One of the commodities without which we could not imagine the modern world is travel.
Whether for business or pleasure, in our own country or abroad, it could be as simple as
boarding an airplane and owning a passport, and sometimes not even that.
Travel and borders are simple and straightforward concepts nowadays, however, it was not always
so.
A journey from London to Milan or Jerusalem would have been much longer and more eventful
during the Middle Ages than crossing half of the world would be today.
As we often take the modern simplicity of travel for granted, it is important to see
how it functioned in a time drastically different from our own.
Languages remain the main barrier when you are traveling abroad, but fear not – the
sponsor of this video Babbel is here with its applied approach to learn more than 10
languages quickly!
Indeed, Babbel is the #1 language learning app in the world with more than 10 million
subscribers and it teaches Spanish, French, Russian, Turkish, Italian, Portuguese, and
other languages spoken by more than 2 billion people worldwide!
Babbel proved that it is possible to get anyone speaking a new language in 3 just weeks - you
only need 15 minutes a day to see results, so even the busiest among you can start learning
new language today.
Babbel’s method prepares you for real-life situations.
Do you want to travel more?
Connect to new people?
Learn a new culture?
Study abroad?
Grow professionally?
It doesn’t matter why you want to learn a new language, Babbel is your choice.
We love the fact that you can learn on the go – from anywhere and don’t even need
an internet connection – the lessons can be downloaded!
So what are you waiting for?
Babbel has a special offer for our viewers: sign up to Babbel via our link and get 65%
off a Babbel subscription!
The medieval Flemish politician Anselm Adorno said “Some are foolish enough to think that
there is no country but their own”.
Our first thought is that the statement rings true only for a handful of far-travelled men
such as himself, yet that it can easily be discarded for the majority of his contemporaries.
The belief that people in the Middle Ages would live out their entire lives in their
home village is a tragic misconception.
As man is curious by nature, it is only expected that one would lunge at the opportunity to
travel.
Although the usual travelers were indeed wealthy and influential individuals, such as nobles,
diplomats and merchants, the medieval commoner was mobile as well.
Farmers, who constituted the majority of the population, left lands that would not yield
crops and places with a merciless climate to find a new home and start a better life.
Some scholars even go as far as to say that the Crusades were only an excuse for extravagant
travel.
The farther away from home and everyday life, the better and more interesting the destinations
were.
Alas, there was a way for even the lowliest of commoners to see places far beyond their
home – to take a pilgrimage.
The usual reasons for someone going on a pilgrimage were to find penance, to be healed of an affliction
or to reinvigorate their faith.
Nevertheless, many would opt to take to the road in order to see a saint’s relics or
to visit important religious locations.
Not all pilgrimages were undertaken for religious reasons.
Pilgrims would often start their journeys with the hope of finding love, adventure or
engaging in debauchery.
French historian Jacques Le Goff calls pilgrimages the medieval version of tourism.
Contrary to popular belief, women commonly went on pilgrimages too.
In most cases, this was frowned upon by their family and religious leaders.
The cause for that is rooted in the medieval belief that women had sinful tendencies and
were more likely to misbehave.
Perhaps the most famous complaint ever made by a cleric about female pilgrims was voiced
by St. Boniface in a letter to Cuthbert, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
In the letter he urges Cuthbert to forbid women from his religious community to take
pilgrimages to Rome, as many of them perish on the way there and few keep their virtue.
One particular sentence in the letter reads that “There are very few towns in Lombardy
and Frankland or Gaul where there is not a courtesan or harlot of English stock”.
In the early Middle Ages, before the commoner could even leave for a pilgrimage, he had
to receive permission from his family and his local bishop.
Having made sure that the reason for the pilgrimage isn’t mere wanderlust, the bishop gives
the traveler his blessing, the pilgrim’s staff, a letter of safe conduct for the monasteries
that he would visit and a scrip – a certificate of sorts which can be used in lieu of payment.
The pilgrim would also wear specific clothing that would designate them as such.
There were five insignia which marked the pilgrim – the red cross on his mantle, the
grey hat marked with a cross, the beard, the script with the flask and the donkey.
