations Beyond The Holy Land

After the Holy Land fell under Muslim rule in the 7th century, visiting Jerusalem became increasingly dangerous. The result was an emergence of new pilgrimage destinations.

With Jerusalem increasingly hard to get to, other sites such as Rome or Santiago de Compostela became popular alternatives. Likewise, many places had their own shrines devoted to local saints. Pilgrimage no longer required a long journey and became much cheaper.

Ordinary people could now afford to go on pilgrimage, and the result was a huge boost in the number of pilgrims on the road.

People have been walking to Santiago de Compostela for more than a thousand years. Read more about the Portuguese route in our guide on the Camino Portuguese!

The Golden Age Of Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage grew so much that the period between the 11th to the 13th century is now known as the Golden Age of Pilgrimage.

During these centuries, a significant part of the population in Europe was either on pilgrimage or otherwise involved in the industry.

There weren’t just more pilgrims on the road. It wasn’t long before people realized that money could be made from providing the amenities that pilgrims needed on their journey.

Development of Pilgrim Infrastructure

Between the 11th and 13th centuries, the nature of pilgrimage changed significantly as it developed from a few individuals on the road into an entire industry.

Where pilgrims used to find shelter in monasteries and churches, these centuries saw inns and guesthouses pop up around the numerous pilgrimage sites that catered to pilgrims.

Likewise, there was a huge increase in craftsmen and artisans who sold trinkets and souvenirs that pilgrims were only too eager to take home with them.

Why Did People Go?

Pilgrimage was an important part of medieval life, and going on such a journey was a fairly common thing to do.

The reasons for going weren’t that different from why people go today. Like many modern pilgrims, medieval pilgrims often went on pilgrimage in search of something very specific.

Divine Favour or Forgiveness

Whether you were asking for a blessing or forgiveness of past sins, people believed that God was more present in the various holy places. As a result, any prayer said from a shrine or temple was much more likely to be answered.

Penance

When you went to confess your sins, a priest or bishop could order you to undertake a spiritual journey as part of your path to forgiveness.

The British monarch Henry II was famously told to go on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral to atone for the murder of Thomas Becket. Public humiliation was part of his penance, and after going barefoot for the entire route, he was publicly flogged by every monk that was there!

Healing

For centuries, people believed that falling ill meant that their fate was in the hands of God. After all, making a full recovery was anything but certain.

Visiting and praying at the shrine of a particular saint was the medieval equivalent of seeing a specialist. While many medieval saints could cure the sick, some were seen as extra effective at curing specific illnesses. For example, the French Saint Roch became very popular as the saint to cure you of the bubonic plague.

Postpone Earthly Punishments

Some people went on pilgrimage for reasons that were not religious in the slightest. As long as you were on a pilgrimage, you were exempt from paying taxes or even from being sued for committing a crime!

Some took this last part too far. The hilarious case of a pilgrim named John Foster shows that he believed he had a blank pass to do whatever he wanted without fear of the law. His surviving arrest warrant shows that he was wrong…

Much like today, pilgrims used to have many different reasons for undertaking a pilgrimage. Some went for religious reasons, some to escape the everyday world, while others saw it as a search for adventure.

What Did Medieval Pilgrims Look Like?

He bare a staff bound with a broad strip in bindweed wise wound about. A bowl and a bag he bare by his side … and shells of Galicia … so that men should know and see by his signs what shrines he had sought. (The Vision of Piers Plowman)

In the Golden Age of Pilgrimage, pilgrims came from all social classes, and most of them didn’t look any different from ordinary people.

However, there are a few specific items that made a person stand out as a pilgrim. This illustration above shows a group of people clearly identifiable as pilgrims:

• The pilgrim’s staff: A simple wooden staff for support and balance on the road, as well as for fighting off wild animals.
• A wide-rimmed hat: this item not only protected the pilgrim from the elements, such as rain and sun, but was often decked out in souvenirs and badges of holy sites
• A simple yet sturdy cloak or coat: This piece of clothing protected against the cold and gave a pilgrim a humble look.
• Scrip or satchel: Many pilgrims wore a pouch in which they carried food, relics, or souvenirs.

To be recognizable as pilgrims, some even carried banners or musical instruments such as bagpipes to help them stand out even more.

In addition to practical function, a pilgrim’s attire also had spiritual significance. For example, the staff wasn’t just a tool for the road, it was also a reflection of the pilgrim’s connection with God above and gave as much spiritual as physical support.

The Pilgrim Blessing

Give me my scallop-shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My scrip of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope’s true gage;
And thus I’ll take my pilgrimage. (Sir Walter Raleigh, The Passionate Man’s Pilgrimage)

Before leaving on their spiritual journey, pilgrims often received a special blessing from their local priest.

For ordinary pilgrims, the priest or bishop blessed the staff or pouch before sending them on their way, but sometimes there was more to it. For example, if your pilgrimage was prescribed as a part of penance, it was customary to publicly confess your sins before departing.

These days, some churches, such as Canterbury Cathedral or Dublin Cathedral, still offer a blessing for departing pilgrims to mark the beginning of their journey.

Kayla and I got one in Canterbury before walking to Rome, and I highly recommend it!

