Pilgrims to Jerusalem in the Middle Ages (review)

For medieval Christians the pilgrimage to Jerusalem was an act of extraordinary devotion. Rich spiritual rewards awaited those who could visit the city sanctified by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yet the long, expensive, and dangerous journey from Europe to the Holy Land was itself also an act of penance. Utilizing more than fifty contemporary accounts, Nicole Chareyron opens in this book a fascinating window into the world of these pilgrims. In evocative (although occasionally over-florid) prose, Chareyron creates a composite picture of a typical pilgrimage from its hopeful departure until its uncertain conclusion. Her close familiarity with what she refers to as "our authors" makes this book both interesting and entertaining.

It is important to point out that, title notwithstanding, this is a book about Jerusalem pilgrimages at the end of the Middle Ages—specifically the fourteenth, fifteenth, and early sixteenth centuries. A pilgrim in the twelfth century, for example, would have had a dramatically different experience than what is described here. Chareyron recognizes the diversity of late medieval pilgrimage routes, yet focuses on what she sees as the most common one and then follows it closely. It begins at home with a ceremony and tearful departure and then moves on to Venice, where ships' captains compete with one another to sell package tours that seem never to go as promised. After experiencing the rich beauty of Venice, the pilgrims then board a cramped vessel where poor food, bad smells, nasty rats, cagey oarsmen, and disease are the norm for the next five weeks. When the pilgrims finally do arrive at the ruins of crusader Jaffa they are packed into caves where they must wait until they have paid sufficient fees, bribed sufficient officials, and submitted to sufficient depredations. Only then can they depart under the guidance of the approved Franciscan tour leaders. Along the way and throughout their visit to the Holy Land they will be beset by corrupt authorities and local Muslims who routinely lob insults or stones at them while all the while seeking to rob them blind. The journey was a penance indeed.

Once in Jerusalem, things do not get much better. Most pilgrims were given Spartan quarters and strictly limited in their ability to move about. Aside from visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, they took excursions to Bethlehem, the Jordan, and other holy sites. After a month of all that, most pilgrims were eager to return home, yet Chareyron follows those who pressed on to Gaza, Mt. Sinai, Cairo, and Alexandria. Through the eyes of those travelers the reader explores rich bazaars, filled with luxury items, exotic animals, and pitiful slaves, trudges along difficult desert treks, and marvels at the pyramids, which were generally believed to be Joseph's granaries. At last comes the voyage home, usually more eventful than expected or wanted.

There is no grand thesis here, nor should there be. Chareyron has instead woven together the accounts of her authors into a compelling narrative in which their voices, at once flawed and human, come through to the modern reader. It is a page-turning story accessible to a general audience that would also be ideal for classroom use.