Pilgrimage: An Image of Mediaeval Religion

by Jonathan Sumption

  As usual the Jubilee indulgence was enjoyed by many who did not go to Rome. At Salzburg in February 1451 Nicholas of Cusa, papal legate in Germany, proclaimed that all those who made a good confession and visited local churches on fifteen separate days would earn the indulgence; they were also to fast for seven Fridays, abstain from meat on seven Wednesdays, and give half the cost of a journey to Rome to the bishop. At the special request of Nicholas V this offer was not available to simonists, adulterers, and notorious sinners, who would obtain only a partial remission of their sins. Those who had actually been to Rome in 1450 were invited to claim a second Jubilee indulgence and in their case no payment was required. The proceeds were to go to pious uses appointed by the pope. These concessions, which originally applied only to the province of Salzburg, were repeated throughout western Europe. Henry VI of England no doubt expressed the prevailing view when he declared that ‘the whole population will rejoice to see the light for the remission of their sins.’

  As a result of the Jubilee very great sums of money came into the papal coffers, ‘an almost infinite quantity of gold and silver’, says the pope’s biographer. Most of it was spent on the Jubilee itself, particularly on buying in large stocks of grain. What was left went partly to the upkeep of the basilicas and partly to the purchase of the priceless collection of Greek and Latin manuscripts which is still one of the finest possessions of the papacy. But the most important results were intangible. The Jubilee marked the revival of the prestige of the papacy after a century of conciliar conflict. The last anti-pope had abdicated only a few months before the beginning of the Jubilee. Nicholas’s biographer assures us that his design in proclaiming the Jubilee was to ‘increase the dignity of the Holy See’, and that many pilgrims came not only to claim the indulgence but to behold the person of Nicholas V, now universally recognized as pope. No doubt this is the exaggeration born of enthusiasm. But the Sienese diplomat Agostino Dati later had occasion to record that ‘the memory of those days is a warm one for me, for they made manifest the triumph and glory of the Christian religion. From the most distant parts of the world, all these pilgrims travelled to Rome to visit the head of the universal church and the tomb of the prince of the apostles. Truly this was a year worthy to be remembered throughout all ages.’

  Notes

  1 Three principal sanctuaries: R. Vielliard, pp. 55–9. DACL., vol. xv, cols. 3296–8. Gregorovius, vol. i, pp. 90–1, 102–4.

  2 Roman martyrs: Delehaye (4), pp. 260–3, 269–99.

  Death of Sixtus II: Lib. Pont., vol. i, p. 155.

  Catacombs: DACL., vol. xiv, col. 42 (graffiti). Jerome, Comm. in Ezechielem, XII. 5, PL. xxv. 375. On Damasus’s restorations, Lib. Pont., vol. i, p. 212; DACL., vol. xiii, col. 2434; De Rossi (ed.), Inscriptiones, vol. ii (Rome, 1888), pp. 30, 66, 90, 102, 105. Prudentius, Peristephanon, XI. 155–68, pp. 417–18.

  3 Damage of 537–7: De Rossi, op. cit., vol. ii, pp. 83, 84, 100.

  Translations to city: Lib. Pont., vol. i, pp. 332, 360, 441–3, 444–5, 445–6, 451–2, 464, 520, vol. ii, pp. 52, 54, 56, 74, 93, 115.

  4 Relics taken north: Llewellyn, pp. 183–90.

  Basilicas walled: Lib. Pont., vol. ii, p. 123 (St. Peter’s). Gregorovius, vol. iii, pp. 186–7 (St. Paul’s).

  5 ‘From a far off hill…’: Gregory, De Mirabilibus Romae, I, p. 543.

  ‘O Roma Nobilis’: full text in F. J. E. Raby, Christian Latin Poetry, 2nd. ed., Oxford, 1953, pp. 233–4.

  Romans despised: William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum, IV. 351, p. 402. Walter Map, De Nugis Curialum, II. 17, ed. M. R. James, Oxford, 1914, p. 82.

