Overview

Overview

A pilgrimage was one of the few times an ordinary person in the Middle Ages would have traveled far from home. Some Christians made such trips in search of a cure for disease. Others traveled as an act of devotion or to venerate a holy place or relic. Pilgrimages often involved long, tiring journeys. Those who completed such journeys were respected for their piety.

As this ad for a fictitious travel agency indicates, the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral was a major destination for medieval Christian pilgrims. The Canterbury Tales, a group of stories by the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, provides an interesting glimpse into the classes of people who might have been found on a pilgrimage. Christian pilgrimages continue to this day, to sites such as Lourdes in France, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.