In reality, the outfit was much simpler.
Sources differ as to what the pilgrim wore, with some of them including a wide-brimmed
hat and others stating that the pilgrim would be dressed completely in white.
Although the trip itself was still risky, the outfit provided the pilgrim with some
benefits and protection.
This was not always the case though.
As expected, many non-pilgrims made use of the outfit for their own benefit.
One example of this is when an agent of Philip the Good of Burgundy impersonated a pilgrim
so that he could travel the Middle East and map out cities and forts in case of a new
crusade.
During their travels, the pilgrims would need a place to stay and rest.
That place would frequently be an inn.
Inns were expensive at times, however, in the staunchly Christian medieval Europe that
would not always be a problem.
In the Gospel of Luke there is the story of a man saving a traveler who was left for dead
after being robbed by bandits.
The man subsequently tended to the traveler’s wounds and took him to an inn.
Doing their best to be good Christians, innkeepers tried to emulate the aforementioned Parable
of the Good Samaritan.
Therefore, they would frequently give out room and food to pilgrims at highly reduced
prices.
Although less comfortable than inns, monasteries provided hospitality to pilgrims in an age
when inns were not always easy to find.
At times, the monasteries themselves were the goals of pilgrims, especially the larger
and more affluent ones.
For example, the abbey at Cluny attracted a constant stream of pilgrims who visited
the abbey’s collection of holy relics, most notably the ashes of Saints Peter and Paul.
In the 12th century Cluny also acquired a fragment of the Cross, a finger of St. Stephen,
and a tooth of John the Baptist.
At their arrival, pilgrims were given a pound of bread and a measure of wine, along with
a further half of that amount on the second day.
They were also given a penny on their departure, provided that they had not visited the monastery
previously that year.
In larger cities, pilgrims could always try to find room in a hospice or a fondaco, a
hostel for pilgrims and travelers.
Rooms in such places could prove difficult to find, as the hospices were often overflowing
with the cities’ own impoverished citizens.
On their way to one of the main holy sites, pilgrims would come across a myriad of smaller
shrines.
The number of these smaller shrines would only grow during the course of the Middle
Ages, as increasing numbers of local saints were venerated.
These local shrines were potentially dangerous places for the unsuspecting pilgrim.
Various charlatans and swindlers would be selling false holy relics and thieves were
lurking at every corner.
Before a saint’s festival or feast day, bandits would also stalk the roads leading
to the shrine.
Rarely armed pilgrims were easy targets for the brigands and many would end up robbed
and killed on the road.
Accordingly, it was prudent for pilgrims to find companions for their journeys.
The rate of travel depended on the quality of the roads.
It is believed that at the Roman Empire’s apogee, the total length of roads within the
empire mounted up to 80000 to 100000km.
During the fall of the Western Roman Empire, many of these roads would disappear.
Some like Via Aurelia, Via Cassia, Via Claudia, Via Appia, Via Julia Augusta, Via Flaminina
were still in use in the early Middle Ages, however, by the 8th and 9th centuries, most
of them decayed beyond recognition and newer roads were not as well-made.
Fortunately for the pilgrims, the main roads that led from modern-day France to Northern
Italy and Rome were being looked after relatively well due to their importance for trade and
travel.
By the High Middle Ages, with realms in Europe reaching a certain degree of stability, lords
started investing in the building, maintenance and improvement of roads.
One of the critical choke points on medieval roads were bridges.
Travelers wishing to cross the bridge would have to pay a toll.
Unlike in stories, there was no troll trying to extract a toll but a fort, ranging from
a small building to an actual castle.
Uniform laws dictated that pilgrims were to pass without paying tolls, or with paying
only a fraction of the amount.
Many rulers would use the money earned from the tolls to further invest in infrastructure.
This brought them even more travelers and would have further increased their profits.
Other critical choke points for pilgrims were mountains, such as the Alps.
The Alps were routinely the most dreaded part of every pilgrim’s journey, as countless
travelers perished there each year.
