every religious resort; in Lucca the father died, and the brother
remained behind in Rome. Early in 722 Willibald began his
expedition to the Holy Land alone, except for the presence of
two companions. He travelled past Naples to Syracuse, then
on shipboard by Cos and Samos to Ephesus, and thence through
Asia Minor to Damascus and Jerusalem. On St Martin’s
day, in 724, he arrived in the Holy City. After a prolonged
stay in the town and its environs, Willibald proceeded (727)
to Constantinople, and in 729 returned to Italy. Such is the
account given by the nun of Heidenheim in her biography of
Willibald, and her version is probably based on notes by the
pilgrim himself (Mon. Germ. hist. scr. xv 80 sqq.). In the
9th century the French monk Bernard visited Palestine with
two companions, and afterwards wrote a simple and trustworthy
account of his journey (Patrol. lat. 121, 569 sqq). In
the 10th century Conrad, bishop of Constance (934-976), performed
the pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times (Vita Chuonr. 7);
and to the same period belong the first women-pilgrims to
Jerusalem of whom we have any cognisance—Hidda, mother
of Gero, archbishop of Cologne (Thietm. Chron. ii. 16), and the
countess Hademod of Ebersberg (Chron. ebersb.). The leaders,
moreover, of the monkish reform movement in the 10th and
11th centuries, Richard of St Vanne in Verdun and Poppo,
abbot of Stavelot (978–1048), had seen the Holy Land with
their own eyes (Vita Rich. 17; Vita Popp. 3). In the year 1028
Archbishop Poppo of Trier (d. 1047) undertook a pilgrimage
which led him past Jerusalem to the banks of the Euphrates,
his return taking place in 1030 (Gesta Trevir. Cont. i. 4 seq.).
But the most celebrated devotional expedition before the Crusades
was that of the four bishops-Sigfrid of Mainz, Gunther of
Bamberg, William of Utrecht, and Otto of Regensburg. They
set out in 1064, with a company whose numbers exceeded
seven thousand. The major portion, however, fell in battle
against the Mahommedans, or succumbed to the privations of
the journey, and only some two thousand saw their homes
again (Annal. Altah., Lamb., Disib., Marian. Scot. &c.). Among
the followers of the bishops were two clerics of Bamberg, Ezzo
and Wille, who composed on the way the beautiful song on the
miracles of Christ-one of the oldest hymns in the German
language The text was due to Ezzo, the tune to Wille (Mullenhoff
and Scherer, Denkmaler, i. p. 78, No. 31) A few years later
Count Dietrich of Trier began a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with
113 companions, in atonement for the murder of Archbishop
Kuno The ship, however, which conveyed them went down
with all hands in a storm (Berth. Ann. 1073).
As a result of this steady increase in the number of pilgrims, the old arrangements for their accommodation were found deficient Consequently hospices arose which were designed exclusively for the pilgrim. Those on the Alpine passes are common knowledge. The oldest, that on the Septimer pass, dates from the Carolingian period, though it was restored in 1120 by the bishop Wido of Chur: that on the Great St Bernard was founded in the 10th century, and reorganized in the 13th. To this century may also be assigned the hospice on the Simplon, to the 14th those on the St Gothard and the Lukmanier. Similarly, the Mediterranean to wns, and Jerusalem in particular, had their pilgrim-refuges. Service in the hospices was regularly performed by the hospital-fraternities-that is to say, by lay associations working under the authorization of the Church. The most important of these was the fraternity of the Hospitale hierosolymitanum, founded between 1065 and 1075; for hence arose the order of St John, the earliest of the orders of knighthood In addition to the hospital of Jerusalem, numerous others were under its charge in Acre, Cyprus, Rhodes, Malta, &c. Associations were formed to assist pilgrims bound for the East, one being the Confrérie des pèlerins de Terre-Sainte in Paris, founded in 1325 by Louis de Bourbon, count of Clermont (afterwards first duke of Bourbon). Its church was in the rue des Cordeliers. Similar institutions existed also in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Antwerp and elsewhere in the Netherlands.