  Hildebert’s poem: in B. Hauréau, ‘Notice sur les mélanges poétiques d’Hildebert de Lavardin’, Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Nationale, xxxviii (2) (1888), pp. 334–5. It is quoted by, e.g., William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum, IV. 351, pp. 402–3; Gregory, De Mirabilibus Romae, I. p. 543.

  6 Restorations and new churches: Gregorovius, vol. iv, pp. 694–6, vol. v, p. 637.

  St. Peter’s: On the confessio, Mallius, Descriptio, XLII–XLIII, p. 425. On the sudarium, Bull. Vat., vol. i, pp. 9, 89–90; Nicholas IV, Reg. 653, p. 131.

  Lateran: John the Deacon, Descriptio, IV–V, XIII, pp. 337–42, 356–7. Gerald of Wales, Speculum Ecclesiae, IV. 3–4, vol. iv, pp. 272–6. Graphia Aureae Urbis, XX, pp. 83–4.

  7 Processions: Benedict, Liber Politicus, XLV–LI, pp. 152–4.

  Condition of monuments: Gregorovius, vol. iv, p. 691 (arch of Titus). Accusations against Gregory VII in 1080 in MGH. Leges, iv (1), p. 119 Otto of Friesing, De Duabus Civitatibus, VII. 31, p. 360 (St. Peter’s fortified). Innocent III, Reg., II. 102, PL. ccxiv. 651–3. Regesto di S. Silvestro di Capite, IV, ed. V. Federici, ASRSP., xxii (1889), p. 269.

  8 Attempt to preserve them a failure: A. de Bouard, ‘Gli antichi marmi di Roma nel medio evo’, ASRSP., xxxiv (1911), pp. 239–45. Reginald of Durham, De B. Cuthberti Virtut., LXXV, pp. 155–6.

  Collectors: Suger, De Consecratione, II, p. 219. John of Salisbury, Hist. Pontificalis, XL, p. 79.

  Horse of Constantine: Lib. Pont., vol. ii, p. 252 (official hanged). Mirabilia Urbis Romae, XV, pp. 32–3 (guide-book). Gregory, De Mirabilibus Romae, IV–V, pp. 544–6. On equestrian statues in France, see R. Crozet, ‘Nouvelles remarques sur les cavaliers sculptées ou peints dans les églises romanes’, Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, i (1958), p. 27; perhaps also at Autun, D. Grivot and G. Zarnecki, Gislebertus, sculptor of Autun, N.Y., 1961, p. 65 and pl. VI. Many others once existed, see Mâle, pp. 247–9.

  9 Mirabilia: see caps. I–XI, XXIII, XXVI, XXXII, pp. 17–29, 51–3, 58, 65; Graphia Aureae Urbis, XII, p. 79. On editions, A. Graf, Roma nella memoria e nelle imaginazione del medio evo, vol. i, Turin, 1882, pp. 65–72. The author was probably Benedict, canon of St. Peter’s, see L. Duchesne in Liber Censuum, introd., pp. 102–4.

  10 Gregory: De Mirabilibus Romae, IV, X, XII, XV–XVIII, XXI, pp. 544–5, 547–50. On him, see introduction to Rushforth’s edition in Journal of Roman Studies, ix (1919), pp. 17–18, 30–1. Text of pseudo-Bede ed. H. Omont, BEC, liii (1882), pp. 40–59.

  11 Pilgrims obstructed: Becket Materials, vol. v, p. 357. Innocent IV, Reg. 1896, vol. i, p. 281.

  Hospices disappear: on Irish hospice, A. M. Tommasini, I Santi Irlandesi in Italia, Milan, 1932, p. 74. On English hospice, Becket Materials, vol. v, pp. 64–5; Bull. Dipl., vol. i, p. 355, vol. iii, p. 191.

  Gregory the Great: Dialogi, IV. 13, III. 25, PL. lxxvii. 340, 280. Cf., in tenth century, Liutprand of Cremona, Hist. Ottonis, IV, ed. J. Bekker, MGH. Rer. Germ., Hanover, 1915, pp. 161–2.

  Canute: Florence of Worcester, Chron., ed. B. Thorpe, vol. i, London, 1848, p. 186.

