Pilgrimage is a religious and cultural phenomenon. **The religious concept of pilgrimage and the act of pilgrimage are necessarily closely related to the subject of pilgrimage, that is, the pilgrim.
* The scope of the pilgrim religion expanded from the religious to the secular sphere, and due to the breadth of the social base of the pilgrimage, the pilgrim had an important influence on the social, economic, and political aspects of the Middle Ages in Western Europe.
Pilgrimage is not just the practice of religious people such as monks and clergy. The Burgundian monk Raoul Grabbe wrote in his book Histories:
At the same time (around 1033), countless people, in groups, ran from all corners of the world to the Savior's Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. First the commoners, then the middle class, then all the great monarchs, counts, and clergy, and at last the ladies of the great nobles came to this place accompanied by the poorest. This has never happened before.It can be seen that pilgrimage is not the exclusive right of religious people. In medieval Western Europe, kings, secular aristocrats, and people from all social classes, such as peasants, merchants, and craftsmen, could join the pilgrimage.
Next, we will discuss the two types of pilgrims, religious pilgrims and secular pilgrims. Religious pilgrims include both monastics and secular clergy. Because of the length of the article, this article focuses on religious pilgrimages.
The presence of monks as the main body of pilgrimage in the early days of the Church reflects the growing influence of monasteries in Western European society.
The pilgrimage activities of the monks for various purposes have played a role in promoting the spread of ** religion, especially the role of monasteries.
In the early Middle Ages, in the 4th century AD, the Church Fathers explained and advocated the monastic system from a theological and doctrinal point of view, and the monastic gradually became a basic organization of the Church. Monks and clergy were earlier confined to certain spheres of activity, such as academic studies and the reception of communion and prayer.
In order to attract more individual, individual hermits to the monastery, and to better promote the religious purpose of the monastery and establish the holy image of the monks and clergy, many monks chose to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem or Rome in the east.
In 720, for example, Ian Fryze, an English abbot, asked Boniface to allow her to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Her aim was not only to seek the Pope's support for the convent, but also to expand the prestige of the convent through this pilgrimage.
During the Crusades, the abbots began a massive pilgrimage, which they regarded as a spiritual duty of their religion and brought many benefits to the monastery.
The looting of holy relics from the East increased the prestige and spiritual authority of the monastery, and pilgrims came to worship these holy relics, increasing the economic income of the monastery.
It can be seen that the pilgrimage activities of the monks not only brought fame and practical economic benefits to the monastery, but also expanded the influence of the monastery and the spread of the first religion.
It can be said that the rapid spread of ** religion in the Frankish kingdom benefited in part from the continuous pilgrimage activities of religious pilgrims.
With the widespread spread of religion, the indoctrination of society has been further deepened, and the scope of religious pilgrims has also expanded.
Secular clergy, such as parish priests, church priests, and other members of ecclesiastical institutions, as well as students and teachers in church schools, gradually became the main body of religious pilgrims.
They are taught by the doctrine of the ** religion and see pilgrimage as a necessary religious way of life. As a result, pilgrimages are becoming more and more regularized.
For example, after the establishment of the new abbey of Cluny, it was stipulated that pilgrims should obtain permission from the bishop of the diocese before they set out, and that arrangements should be made for the affairs of the diocese during the departure of the friars or the priests themselves. On the one hand, this solves the worries of pilgrims, and on the other hand, it also receives more recognition and protection from church institutions.
The establishment of the first ecclesiastical center in Rome by the pope also provided more space for pilgrimage, so secular archbishops often came to Rome to accept appointments and dismissals.
In 993, the twenty-seventh Archbishop of Canterbury, Segrek, traveled to Rome to receive the shawl. From the 11th to the 12th centuries onwards, the combination of religious values and material interests led to a significant increase in the power and prestige of the Church among the public.
Attracted by the spiritual inspiration of the monks and their secular experiences, secular clergy began to participate more in pilgrimage activities.
By the late Middle Ages, low-ranking secular clergy frequently traveled back and forth to Rome to participate in ecclesiastical courts. In her last overseas pilgrimage in 1430, Marguerite Kemp mentions that she met many religious figures on her pilgrimage and even was accompanied by a "poor missionary" on the way back to Calais.
The increase in the number of secular clergy pilgrims is undoubtedly a manifestation of the increased spiritual authority of religious institutions. At the same time, this also makes the church have a greater ideological and basic power in the struggle for power in the field of secular politics.