Pèlerins à Jérusalem à la fin du Moyen-Age

Abstract

This article contemplates the development of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem from the fall of Saint Jean d'Acre to the early 16th century, and looks at how it may have been affected by the changes taking place between Medieval times and the Renaissance. The research takes as its text the accounts of the pilgrims themselves who, at this time, were often lay members of the Church rather than clerics. As they describe the behaviour of their fellow travellers, the reader can glimpse what pilgrimage signified for the men of the late Middle Ages. The earlier accounts speak mainly of Jerusalem; while in the later ones it is the journey itself that becomes the centre of interest, with descriptions of the expenses incurred, the distances travelled, the problems of route navigation and the curiosities of the landscape traversed. The“curiositas” so often condemned by the clerics of the preceding era now takes on the aspect of a virtue. But on arrival in the Holy Land an abrupt change occurs, and the reader enters, along with the pilgrims, another era — the time of the life and passion of Christ. The ritual of the pilgrimage has been laid down in great detail by the Franciscan friars, as established on Mount Sion in 1337, giving great significance to sermons and indulgences. Nevertheless, the pilgrims often speak of their personal feelings, and in this respect there is a remarkable continuity between the 4th and the 16th century.