Latin Christian pilgrimage in the Holy Land, 1187-1291

This thesis discusses the practice and sites of Latin Christian pilgrimage in the Holy Land during the period between the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Damascus, in 1187, and the end of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291 following the capture of Acre by al-Ashraf Khalīl, t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mylod, Elizabeth Jane
Other Authors: Murray, Alan V. ; Flynn, William
Published: University of Leeds 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.605299
Description
Summary:This thesis discusses the practice and sites of Latin Christian pilgrimage in the Holy Land during the period between the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Damascus, in 1187, and the end of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291 following the capture of Acre by al-Ashraf Khalīl, the Mamlūk sultan. It demonstrates how pilgrimage of this period changed from pre-1187 practices, and discusses how pilgrimage developed from 1187 to 1291 under the influence of a continued Frankish political presence in the Holy Land which did not extend to control over most of the holy sites. It investigates this through an analysis of both the texts written by and for pilgrims at this time, and a variety of other documentary and chronicle source material. It concludes that Holy Land pilgrimage had a different character to that practised during the period 1099 to 1187 due to: 1) changing access to holy sites as a result of raiding and treaties, in some cases causing complete breaks with earlier tradition; 2) Islamic political control of holy sites; and 3) interaction with non-Latin Christians. Many of the unique aspects of Holy Land pilgrimage, with its dearth of healing shrines and indulgences, focus on the New Testament and the life of Christ, and large number of holy associations in a small area, remained unchanged, but the details of where pilgrims went and the balance of site-types visited was modified. Pilgrims visited a broader range of sites, most of which were shared with Greek and Eastern Christians, and some of which were shared with non-Christians. The geography of several sites changed, and they began to be identified with other locations. New holy sites were visited for the first time, while the area within the walls of Jerusalem was harder to visit than ever. Overall, the thesis demonstrates that Latin Christian holy sites and pilgrimage traditions in the Holy Land were not static, and continued to develop and change into the fourteenth century.