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In Our Time

Medieval Pilgrimage

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.69.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2021

⏱️ 51 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea and experience of Christian pilgrimage in Europe from the 12th to the 15th centuries, which figured so strongly in the imagination of the age. For those able and willing to travel, there were countless destinations from Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela to the smaller local shrines associated with miracles and relics of the saints. Meanwhile, for those unable or not allowed to travel there were journeys of the mind, inspired by guidebooks that would tell the faithful how many steps they could take around their homes to replicate the walk to the main destinations in Rome and the Holy Land, passing paintings of the places on their route. The image above is of a badge of St Thomas of Canterbury, worn by pilgrims who had journeyed to his shrine. With Miri Rubin Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London Kathryn Rudy Professor of Art History at the University of St Andrews And Anthony Bale Professor of Medieval Studies and Dean of the School of Arts at Birkbeck, University of London Producer: Simon Tillotson

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:04.8

Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time.

0:07.3

There's a reading list to go with it on our website,

0:09.5

and you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter

0:12.8

at BBC In Our Time.

0:14.7

I hope you enjoyed the programs.

0:16.7

Hello, in medieval Europe,

0:18.2

the idea and experience of Christian pilgrimage

0:20.9

was so intense that it fired the imagination of the age.

0:24.8

For those who could travel,

0:26.2

there was a constellation of destinations

0:28.5

from Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela

0:32.1

to countless local shrines associated with miracles.

0:35.6

And those were to keep her and could recreate journeys

0:38.0

in their minds, pacing cloister with guidebooks in hand,

0:40.8

replicating the number of steps from the Holy Sepulchre

0:43.3

to the Mount of Volumes, as if they were really there.

0:46.2

With me to discuss medieval Christian pilgrimage

0:48.9

are Catherine Rudy, Professor of Artistry

0:51.9

at the University of St Andrews, Anthony Bale,

0:54.8

Professor of Medieval Studies, and Dean of the School of Arts

0:58.2

at Birkbeck University of London, and Mary Rubin, Professor

...

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