> From: [log in to unmask]
> Organization: Arts
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date sent: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 12:30:15 +0000
> Subject: Re: crusading love
> Priority: normal
> Send reply to: [log in to unmask]
> With reference to pilgrimage and crusade: Richard Landes referred to that
> moment when Bishop Gunther of Bamberg and his fellow pilgrims (1064-65)
> were forced to defend themselves, or the just war in action. They started
> off on their pilgrimage, as was traditional, unarmed ('most of the
> Christians thought it was impious to supply themselves with military
> aid...'). Traditionally, pilgrims embarked on an inherently pacific
> religious journey; pilgrimage meant vulnerability. I am convinced that the
> papacy and the crusaders themselves considered 'the Jerusalemites' of 1095
> authentic pilgrims. But the idea of armed pilgrims represents a paradox--I
> wouldn't go so far as to call it an oxymoron--somewhat like that other
> extremely curious, and paradoxical, crusading hybrid, the monks of war.
> Monks, of course, were pre-eminently exponents of peace. What is especially
> interesting about 'armed pilgrimage' is its apparent novelty. And its
> novelty (I would welcome correction here) seems to be conceptual. When
> scholars say that 'armed pilgrimage' "evolved", they are taking Darwin
> seriously. Sudden mutation, not slow growth, is what evolution certainly
> means in this case. Or can anyone point to a proper, self-consciously
> 'armed pilgrimage' before 1095?
>
> Gary Dickson
> University of Edinburgh
>
There was the Mahdia campaign of the 1080s, wherein a group of
Italians, under papal support, attacked and raided the coastal town of
Mahdia in Tunisia, theoretically in retaliation for Saracen attacks on
the Italian coast. What was interesting about this episode was that
the participants had recently completed a pilgrimage to Rome, and
still wore their pilgrim's badges into battle; it was a sign of
divine support.
Thus, while not conceived as an armed pilgrimage per se, it was
probably the first instance of authentic "pilgrims" going into battle
deliberately wearing their badges. The fact that it was supported by
the pope leads many to see this as a prototype crusade, and many
believe that this incident influenced the decisions taken at Clermont
in 1095.
Tim Rayborn
University of Leeds
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