> In the few Danish wills from the thirteenth century, all the secular
> noblemen with one sole exception include a large donation pro redemptione
> crucis mee, ad terram sanctam pro redemptione crucis mee etc. It is normally
> the largest sum in the will after the donation to the burial church. I would
> believe that the meaning is, that they had promised to go on crusading, but
> had been prevented and now donated money instead.
> One problem is, however, that also a woman gave pro redemptione mee crucis.
> Had she decided to join a crusade, or was she simply thinking about a
> pilgrimage.
According to Christoph T. Mayer's recent book on Preaching the
Crusades (with a focus on the thirteenth century, by the way),
many of the laypeople who "took the cross" did so merely
pro forma, i.e. they never meant to set out either on crusade or even
a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Their vow was intended to be
"redeemed" from the start. It appears that it was more prestigious to
take a vow and then redeem it than to simply donate money for the
Holy Land ("pro redemptione terrae sanctae", etc., which probably you
could also find in wills).
Cheers, Christoph
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