  12 Rivals of St. Peter: Vita S. Austremonii, III. 17, Aa. Ss. Nov., vol. i, pp. 53–4 (saec. vii–viii).

  ‘Penance is synonymous…’: Jonas of Orleans, De Cultu Imaginum, III, PL. cvi. 369.

  Popes consulted: Yvo of Chartres, Decr., X. 35, 179, cols. 701, 743; cf. X. 20, 24, 29, 180, 185, cols. 697–700, 743–5. Nicholas I, Epp. CXXIX, CXXXIII, CXXXVIII, MGH. Epp. vi, 650, 654, 658. Wasserschleben (ed.), Bussordnungen, p. 333. I cannot accept, with Hausmann, pp. 28–33, that the practice dates back to Gregory I.

  Bishops by–passed: Capitula Ecclesiastica, XVIII, in Capitularia Regum Francorum, vol. i, p. 365 (Haito). Cone. Seligenstadt, canon XVI, in MC. xix. 398. Cone. Limoges, in MC. xix. 546. On reserved cases, Göller, vol. i (1), pp. 80–1.

  13 Scandinavian penitents: Alexander III, Ep, 975, cols. 850–2. Grettis Saga Asmundarson, ed. R. C. Boer, Altnordische Saga-Bibliothek, viii, Halle, 1900, pp. 311–14. Sverris Saga, ed. G. Indrebo, Kristiana, 1920, pp. 3–4 (Gunnhildr). Inga Konunqs Saga, quoted in Springer, p. 94n24. (Adrian IV).

  14 Stational indulgences: John the Deacon, Vita S. Gregorii, II. 18, PL. lxxv. 94 (late). Gerald of Wales, De Invectionibus, V. 12, vol. i, pp. 137–8. William of Auxerre, Summa Aurea, quoted in Paulus (2), vol. ii, p. 295n4. Decision of Boniface VIII in Bull. Vat., vol. iii (app.), p. 6. Indu
lgences of churches: in twelfth century, Peter Mallius, Descriptio, III, p. 385; Alexander III, Ep. 1520, cols. 1315–16; Petrus Cantor, Summa de Sacramentis, quoted in Paulus (2), vol. ii, p. 295n2. In thirteenth century, Gregory IX, Reg. 5228, vol. iii, p. 270, extended by Urban IV in 1263, Bull. Vat., vol. i, p. 143 (basilicas of apostles); Ceremoniale Romanum XXII, in J. Mabillon, Museum Italicum, vol. ii, Paris, 1869, p. 238 (Lateran); Aquinas, In Sentent., quoted in Paulus (2), vol. ii, p. 296; Nicholas III, Reg. 1042, p. 414 (individual altar in St. Peter’s).

  15 Nicholas IV: Reg. 425, 631, 633–4, 650–1, 653, 1432, 2030, pp. 78, 127–8, 130–1, 285, 361.

  Idea of Jubilee: Bernard, Ep. 458, PL. clxxxii. 652–3. Albert of Trois-Fontaines, Chron., MGH. SS. xxiii. 889; cf. G. M. Drèves (ed.), Analecta Hymnica, XXI, Leipzig, 1895, p. 166 (Albigensian crusade). Humbert of Romans, quoted in Paulus (2), vol. i, p. 101.

  Jubilee: this account is based on G. Villani, Hist. Fiorentine, VIII. 36, cols. 367–8. W. Ventura, Chron. Astense, XXVI, cols. 191–2. Cardinal J. Stefaneschi, De Centesimo, I–IX, pp. 299–307.

  16 Bull Antiquorum: text in Boniface VIII, Reg. 3875, vol. ii, pp. 922–3; accompanying brief in Stefaneschi, op. cit., pp. 315–16. Commentary by Silvester Scriptor, ed. R. Scholz, ‘Zur Beurteilung Bonifaz VIII und seines sittlich-religiosen Charakters’, Historisches Vierteljahreschrift, ix (1906), pp. 513–15; cf. Gesta Boemundi Archiep. Treverensis, XXXIV, MGH. SS. xxiv. 487–8, and Sienese inscription in IS (1)., iii. 561. For doubts as to its meaning, John the Monk in Extravagantes Communes Lyon, 1506, fol. 36; Giles Ii Muisis, Chron., pp. 188–9 (Tournai incident).