Medieval Travel Guides

Opposite the church is the marketplace. Here, in front of the church, stand six columns, with arches above them; and here, on the south side of the church, stands the Church and Hospital of St. John the Baptist. (A Guide to the Holy Land, Part 1, Chapter 13)

While early pilgrims didn’t have the apps or guidebooks that are available to us, they did have access to medieval guides to help them on their way.

Books like the famous Codex Calixtinus or the above-mentioned 12th-century Guide to the Holy Land were popular guidebooks that contained detailed itineraries for pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, Rome, or Santiago de Compostela.

Besides important information such as places to sleep or to get drinking water, these books also gave pilgrims advice on how to handle the many hazards on the road.

The Dangers of Medieval Pilgrimage

Medieval Europe was a dangerous place, especially once you left the safety of your own village. There was no police to call, and many robberies and murders went completely unnoticed.

On the road, a lonely pilgrim was at the mercy of whatever they encountered. Because of this, pilgrims sought safety in numbers and commonly chose to travel in groups.

Wild Animals

A mile distant from here is the Jordan, which … pours itself into the Dead Sea and thereafter appears no more. Between the Red Cistern and the afore said valley lies a frightful wilderness (A Guide to the Holy Land, Part 2, Chapter 24)

Given the long sections of sparsely populated terrain, dangerous wildlife was one of the major hazards that a pilgrim had to deal with.

Pilgrims often had to venture into remote places where people normally wouldn’t go. On their way through the forests and mountain ranges, pilgrims frequently encountered dangerous animals such as bears and wolves.

Having come across wolves in the mountains on my own pilgrimage to Rome, I can tell you that their howling is enough to give you some bad dreams for a few days!

Hazardous Terrain

If you are crossing the Landes in summer, … unless you watch your step, you’ll sink to your knees in the quicksand that is everywhere. (Codex Calixtinus, Book V)

Long-distance travel was rare in medieval times, and most ordinary people never left the safety of their own village.

Many pilgrims traveled through terrain they’d never seen before. Imagine encountering mountains or deserts for the first time, and having to cross them without any survival knowledge!

Robbers

Whatever you do, don’t get into an overloaded boat, which can suddenly capsize. These boatmen have been known to collect the fares and pile the boat full of pilgrims, so that the boat capsizes and the pilgrims are drowned. Then the evil scoundrels delight in stealing the possessions of the dead. (Codex Calixtinus, Book V)

On their journey, pilgrims had to contend with thieves and robbers as well as local lords who would often scam or heavily tax them.

The Church responded by announcing strong protections for pilgrims. From founding hospices and safe places along the way to announcing excommunication for harming a pilgrim, the catholic church put several measures in place to ensure safe passage for pilgrims.

Famous Pilgrimage Routes

In medieval days, visiting holy places was a common part of Christian life. Almost every European country had its own pilgrim destination with shrines to local saints.

But despite the rise of small-scale pilgrimage, three holy cities remained by far the most popular pilgrimage centers.

Jerusalem

The ultimate pilgrimage destination for many pilgrims, visiting Jerusalem and the Holy Land allowed you to walk the streets that Jesus once walked and to see where He performed his miracles.

A pilgrim could visit several places in the life and death of Christ, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Via Dolorosa.

For most of the Middle Ages, travelling to Jerusalem was an extremely challenging undertaking. Pilgrims had to navigate all kinds of dangers on the road, and the journey came with a rather hefty price tag.

Because of this, Jerusalem never saw the number of pilgrims that visited the other two sites.

After the Holy Land was lost to the Muslims in the 13th century, the number of pilgrims declined. Sadly, this political instability associated with the Holy Land continues to be a restricting factor for pilgrims.

Santiago De Compostela

After the remains of Saint James the Greater were found in the 9th century, Santiago de Compostela became very popular with pilgrims.

Since travelling to Santiago wasn’t nearly as expensive as visiting Jerusalem, many more pilgrims made the journey. At its peak in the 13th century, an estimated 250,000 pilgrims visited every year.

The result was a slow but steady increase in pilgrim infrastructure. In the early days, monasteries regularly took in pilgrims, but later, special pilgrim hospices and shelters were built by local lords.

Later came investments in local bridges and roads to facilitate and capitalize on pilgrimage.

Rome

The pilgrimage route to the Eternal City was the most popular of all Christian pilgrimages. Every year, thousands of people journeyed to the city to visit the tombs of the apostles Paul and Peter.

As the center of the European Christian world, Rome was the pilgrimage destination with the best infrastructure. For a while, Italy even had the Knights of the Tau, a military order devoted to the protection of pilgrims.

The year 1300 saw record-breaking crowds as this was the first time the pope announced a Jubilee or holy year. While an exact estimate is hard to come by, some local sources even suggest up to 2 million people made the pilgrimage in that year!

Modern Pilgrims on Ancient Trails

When you hang your scallop shell off your pack, show your pilgrim’s credential at an albergue to get a place to sleep, or even when you collect your compostela, you’re doing the same things that pilgrims have been doing for more than a thousand years.

The history of pilgrimage is very much alive, and adds a layer of depth to routes like the Via Francigena or the Camino de Santiago.

If you choose to heed the call of pilgrimage, keep your eyes peeled for signs of the ancient pilgrims who once shared your path. Who knows what you will discover?