Pilgrimages In Art And Religion

Pilgrimages in art and religion

Introduction.

In recent years, the number of people who decide to spend their vacations making spiritual trips – such as the Camino de Santiago – has grown exponentially. It has become a type of low cost tourism that allows to be in contact with nature and break with one of the men of today’s society, sedentary lifestyle.

Starting a pilgrimage also allows an intimate connection with oneself. It is an inner trip that, although in most cases it is not the objective of the trip, leads to rethinking the meaning of life. Act of devotion and penance. At present, this mystical sense and modern pilgrimage have undertaken as a pagan form of disconnection.

In this article we want to investigate the origin and development of spiritual trips in the Middle Ages. Resume the original meaning of pilgrimages with the objective that modern pilgrims understand the original meaning of the trip. Origin and destiny of spiritual trips in Christianity it is only necessary to remember the history of the Jewish people or that of the birth of Jesus to realize it. Nor is it exclusive to Christianity, other religions such as Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism encourage their practice.

Developing.

From the fourth century, pilgrimages began to develop as one of the devotions that would mark Christianity. The most important destinations were three: Palestine, and especially Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Rome.1. Palestine and Jerusalem The pilgrimage to the Holy Land occurred, mainly, from the fourth century to the occupation of the Arabs in the seventh century.

Subsequently, the Christians of the West continued to go to Palestine, although to a lesser extent. The distances and hazards that existed on the paths of the Byzantine Empire and the Baghdad Caliphate dissounted travelers.

From 1095, at the time of the Crusades, pilgrimages to the Holy City were revitalized with the aim of rescuing it from Muslims. These combined the spiritual content with that of the Holy War against Islam. Finally, in the mid -fourteenth century the Franciscans stimulated, again, the pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The objective was to approach and venerate the places related to the life of Jesus Christ, especially those linked to his death and resurrection.two. Pilgrimages to Rome Pilgrimages in the West focused on the city of Rome. The objectives of these trips were to visit the sanctuaries that have risen on the tombs of the martyrs.

In the Italian city, veneration began with the graves of the apostles Peter and Paul. Subsequently, it extended to San Sebastián, San Lorenzo, Santa Inés and San Patricio. Pilgrimages to the sepulcher of San Pedro were the most prominent, especially at the main party, on June 29. Around the Roman Basilica of San Pedro gathered pilgrims throughout the West, something that, in many occasions, resulted in unworthy behaviors. San Agustín testified to him by talking about everyday drunkenness in the Roman Basilica of San Pedro. The increase in pilgrimage to the Holy Land at the time of the Crusades and the growing popularity of the pilgrimage to Compostela, affected the arrival of travelers to Rome. It was not until 1300 when Rome was again the focus of pilgrims.

Pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela was a pilgrimage center that arose late, in the middle of the ninth century. Despite this, it became one of the most important pilgrimage centers in the Middle Ages. It was an ark. This, supposedly, contained the remains of the Apostle Santiago that, after being executed, would have been transferred from Jerusalem to Galicia. In the place where the monk spotted the ark a church rose. The popularity of this center lies in two issues. The first is that Compostela is the only place in the West that has an apostolic sepulcher, except for Rome.

The second lies in the popularity that Santiago acquired as saint with powers to do miracles. These crossed France, entered the Peninsula through the steps of Somport and Roncesvalles and joined in Puente de la Reina. From there he continued as a unique way that led travelers to Santiago. Other pilgrimage routes The attraction of travelers was due to the advertising that was made about the existence in the place of a sepulcher, an image or miraculous relics. An example of this is the pilgrimage to the tomb of San Martín in the French city of Tours. This was the pilgrimage center of the Franco world from the 6th century.

Another is the case of Canterbury, in England. Travelers went to the place to visit the remains of Santo Tomás Becket, killed in 1170. In the Iberian Peninsula, other prominent centers were San Salvador de Oviedo, San Millán de la Cogolla in La Rioja, Santo Domingo de Silos in Castilla, Montserrat in Catalonia and Guadalupe in Extremadura. One of the most attractive destinations of the Middle Ages was the Purgatory of San Patricio. It was a cave located on the island of the Irish Lake Derg. The tradition has in it, you can have visions of the beyond, although, to achieve this, the pilgrim must remain inside a whole day.

At the end, direct access to heaven was secured. In the beginning, the pilgrimages had mainly the goal of visiting and venerating holy or sepulcher places of martyrs. This was said by Alfonso X the wise: pilgrims in pelegrinos are OMES who fazes his pilgrims on pilgrims for serving God in honoring the saints. During the Middle Ages other senses were developed to these pilgrimages. One of them was more utilitarian: the trips were undertaken so that some holy healer intervened in the pilgrim’s state of health. Thus, it was believed that making these trips would be cured of any type of disease or evil.

Another of the senses that acquired spiritual trips was the penitential. Generally, it was an imposition that aimed to purge the sins committed. In this way, visiting the most important sanctuaries of Christianity, the sinner, was pardoned. In the last years of the Middle Ages, this penitential sense resulted in a judicial sense. In this way, these pilgrimages were imposed by civil authority as a way of redeeming a penalty.

conclusion.

To which he undertook his way to some holy place for religious reasons or devotion began to be called pilgrim: a walker who decided to abandon the comforts of his earthly life and undertake a life of sacrifice, discomfort and insecurity. All, without exception, when they reached their destination they made a ritual in which their spirit of humiliation was symbolized against the devotee. Constant contact with the venerated object.

This led to these centers from concentrating a significant number of people. This high volume of people, taking into account the hygienic conditions of yesteryear, generated a stench that was often unbearable. The Botafumeiros, such as the one installed in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, were solutions that wanted to alleviate that awkward situation. Today, more than 10 centuries later, many of those paths are preserved. This allows current pilgrims to leave the same traces and, perhaps, the same thoughts as those medieval walkers.