  17 ‘Innumerable Christians…’: Annales Mutinensium, RISS (1), xi. 75. Kings represented: Thurston, p. 24.

  18 Crowds on bridge: Dante, Inferno, XVIII. 28–33.

  Offerings: for rumour in Tuscany, Ptolemy of Lucca, Annales, ed. B. Schmeidler, MGH. Rer. Germ., N. S., viii, Berlin, 1930, p. 236.

  19 Boniface posthumously accused: Article LXIX of charges, in P. Dupuy, Histoire du différend d’entre le pape Boniface VIII et Phelippes le Bel, Roy de France, Paris, 1655, preuves, pp. 358–9. Chronique Rimée, ll. 41–2, 55–6, RHF. xxii. 89.

  Dante on the Jubilee: Purgatorio, II. 98–105.

  20 Lateran burned: Ptolemy of Lucca, Hist. Eccl., RISS (1)., xi. 1230.

  Bull Unigenitus: Vita III Clementis VI, in Baluze (ed.), Vitae Paparum, vol. i, pp. 278–9, vol. ii, pp. 370–1. Text in CJC., Extrav. Comm., V. ix. 2, vol. ii, cols. 1304–6. On ‘treasury of merit’, see Albertus Magnus, In Sentent., IV. xx. 16, in Opera Omnia, ed. A. Borgnet, vol. xxix, Paris, 1894, pp. 847–9.

  Wars damage Jubilee: Petrarch, Lettere Familiari, XV. 15, vol. iii, pp. 150–1. Clement VI, Reg. (France), 4290, 4307, vol. iii, pp. 34, 37; Reg. (Autres Pays), 2181, 2183, pp. 302–3, 317. On prohibition of pilgrimages, Rymer, Foedera, vol. v, p. 668 (England); Giles li Muisis, Chron., PP. 385, 395–6 (France). For licences to English pilgrims, Rymer, Foedera, vol. v, pp. 677, 681–3. On troubles of pilgrims in France, Clement VI, Reg. (France), 4717, 4724, vol. iii, pp. 128–9.

  21 Earthquake: Petrarch, op. cit., XI. 7, vol. ii, p. 338.

  Jubilee pilgrims: this account is based on M. Villani, Istorie, I. 56, cols. 56–7; Peter of Herenthals, Vita Clementis VI, in Baluze (ed.), Vitae Paparum, vol. i, pp. 302–3; Heinrich von Rebdorff, Annales Imperatorum et Paparum, ed. J. F. Boehmer, Fontes Rer. Germ., iv, Stuttgart, 1868, p. 562; Buccio di Ranallo, Cronaca Aquilana, pp. 192, 194; Bridget, Rev., III. 27, IV. 5, 78, VI. 112, pp. 189, 209–10, 293, 525; Petrarch, Rime, XVI, and Lettere Familiari, IX. 13, XI. 1, vol. ii, pp. 254–5, 322–3. On private views of the Veronica, Clement VI, Reg. (France), 4734, 4746, 4750–1, 4778, 4785, 4790, 4792, 4795, 4816, 4835. vol. iii, pp. 131, 132–3, 139–43, 148, 151; Reg. (Autres Pays), 2353, p, 329.

  22 ‘Many altercations’: Breve Chron., ed. J. J. de Smet, Corpus Chronicorum Flandriae, vol. iii, Bruxelles, 1856, p. 14. Text of two forged bulls in Alberic of Rosate, Dictionarium, fols. 163–4; another in Peter of Herenthals, Vita Clementis VI, in Baluze (ed.), Vitae Paparum, vol. i, p. 299, cf. vol. ii, pp. 432–3. Burton, Chron. Mon. Melsa, vol. iii, pp. 88–9. Wyclif, Trialogus, ed. G. Lechler, Oxford, 1869, p. 357.

  Clerical pilgrims pardoned: CPR. Letters, vol. iii, pp. 382–6, 388, 395–7, 429.

  Visits reduced: Alberic of Rosate, Dictionarium, fol. 164, and accounts cited above.

