A Companion to Medieval Pilgrimage

Whether traveling to Jerusalem, Rome, Saint James of Compostela, Canterbury, or a small shrine not far from home, the pilgrim remains an iconic figure of medieval Christian travel and devotion. Edited by Andrew Jotischky and William J. Purkis, A Companion to Medieval Pilgrimage presents thirteen wide-ranging essays on various historical elements of--mostly--Christian pilgrimage during the Middle Ages. Overall, the essays in this volume are written in an accessible style for non-specialists, while offering original insights into the history of medieval pilgrimage that should be of interest to experts in the field.

[...] A more apt title for this volume might have been A Companion to Christian Medieval Pilgrimage, since, with the exception of the essay on Benjamin of Tudela, all of the other essays deal with Christian travelers and devotional culture. Or the volume might have added essays on Islamic and Byzantine pilgrimages to accompany the contributions on western Christian and Jewish travelers, which would have made the volume a more comprehensive guide to medieval pilgrimage writ large. Still, this book on pilgrimage admirably captures the spirit of the Arc Humanities Press “Companions” series that also includes volumes on medieval crime, sexuality, translation, and queenship among other themes. Individual chapters could readily be assigned to students at both the undergraduate and graduate level, providing them with introductory guides to the subject matter and resources for further research projects. (Each essay comes with a helpful bibliography of primary and secondary sources.) If their goal was to spark further study of medieval pilgrimage among the next generation of scholars, the editors and contributors to this volume are to be especially commended on a job well done.

-- Brett Edward Whalen * The Medieval Review 26.03.