Travelling on long journeys in the Middle Ages was a dangerous activity. In Palestine, for example, it was possible to visit a cave that was supposed to contain the beds of Adam and Eve and a pillar of salt that had once been Lots wife. These badges were then fixed to the pilgrim's hat so that people would know they had visited the shrine. The keeper of the shrine would also give the pilgrim a metal badge that had been stamped with the symbol of the shrine. In some cases pilgrims were even allowed to touch and kiss them. When people arrived at the shrine they would pay money to be allowed to look at these holy relics. Winifred's Well, Lindisfarne, Glastonbury, Bromholm and St. Important shrines in the Middle Ages included those at St. The most common relics at these shrines were nails and pieces of wood that the keepers of the shrine claimed came from the cross used to crucify Jesus. that were said to have once belonged to important Christian saints. Erasmus visited Walsingham and described the shrine as being surrounded "on all sides with gems, gold and silver." He also added that the water from the Walsingham spring was "efficacious in curing pains of the head and stomach."Īt other shrines people went to see the teeth, bones, shoes, combs etc.
It was not long before the monks at Canterbury Cathedral were selling small glass bottles of Becket's blood to visiting pilgrims.Īnother important shrine was at Walsingham in Norfolk where there was a sealed glass jar that was said to contain the milk of the Virgin Mary. Rumours soon spread that, when touched by this cloth, people were cured of blindness/ epilepsy and leprosy. When Becket was murdered local people managed to obtain pieces of cloth soaked in his blood. The most popular shrine in England was the tomb of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Others went to shrines hoping to be cured from an illness they were suffering from. It was believed that if you prayed at these shrines you might be forgiven for your sins and have more chance of going to heaven. In the Middle Ages the Church encouraged people to make pilgrimages to special holy places called shrines.