  23 Louis of Hungary: Rodocanachi, p. 162.

  Indulgences without journey: for requests, see Clement VI, Reg. (France), 4426, vol. iii, pp. 64–5 (Philip VI); Raynald, Ann. Eccl., An. 1350 (no. 2), vol. vii, p. 502 (Hugh); Oxford, MS. Bodley 144, fols. 246vo–251vo (Fitzralph’s sermon). Granted: CPR. Letters, vol. iii, pp. 49, 383; A. Theiner (ed.), Vetera Monumenta Historica Hungariam Sacram Illustrantia, vol. i, Rome, 1859, p. 791; on Mallorca, Vincke (4).

  24 Large indulgences: Philip, Liber de Terra Sancta (1377), pp. 519–20.

  25 Guide-books unobtainable: Itin. Cuiusdam Anglici, III, p. 441.

  Books of indulgences: Brewyn, A fifteenth century guide-book, pp. 22–3, 41. Capgrave, Solace, II. 6, p. 83. Stacions of Rome, ll. 1–6, p. 1. In general, Hulbert.

  Translations altered: Itin. Cuiusdam Anglici, loc. cit. Stacions, ll. 497–9, 718–19, pp. 16, 23. Oxford, MS. Bodley 423, fol. 384 (Capgrave).

  Notices: Stacions, ll. 215–16, 515–18, pp. 8, 17; cf. Philip, Liber de Terra Sancta (1377), p. 522.

  26 Rivalry with Jerusalem: Stations, ll. 285–91, p. 10. Muffels, Beschreibung, p. 17.

  Attitude of papacy: Memoriale de Mirabilibus et Indulgentiis, in VZ., vol. iv, pp. 75–88.

  27 Indulgences transferred to Marseilles: J. B. Guesnay, Provinciae Massiliensis Annales, Lyon, 1657, p. 435. Bullarium Franciscanum, ed. C. Eubel, vol. vii, Rome, 1904, pp. 237–8 (no. 645).

  Jubilee of 1390: Urban’s bull in Amort, De Origine Indulgentiarum, vol. i, pp. 84–6; Clement’s denunciation in Vincke (1), pp. 68–9. Granted without journey: Regesta Boicarum, ed. C. H. Lang, vol. x, Munich, 1843, p. 255 (Stephen of Bavaria); Arch. Vat. Reg. Vat., 312, fols. 148vo–149vo (bishop of Camerino); CPR. Letters, vol. iv, pp. 323–6, 379–80 (mayor of Berwick etc.); Jansen, pp. 152–4 (Cologne); Vincke (1), pp. 69–71 (Spain).

  Papal share of offerings: Arch. Vat. Diversa Cameralia 1, fols. 129vo–130 (St. Paul’s); Arch. Vat. Reg. Vat. 347, fols. 78vo–79vo (S. Maria Maggiore). Commission to Guinigi, Arch. Vat. Reg. Vat. 312, fols. 148vo–149vo.

  28 Indulgence marketed north of Alps: Arch. Vat. Reg. Vat. 313, fols. 187–187vo, 196 (instructions to legates in Poland). Dietrich of Niem, De Scismate, I. 68, pp. 119–20. On Milan, Annali della fabrica del duomo di Milano, vol. i, Milan, 1877, pp. 33–4, 41–3; Arch. Vat. Reg. Vat. 313, fol. 241. On German Jubilees, Jansen, pp. 145–62.

  Jubilee of 1400: Dietrich of Niem, op. cit., II. 28, p. 170; Laslowski, pp. 128, 148; monk of St. Paul’s quoted by Rucellai in 1450, Giubileo, p. 579. Offerings calculated on the basis that the pope’s share (8,000 florins) was half the total, Arch. Vat. Reg. Vat. 317, fols. 30–30vo.

  Boniface’s embarrassment: Arch. Vat. Reg. Vat. 316, fols. 342vo, 349–50; 317, fol. 8vo (offerings claimed). Boniface’s pronouncements on indulgence in Arch. Vat. Reg. Vat. 316, fols. 341vo–342; 317, fols. 47–47vo. Granted to princes etc.: Diplomatarium Norvegicum, vol. v, Kristiana, 1860, pp. 251–2, vol. xvii, Kristiana, 1902, p. 201; Arch. Vat. Reg. Lateran 79, fol. 85vo; 87, fol. 231vo; Arch. Vat. Reg. Vat. 317, fols. 41–2.

