Pilgrim Badges

Along the Camino there are very few items that you buy as you walk simply because of the weight of them - typical tourist items are impractical but me and Becky do like collecting badges from the places that we visit (more about these in a future post probably!), our favourites depict an image of something famous in the place itself (a picture of the Church or Cathedral there maybe or an old Cross maybe). These can be seen to have quite old origins though if we look back to Pilgrim badges.

 

These were small badges in the mediaeval that were usually made of a base metal (that is a cheap one which was easy to work such as pewter or a lead alloy) and were made en-mass by die stamping them or moulds the idea being that they were cheap enough so that anyone could afford them.

 

These badges were bought as a souvenir of their pilgrimage and as a symbol to others that they had undertaken this journey – they were worn on hats or outer clothing so that, in a time when few could read, all could understand the journey that you had undertaken in God’s name.

 

These were popular in the 14^th and 15^th centuries but their use started to decline after the Protestant Revolution (in the mid 16^th century) and are usually found now in rivers (indeed there is an example of one man stepping off the plank from a ferry back from Walberswick, possibly on the Southwold side of the Creek and bending down to pick up something shiny that they saw in the water – a Pilgrim badge! (now displayed in Southwold Museum)) as it was believed that they would bring its owner good luck if thrown in although many were buried with their owners.

 

These badges would show something to do with the places visited – in the case of a visit to Santiago it would show the Scallop shell.

 

The symbol of the Pilgrim became the scallop shell of which many can be found on the coast of Galicia and it is actually a symbol of the Pilgrimage (and has become a symbol of other Christian Pilgrimages too) partly because you could find the shell easily there and so could go back home and show it off as proof that you had done the Pilgrimage. It has also been included in carvings in some Churches.

        Scallops also serve a practical purpose for medieval pilgrims as it is the correct size for getting water to drink or to use as a small bowl to eat their food from.

        There are also two stories about this shell which both involve the story that James did some preaching in Spain after Jesus had died and why the shell became so important:

1. After James was killed his disciples took him to be buried at the place that we now call Santiago.

But not far from Spain’s coast a heavy storm hit the ship and his body was lost in the ocean.

Some time later his body was washed ashore undamaged but it was covered in scallop shells.

2. After James died his body was mysteriously taken by a ship (sometimes this is said to be a ship made of stone) that had no crew back to Spain so that he could be buried there in the area we now call Santiago.

As his ship came close to the shore a wedding was happening and the groom was riding a horse which, when it saw the ship coming in, was scared and ran over the cliffs and into the sea.

Through a miracle they both came out of the water alive but were covered in scallops.