Whether it was the snow, ice, mud, lack of roads or dangerous terrain, the mountains
were detested and feared both in winter and in summer.
For many centuries, there were only a few mountain passes in the Alps.
The crucial St. Gotthard’s Pass was not developed until the 13th century.
The turbulent Reuss river made all travel impossible, as it frequently overflowed when
the snow began to melt.
The first bridge that crossed the Schöllenen Gorge, the so-called “Devil’s Bridge”
was quite dangerous and had to be rebuilt many times.
One pilgrim named Felix Fabri mentions that crossing the Rhaetian Alps became much easier
near the end of the 15th century.
According to his accounts, the ruler of Austria used gunpowder to blast through the mountains
and created a road through which even carts could pass.
If the final destination was Jerusalem, once in Northern Italy, the pilgrims would usually
take one of two courses for travel.
The first one involved initially travelling to Rome and the other major cities before
going to Venice.
The second option was to head directly to Venice.
Once in Venice, the pilgrims would usually stay at a fondaco until arrangements could
be made for boarding a ship to the Levant.
Though “La Serenissima” was viewed by some as just a stopping point, many pilgrims
enjoyed the splendor and abundance of one of the most unique cities in the world.
They praised the richness of the churches, the grandiose architecture and how lively
the city was.
What was supposed to be a mere stepping stone towards Jerusalem, ended up fascinating pilgrims
as much as the Holy City itself.
This was especially true for those pilgrims that were not blinded by pure faith.
The number of arrivals in Venice became so large that they established a tourist office
within the city.
Specialized guides for visitors, named Tholomarii, were also trained.
The voyage from Venice to Jaffa or Alexandria would usually last for about five weeks.
The conditions on the ship were not enviable in any way.
The food was awful, the potable water was not clean and large numbers of passengers
were crowded in a small space.
Additionally, sea travel was difficult for some people due to seasickness and fear.
Some writers say that the crew and the passengers were like one big family during those five
weeks.
On the other hand, others mention how fights and arguments between passengers were commonplace.
En route to the Holy Land, the Venetian galleys stopped at several ports.
Chandia was applauded for its food and architecture, while pilgrims were usually appalled by Ragusa’s
inhumane slave markets.
Once in Jaffa or Alexandria, pilgrims had to wait for transport and accommodation to
be organized.
The local authorities treated the pilgrims with suspicion and sometimes with hostility.
A tax was collected for each passenger before entry to the port was allowed.
To bypass this, some ship captains lied and presented a number of passengers as members
of the crew.
Guides would take the pilgrims to the funduqs, the Arabic form of the word fondaco.
Having organized the transport, the pilgrims were finally on their way to the omega of
their journey, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem may be 750m above sea level, however, the climb was as much spiritual as it was
physical for the pilgrims.
The duration of the pilgrim’s stay in Jerusalem would vary, however, most stayed from two
to six weeks.
During that time, they would find accommodation in various places, depending on their nationality.
Italians would be sent to the monastery of Mount Sion, the Germans would be sent to various
houses, while the French stayed at the Hospital of St. John.
The final goal was to “enter the Temple of the Lord and worship in the place where
he walked”.
Therefore, the main destination for Christian pilgrims was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
They would end up spending the night there – a symbolic ritual of Death and Resurrection.
Religion played an important role in the lives of medieval people.
Consequently, it is of no surprise that religion was the main motivation, or at least a viable
excuse, for people to travel.
In the monotonous medieval world, pilgrimages provided a sense of freedom that one would
not otherwise get to feel.
Experiencing the unknown and meeting new people enriched the lives of the pilgrims and through
their many stories, they would influence the lives of the people around them.
More videos on various aspects of religious history are on the way, so make sure you are
subscribed and have pressed the bell button to see the next video in the series.
Please, consider liking, commenting, and sharing - it helps immensely.
Our videos would be impossible without our kind patrons and youtube channel members,
whose ranks you can join via the links in the description to know our schedule, get
early access to our videos, access our discord, and much more.
This is the Kings and Generals channel, and we will catch you on the next one.