  29 Attempt to stop French pilgrims: N. Valois, La France et le Grand Schisme d’Occident, vol. iii, Paris, 1901, pp. 321–2.

  Spain: on royal support for Catalan hospice, J. Vielliard (1), pp. 188–9. Instructiones pro ambaxiadoribus in Franciam, ed. F. Ehrle, ‘Neue Materialen zur Geschichte Peters von Luna (Benedicts XIII)’, Archiv. für Literatur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters, vii (1893), pp. 116, 118.

  On Poblet, J. Vielliard (2), pp. 287, 271.

  30 ‘Pity Rome…’: Adam of Usk, Chron., pp. 91, 93.

  State of monuments: Petrarch, Let
tere Familiari, XV. 9, vol. iii, p. 162 (campanile). De Rebus antiquis et situ urbis Romae, in VZ., vol. iv, p. 117 (arch of Arcadius).

  Services abandoned: Antonio Petri, Diarium Romanum, RISS (1). xxiv. 1043, 1050.

  Jubilee of 1423: Poggio, Lib. II, Ep. II, ed. T. de Tonellis, vol. i, Florence, 1832, p. 86. John Amundesham, Annales Mon. S. Albani, ed. H. T. Riley, RS, vol. i, London, 1870, pp. 131–2, 134–5, 143, 147.

  31 New relics: Pastor, vol. i, pp. 231, 258–61.

  Ceremonies: on new ceremonial trappings, E. Muntz, Les arts à la cour des papes pendant le xve et xvie siècle, Paris, 1878–82, vol. i, pp. 20–3, 36, 53, vol. ii, pp. 309–12. On the bull In Coena, Adam of Usk, Chron., p. 97; Harff, Pilgerfahrt, pp. 31–2. Tafur, Andancas, pp. 34–5 (celebrations of 1437).

  Sudarium: Muffels, Beschreibung, p. 10 (indulgences). On the ‘vernicle’, Canterbury Tales, 1. 685, p. 20; Langland, Piers Plowman, B.V. 530, p. 86. F. Ariosto, Dicta de la entrata in Roma de lo illustrissimo duca Borso, ed. E. Celani, ASRSP., xiii (1890), pp. 434–5.

  32 Catacombs: Raynald, An. Eccl., An. 1424 (no. 13), vol. ix, p. 10 (commission of 1424). Rucellai, Giubileo, p. 463. Capgrave, Solace, II. 3, I. 7, pp. 69, 20.

  33 Other amusements: Harff, Pilgerfahrt, p. 31. Lengherand, Voyage, p. 72. 1022 inns: Number given by Rucellai, Giubileo, p. 453. On albergo della Luna, Galeazzo Gataro, Istoria Padovano, RISS (1). xvii. 45. Pastor, vol. iv, p. 185n. (Borso d’Este). Harff, Pilgerfahrt, p. 14. Burchard, Liber Notarum, ed. E. Celani, RISS (2), xxxii, vol. i, pp. 266–7 (Otto of Bavaria). On their unpopularity, see Romani, p. 79.

  English hospices: Croke, pp. 568–72. Re, pp. 85–92. F. A. Gasquet, A History of the Venerable English College, Rome, London, 1920, pp. 30–5.

  34 The Anima: Nagl (OS), pp. 58–63, 65–6. Shmidlin. Also, Liber Confrat. B. M. de Anima.

  Other national hospices: many references in Delaruelle et al., pp. 1150–1; and Pastor, vol. i, pp. 253–6. On Irish hospice, Pastor, vol. i, p. 254. F. Pascarelli, ‘Origine e vicende dell’ ospedale di S. Brigida di Svezia in Roma’, Atti del primo Congresso Europeo di Storia Ospitaliera (1960), Reggio Emilia, 1962, p. 1004. On Flemish hospice, Vaes (2), p. 91.