Pilgrimage or ‘anti-pilgrimage’? Uses of mementoes and relics in English and Scottish narratives of travel to Jerusalem, 1596–1632

Abstract

In late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Jerusalem, Protestant travellers came into close contact with Catholic pilgrimage practices. They were guided by Franciscans and mingled with Catholic pilgrims as they visited the holy places. Certain critics have asserted that early modern Protestants repudiated place- and object-oriented practices of the penitential pilgrimage and consistently condemned them. This article qualifies that view, discussing evidence from seven English-language accounts of journeys to Jerusalem between 1596 and 1612, largely by Protestant authors. Most of the writers deny any susceptibility to Catholic doctrine or practice, often through criticism of the Franciscans, but several travellers report that they acquired relics or the pilgrimage certificates issued by the Franciscan Father Guardian. This article examines the heterogeneous and often complex treatments of pilgrim mementoes and responses to the holy sites by these authors. Taking account of relevant contemporary practices such as the travel wager, the article draws out the meanings which mementoes from the holy places were made to carry in secular systems of charity, proof, friendship, financial exchange and patronage.