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Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), principal founder of the Cistercian order, considered such decoration distracting as well as costly and improper. Cistercians thus insisted on the utmost simplicity in buildings, which are notable for their pure geometric proportions and deliberate avoidance of ornament.
- The End of The World
- The Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
- Why Make A Pilgrimage?
- The Cult of The Relic
- Accommodating Crowds
- Thick Walls, Small Windows
Y2K. The Rapture. 2012. For over a decade, speculation about the end of the world has run rampant—all in conjunction with the arrival of the new millennium. The same was true for our religious European counterparts who, prior to the year 1000, believed the Second Coming of Christ was imminent, and the end was nigh. When the apocalypse failed to mat...
For the average European in the 12th Century, a pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Jerusalem was out of the question—travel to the Middle East was too far, too dangerous and too expensive. Santiago de Compostela in Spain offered a much more convenient option. To this day, hundreds of thousands of faithful travel the “Way of Saint James” to the Spanish ...
A pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela was an expression of Christian devotion and it was believed that it could purify the soul and perhaps even produce miraculous healing benefits. A criminal could travel the “Way of Saint James” as an act penance. For the everyday person, a pilgrimage was also one of the only opportunities to travel and see some...
Pilgrimage churches can be seen in part as popular desinations, a spiritual tourism of sorts for medieval travelers. Guidebooks, badges and various souvenirs were sold. Pilgrims, though traveling light, would spend money in the towns that possessed important sacred relics. The cult of relic was at its peak during the Romanesque period (c. 1000 – 12...
Pilgrimage churches were constructed with some special features to make them particularly accessible to visitors. The goal was to get large numbers of people to the relics and out again without disturbing the Mass in the center of the church. A large portal that could accommodate the pious throngs was a prerequisite. Generally, these portals would ...
Romanesque churches were dark. This was in large part because of the use of stone barrel-vault construction. This system provided excellent acoustics and reduced fire danger. However, a barrel vault exerts continuous lateral (outward pressure) all along the walls that support the vault. This meant the outer walls of the church had to be extra thick...
Mar 28, 2018 · Introduction. Cistercian monasticism began when in 1098 twenty-one monks from the wealthy Burgundian monastery of Molesme undertook to create a new monastery in which they would live in voluntary poverty, “poor with the poor Christ,” and in literal adherence to the Rule of Saint Benedict. Over the next millennium, in their habits of undyed ...
Jun 15, 2022 · Download Full Size Image. A map illustrating the establishment of the pilgrimage ('pilgrim' comes from the Latin word peregrinus - a stranger, someone on a journey) to holy places after the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity in 313.
Apr 30, 2022 · The opening centuries of the second millennium were a time of great religious pilgrimages, and one of the most important pilgrimage sites for the Catholic faithful — then as now — is the cathedral of St. James in Santiago de Compostela, a city in northern Spain.
Dec 20, 2007 · Abstract. This book is an innovative collection of seventeen essays by leading scholars of ancient religion on aspects of pilgrimage in Greek and Roman and Early Christian Antiquity. The period covered is roughly from 500BC till 400AD, and the types of pilgrimage studied is very broad, ranging from state delegations that are more or less ...
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The practice of pilgrimage appears in many human cultures, but it has a particularly important role in medieval Christianity, as an institution that recognized that all Christians could potentially attain salvation, and could be active in their pursuit of that goal.
