738 



PILGRIMAGES. 



The practice of making foreign pilgrimages 

 existed in England from the seventh to about 

 the middle of the fifteen century. Few persons of 

 any station or wealth failed during that period to 

 engage in these religious tours, and in later ages 

 they were not uncommon among persons in the 

 middle ranks of life. The Wife of Bath, for ex- 

 ample, though but a simple cloth-worker, had 

 been as a pilgrim to Rome, Compostella, and Jeru- 

 salem ; but the expense of such journeys, and the 

 long absence which they required, must generally 

 have confined them to the affluent : although, in 

 that spirit of restlessness which pervaded the mid- 

 dle ages, persons of the lowest rank sometimes 

 engaged in them, and trusted to chance for sup- 

 port. 



The professional costume of a pilgrim is usually 

 described as consisting of a long coarse russet 

 gown with large sleeves, and sometimes patched 

 with crosses ; a leather belt worn round the 

 shoulders or loins, a bowl and bag suspended from 

 it; a round hat, turned up in front, and stuck with 

 scallop shells, or small leaden images of saints ; a 

 rosary of large beads hanging from the neck or 

 arm, and a long walking staff (the bourdon), 

 hooked like a crosier, or furnished near the top 

 with two hollow balls, which were occasionally 

 used as a musical instrument. 



Before setting out, the pilgrim received conse- 

 cration, which was extended also to the several 

 articles of his attire. On a certain day he repaired 

 to the church, and, after making confession, he 

 prostrated himself before the altar, where certain 

 prayers and masses were said over him, ending 

 with the- Gloria Patri, Ad te Dornine levavi, and 

 the Miserere. He then arose, and the priest con- 

 secrated his scrip and staff, sprinkling each with 

 holy water, and placing the former round his neck, 

 and the latter in his hands. If he were going to 

 Jerusalem, the crosses of his gown were sprinkled 

 in the same way, and publicly sewed upon his gar- 

 ment. The service then ended with the mass, 

 De iter agentibus; and, on the day of taking his 

 departure, he was sometimes led out of the parish 

 in procession, with the cross and holy water borne 

 before him. Before commencing his journey, he 

 also settled his worldly affairs, and frequently gave 

 a part of his goods to religious uses. In Blome- 

 field's Norfolk, an instance is cited of a pilgrim 

 who insured the prayers of a religious house dur- 

 ing his absence, by a gift of cattle and corn, 

 and gave the reversion of his estates to it, if 

 he should not return. Such acts of generosity 

 had probably a reference to the protection which 

 the church bestowed on these devotees. During 

 their absence their property was secured from in- 

 jury, nor could they be arrested or cast in any 

 civil process. The most desperate characters re- 

 spected the sanctity of their profession, and in 

 some instances have been known, after robbing 

 them by the way, to restore all they haa taken 

 from them. The pilgrims to foreign places were 

 compelled, by a law of the 9th of Edward III., to 

 embark and return by Dove*, " in relief and com- 

 fort of the said town;" and, in the 13th Richard 

 II. 1389, at the request of the "barons of Dover," 

 who alluded to this ordinance, the king commanded, 

 that all pilgrims and others, excepting soldiers and 

 merchants, should embark at Plymouth or Dover, 

 and no where else, without special license from 

 the king himself- those, however, who wished to 

 go to Ireland might embark where they pleased. 



From the reason assigned by the barons for their 

 petition, that " la serche meultz purra estre fait 

 en un port q'en plusours," it may be inferred, that 

 the restriction arose from a desire to check the 

 smuggling, which is said to have been extensively 

 carried on by persons in this disguise. 



In the order of foreign pilgrims must be reckoned 

 the palmers ; a class of men whose real history and 

 condition is little known, though their name is 

 familiar. According to the most probable account, 

 their designation was derived from the palm (the 

 symbol of Palestine,) branches of which were often 

 brought home by them, as evidences of their jour- 

 ney. The distinction between them and ordinary 

 pilgrims has been defined as consisting in the fol- 

 lowing circumstances: " The pilgrim had some 

 home or dwelling-place; but the palmer had none. 

 The pilgrim travelled to some certain designed 

 place ; but the palmer to all. The pilgrim went 

 at his own charges ; but the palmer professed wil- 

 ful poverty, and went upon alms. The pilgrim 

 might give over his profession, and return home; 

 but the palmer must be consistent till he had 

 obtained his palm by death." These distinctions, 

 however, were not invariably preserved ; and it 

 would be perhaps difficult to determine any that 

 were so. The profession of a palmer was at first 

 voluntary, and arose in that rivalry of fanaticism 

 which existed in the earlier part of the middle 

 ages. But afterwards, in the tenth and eleventh 

 centuries, it was not unfrequently imposed as a 

 penance, and by a law of Henry I., priests who 

 revealed the confessional were punished by these 

 perpetual pilgrimages. In some cases, a variety of 

 severe conditions were added to the sentence. 

 Some who were thus condemned were made to 

 wander about almost naked, carrying rings and 

 chains of iron; and others were bound, in all their 

 journeys, to kneel down at short intervals, and 

 beat the earth with the palms of their hands. 

 There can be no doubt that these forms of penance 

 were actually inflicted ; but to what extent, in any 

 particular age, it is impossible to ascertain. 



The rise of the domestic shrines of England, 

 and the decline of foreign pilgrimage, are evi- 

 dences of the milder character which asceticism had 

 begun to wear. The spirit and manner of these 

 pilgrimages differed in many respects from those of 

 the former kind. From their diminished distance 

 and danger, and their greater frequency, they had 

 comparatively little of the same solemn prepara- 

 tion or devotional austerity. Few domestic pil- 

 grims, probably, underwent the ceremony of con 

 secration, or travelled in any peculiar costume 

 This is evident from Chaucer's pilgrims, who are 

 all equipped in their gayest dresses, and exhibit 

 no distinctive sign of their profession in appear- 

 ance or spirit. They pursue their journey gaily 

 on horseback, and make it an occasion of mirth 

 and enjoyment rather than of religious mortifica- 

 tion. 



" Every man in his wise made hertly chere, 



Telling- his fellow of sportis and of cheer, 



And of mirthes that fallen by the waye, 



As custom is of pilgrimes, and hath been many a daye." 



It may be inferred from a petition of the Com- 

 mons to the king in 1435, that pilgrimages were 

 made by persons in their best apparel. They 

 state, that one John Carpenter, a husbandman of 

 Brydham, in Sussex, "saying to Isabella, bis wyfF, 

 that was of the age of xvi yere, and had be married 

 to hym but xv dayes, that they wold goo togedre 



