During the Middle Ages, the English church’s suggestions were spoken by God’s own voice. The Church encouraged pilgrimages to various holy places, or shrines, to search for spiritual enlightenment and penitence from sin. This ideology says that if one were to pray at a shrine, one could be forgiven of one’s sins, thus increasing the chance of going to Heaven after an earthly death. Those suffering from a plethora of aliments and other illnesses might also make a pilgrimage in the hope of being healed of it. For whatever their reason, pilgrims made their way to the various shrines; they were influenced, in part, by furthering their faith through religious relics. Pilgrims sought out relics and saw these pieces of material as much more than mere trifles; rather, these items were a means to obtain salvation.
Pilgrims ventured to shrines, often times paying money or other forms of patronage, in the hope of being allowed to look at or perhaps even kiss the religious relics displayed in the shrine. Much like a modern-day traveler of the United States who collects stickers from the various states to affix on a suitcase, pilgrims were given a metal badge after their visit to a shrine; they would wear these badges on their hats, signifying they had visited a particular shrine—pilgrims had their own form of postcards from their travels. Pilgrims normally traveled in larger groups during their journeys, as making a pilgrimage was a dangerous affair. On an opposite end of the spectrum, some people wanted to go on pilgrimages without actually going on the journey itself. A wealthy person might pay another to make the trek for him to a particular shrine setting.
One notable shrine in England is the tomb of Thomas Becket. Becket was at one ti...
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...othing more than trinkets, many saw them as rare mementos of their faith, adding a great, divine comfort to their searching. Whether it is the shrine of Thomas Becket or a locale containing a baby tooth of the Savior in the Christian faith, pilgrims flocked to these places on their pilgrimages much the same way as someone might want to flock to a heavenly acceptance. Throughout time figures like King Henry VIII and others have tried to stop the progress of religious shrines and the relics therein, but halting a pillar in the any faith is not a task suitable for a mortal. Some relics, people of the time believed, had the power to heal aliments that even earthly medicine failed to do. Thanks, in part, to the relics and the journeys it took to find them, the Christian faith and the belief of the people transcended any earthly authority and bordered something divine.
A traveling pilgrim deeply connects and explores the cultures they visit in the same way a spiritual tourist explores life's meaning and significance. In this way, spiritual pilgrims are made unique by their desire to find life purpose. As Falson's life begins to fall apart, he finds new life purpose through the study of St. Francis's Christ-like lifestyle of poverty and generosity. A reader can especially make this connection as Falson washes the genitals of a poor man and the impact it makes on him. Pilgrims studying history search for the purposes and deeper implications of each past event. They seek not just to know the facts but also their deeper
In 1241, King Louis IX was 27 years old, when he decided to build the Sainte Chapelle to house his great treasures – the relics of Christ. In the thirteenth century, the kingdom of France was a prosperous nation in wealth and power. The popular and well-known university, Notre dame was located in Paris that occupied over 200,000 students from many different cultures. “In 1237, the new Franc Emperor of the East, Baudoin II de Dourtenay, was faced by heavy expenses of a mainly military nature; he tried to meet these by selling the Relics of the Passion that were preserved in Byzantium and which he had already partly pledged to the Venetians” (Finance 4). In 1239, Louis bought from him the Holy Crown of Thorns, and two years later bought from him fragments of the True Cross and other relics connected to Christ. King Louis IX was a model for all Christian kings, and this reaffirmed his devotion to Christ, made his kingdom shine in western Christianity, and supported the empire of France. “It is probable that from this date onwards the king thought of building a monumental reliquary to house the precious relics in a dignified manner within the palace precincts, in a similar fashion of the Christian Emperors of the East” (Finance 5). The Sainte Chapelle sparkles like a rare jewel that has magnificent architecture and decoration; the stain glass windows seem to be inside of a jewel case. The many jewels seem to change color every hour with the sunlight rays bouncing back and forth. “The founder, King Louis IX, the future St. Louis, who had it built to house the Holy Relics of the Passion, today dispersed” (Finance 1). The spire has statues of Christ’s apostles at the base of the spire and has angles decorated above the apostles. The ...
In 1785, a Christ Child was said to have appeared. A shepherd boy from the village of Tayankani played with the child, but the child disappeared. The child was believed to have disappeared into a rock that was left with his imprint. This is the story behind the pilgrimage to the rock, but those of our community don’t pay much attention to it. Their purpose in the event is to ‘honor’ their supernatural beings. They pay homage to Rit’i (the snow), Taytakuna (Fathers), and the great Apus (Lord Mountains).
The Middle Ages, contrary to its name, was a dynamic period of innovations. Throughout this period, visual arts were employed to communicate important messages to the public as well as private wealthy patrons. A variety of mediums were used to disseminate ideas. Though, the sense of decorum shifted, the purpose of these moralizing images of religious figures remained the same. Art was, as it still is an extremely useful and powerful tool for both religious and political advancements. The two pieces to be considered in this paper were created using scenes from the life of Christ. Themes from the old and new testaments were frequently used in art of the Middle Ages to convey important messages to a largely illiterate populous, display the wealth of few individuals, and create feelings of patriotism and support for the Monarch by relating them to divinity. Both pieces are from different mediums and likely different forms of patronage. To be analyzed in this paper is an illuminated manuscript page (fig 1) and an ivory diptych (fig 2). There are several similarities, as well as differences throughout the works. I will describe each piece then continue to compare and contrast them, this will work to facilitate a greater understanding of the Middle Ages through works of art.
