Pilgrim badge
Pilgrim badges are badges, mostly. , In the form of small plaques, medals or flat castings made of a lead -tin alloy, which were sold mainly in the Middle Ages to places of pilgrimage and worn on the pilgrimage to the hat or clothing
Even the early Christians sought out special places, such as Christ's grave or burial places of the apostles to pray there. These sites were mainly in the Holy Land or in Rome, therefore they can be described as the first places of pilgrimage. However, the travel activity remained until the turn of the millennium due to the lack of opportunities relatively low. From about 900 AD a lively pilgrimage gradually became the grave of St. James to Santiago de Compostela. From the 11th century other pilgrimage sites were added in Central Europe.
When the pilgrims need to be able to take a souvenir of the pilgrimage was; to prove the one hand as a sign of piety, but also to the members that you had actually been in the holy place. From the 12th century, therefore, small badges were sold from a lead -tin alloy to the places of pilgrimage, sometimes also output after the pilgrims blessing. The pilgrims mark formed from either the Saints or its attributes, there venerated relics or the sanctuary itself the best known example is the scallop shell as a badge for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Other examples are images of Peter and Paul for the pilgrimage to Rome or the Three Kings for the pilgrimage to Cologne. But they served not only as a memento profane, but they were also attributed a miraculous effect that was connected directly to the revered saint. The belief in the curative effect was so great that you hung the pilgrim character of Healing on a diseased limb. Also gave you sick of water or wine to drink, into which they had plunged the badge. The medals were as amulets to ward of evil and were hung up for this purpose in the house or barn or buried on the field. Undoubtedly, manufacture and sale of pilgrim signs were a profitable business, which contributed significantly to the wealth of some places of pilgrimage. The practice reached its peak in the 14th and 15th centuries.
From the 14th century pilgrim badges were cast on with church bells. Behind this was the belief that the beneficial effect of the saint with the sound of bells should be spread over the land. The belief in the protective effect of pilgrims mark is today in some places still unbroken, as depicted above examples from Guadalajara ( Mexico) show.
The size of the sign varies by an amount of about 4 × 4 cm, rarely they are much larger. By about the middle of the 14th century, they are as flat iron, usually performed with a smooth back, then they are more delicate and are often broken (grid iron ). In some places they were painted in color. In addition to the pilgrim character of tin / lead and other materials were sporadically used: Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela wore a scallop shell as a sign, a similar role was played by the pilgrims horns as they were distributed in Aachen. 1490 dive on metal embossed plate badge for a short time. Around 1530 comes across Central Europe, even in Catholic areas, the issue of pilgrims mark to a halt.
For historians finds are of pilgrim badges - for example, as grave goods - important as they are appropriate to prove pilgrimages and travel routes in the Middle Ages. Beautiful collections of pilgrim badges can be found in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg, in the Focke- Museum Bremen, at the Museum of London and the Musée national du Moyen Âge in Paris.