But since, in the middle ages, the Holy Land was no longer held by a Christian Power, the protection of the pilgrims was no less necessary than their sustenance This fact, after the close of the 11th century, led to the Crusades (q.v.), which in many respects are to be regarded as armed pilgrimages. For the old dream of the pilgrim, to view the country where God had walked as man, lived on in the Crusades-a fact which is demonstrated by the letters of Bernard of Clairvaux, with the songs of Walther von der Vogelweide and other Crusaders. And, since the strongest motive in the pilgrimage was the acquisition of indulgences, unnumbered thousands were moved to assume the Cross, when, in 1095, Urban II. promised them plenary indulgence (Conc. Claram. c. 2). The conquest of Jerusalem, and the erection of a Christian empire in Palestine, naturally welled the influx of pilgrims And though in 1187 the Holy City again fell into the hands of the infidel, while in 1291 the loss of Acre eliminated the last Christian possession in Palestine, the pilgrimages still proceeded. True, after the fall of the city and the loss of Acre, they were forbidden by the Church; but the veto was impracticable. In the 12th century these religious expeditions were still so common that, every Sunday, prayers were offered in church for the pilgrims (Honor. Aug Spec. eccl. p. 828). In the 13th century the annual number of those who visited Palestine amounted to many thousands: in the 14th and 15th it had hardly shrunk. In fact, between the years 1300 and 1600, no fewer than 1400 men of distinction can be enumerated from Germany alone who travelled to the Holy Land (Rohricht and Meissner, Deutsche Pilgerreisen, pp. 465–546) It was not till the Reformation, the wars of the 16th century, and the loss of Rhodes, Candia and Cyprus to the Turks, that any appreciable alteration was effected. When Ignatius de Loyola (q.v.) set sail in 1523 from Venice to Palestine, only some thirteen souls could be mustered on the pilgrim-ship, while eight or nine others sailed with the Venetian state-vessel as far as Cyprus. A considerable number had abandoned their pilgrimage and returned home on the news of the fall of Rhodes (Dec. 25, 1522: see Acta sanct. Jul. vii. 642 seq).
For pilgrimage overseas, as it was styled, the permission of the Church was still requisite. The pilgrims made their journey in grey cowls fastened by a broad belt. On the cowl they wore a red cross; and a broad-brimmed hat, a staff, sack and gourd completed their equipment. During their travels the beard was allowed to grow, and they prepared for departure by confession and communion Of their hymns many are yet extant (“Jerusalem mirabilis,” “In gottes namen faren wir,” &c.) The embarkation took place either in France or Italy. In France, Marseilles was the main harbour for the pilgrims. From there ships belonging to the knights of St John and the knights templars conducted the commerce with Palestine, and carried annually some 6000 passengers. In the Italian ports the number of shipments was still greater—especially in Venice, whence the regular passagium started twice a year. The Venetian pilgrim ships, moreover, carried as many as 1500 souls. The pilgrims formed themselves into unions, elected a “master” and concluded their agreements, as to the outward voyage and return, in common. After Venice, Genoa and Pisa occupied the most prominent position The voyage lasted from six to eight weeks, the stay in Jerusalem averaging ten days. The visitation of the holy places was conducted in processions headed by the Franciscans of the Convent of Zion.
The expenses of the journey to Palestine were no light matter. In the 12th century they may be estimated at 100 marks of silver (£200) for the ordinary pilgrim. This was the amount raised in 1147 by one Goswin von Randerath to defray the expenses of his pilgrimage (Niederrhein Urk Buch i. No. 361) Later the cost was put at 280–300 ducats (£140–£150). In the 13th century a knight with two squires, one groom, and the requi site horses, had to disburse 812 marks of silver for his passage, while for a single pilgrim the rate was rather less than 1 mark. In the 16th century Ignatius de Loyola calculated the cost of the voyage from Venice to Jaffa at some 6 or 7 gold florins (£3) The expenses of the princes and lords were, of course, much heavier. Duke William of Saxony, who was in Jerusalem in 1461, spent no less than £10,000 on his journey (see Prutz,