"Pope Gregory I sent a mission to England of 40 monks, headed by the Benedictine prior Augustine... to convert Anglo-Saxons." Since Christianity was so scarce in Britain since the Romans had removed themselves that Pope Gregory I wanted to bring back Christianity. Instead of transforming all pagan practices to Christianity, for fear that it would not work that way, he combined the two religions into one religion called Hiberno-Saxon. This new religion flourished among the England and Ireland people. Christianity was so influential that it was able to transform pagan practices drastically, even enough to change the pre-Christian decorative vocabulary of the Sutton Hoo treasure that was created to honor a pagan god into a treasure that honored
Lambdin, Laura C. and Robert T. Lambdin, ed. Chaucer's Pilgrims: An Historical Guide to the Pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales. London: Greenwood Press, 1996.
The author of The Quest of the Holy Grail addresses a significant number of spiritual and moral issues throughout his engaging story. His goal is to provide a guide to proper living in the eyes of God, and he successfully achieves this goal through the adventures of several very diverse knights of the Round Table who, through their victories and follies, show us the value of spiritual chivalry; furthermore, if we have any additional questions concerning spirituality that are not addressed in The Quest of the Holy Grail, the author suggests that we may always seek out the guidance of our wise local hermits.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer are a collection of Middle English short stories written about a group of pilgrims telling tales as they journey to the shrine of St Thomas Becket. In this collection of tales, Chaucer introduces a slew of interesting characters representing all walks of life who present intriguing stories of their lives. The character of Chaucer serves as our guide throughout this story. Chaucer’s narration is unique in that we see him both as someone who could be there in the tavern with the group but at other times, Chaucer is a narrator who seems to know far more than he should. With this type of narration, we gain different perspectives on the pilgrims and
In the 14th century, war, and violence were prevalent. The Canterbury Tales were written during the Hundred Years War, when the Catholic Church was dealing with the Western schism, and “Against the darkest period of his life…” (Bloom 14). The story is centered on a group of thirty pilgrims who are traveling to the shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury (Bloom 14). The pilgrims are all focused on a theme which is backed by the story’s underlying tone of religion.
In order for the crusades to begin, the Christians needed to gather an army to travel and fight the forces of Muslims. With all the power being held by monarchies at this time, the church needed to be cleaver in order to gain troops to put their lives on the line. To gain the support of these warriors and dedication of men, Pope Urban II (1088-1099) challenged those morals of men by telling them to grab their weapons and join the holy war to recover the land of Jerusalem. It was not the challenge that convinced men to take part in this war. The promise of “immediate remission of sins” attracted the men to stand up for their religion and beliefs while at the same time, promising them a trip to heaven when life comes to an end. With this statement, men instantly prepared for battle which in a very short period of time gave the church power which has been held by the monarchies. Men of rich and poor prepared for battle, some wearing ...
As I walked into the first gallery, I saw a wood sculpture that stood in the center of the room. This carving depicted “the crucified Christ, flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist with Angels holding instruments of the Passion”. It was painted oak and very appealing to the eye. It stood approximately 15 feet in the air. The origin of this sculpture is unknown, but it was found in a Belgium church. This kind of sculpture usually stood at the entrance or at the center of the alter in the church facing the congregation. This image of the suffering Christ relates to the Christian ideas of suffering and Christ’s salvation of all mankind.
Francis of Assisi is one of the most influential personalities in the entire world. In the book ‘Francis of Assisi: Performing the Gospel Life,’ Cunningham recounts the life of this humble monk who lived in the medieval times, and shaped the Christian life, which spread in Western culture throughout the rest of history. I believe Cunningham accurately accounts for the life of Francis of Assisi, and in doing so; he provides a trajectory of the Christian faith from its early and historical proponents through its fusion with western culture, and its subsequent spread throughout the world.
Turner, V. (1978) Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropological Perspectives, pp. 249-251 ("Notes on Processual Symbolic Analysis").
The Church in the 1400’s was the center of everyone’s life and a peasant’s life was the hardest to live. The Church convinced everyone that if they broke the rules their soul would be damned. One of the rules was to devote time to the church where peasants would give hours of free labor in the churches’ fields instead of working on their own land to feed their family (“The Medieval Church”). The Church would gather tithes of food and money from every person and store them in a tithe barn where the food would rot or be poisoned by rats (“The Medieval Church”).
One woman’s Trifles is another man’s clues. The play Trifles, was written by Susan Glaspell based on the murder of John Hossack, which Susan reported on while working as a news journalist for Des Moines Daily News. Susan Glaspell was an American Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, actress, novelist, journalist, and founder of the Provincetown Players. She has written nine novels, fifteen plays, over fifty short stories, and one biography. At 21 she enrolled at Drake University even after the prevailing belief that college make women unfit for marriage. But many don’t know that her work was only published after the death of her husband George Cram Cook. Trifles is an example of a feminist drama. The play shows how male dominance was