ABSTRACT

This article reassesses pilgrimage practices in eleventh- and twelfth-century England and questions the assumption that pilgrims had relatively unrestricted access to saints’ shrines and relics in this period. Drawing on hagiographical evidence, and focusing on six case studies, the article finds that remarkably few pilgrims are depicted in close proximity to a saint's shrine in these narrative sources; they are instead shown venerating at alternative places of devotion such as holy wells, empty graves and extra-mural chapels. It proposes that policies of restricted access were operated by many English cult centres earlier than is often imagined, and in discussing why ecclesiastical institutions may have distanced the laity from their principal shrines the article sets its conclusions within the wider religious developments of the time.

摘要

本文重新评估了11世纪和12世纪英格兰的朝圣实践，并质疑在这一时期朝圣者可以相对不受限制地进入圣人的圣地和文物的假设。该文章利用了地理学的证据，并着重于六个案例研究，发现在这些叙述来源中，很少有朝圣者被描绘成与圣人神社非常接近。取而代之的是，他们在其他虔诚的地方敬拜，例如圣井，空墓和壁画教堂。它提出限制访问政策由许多英国邪教中心实施，比通常想象的要早，并且在讨论为什么教会机构可能将他们的信徒与主要神殿拉开距离时，文章在当时更广泛的宗教发展中提出了结论。