On the Camino

In mediaeval times a pilgrim started literally from his front door – he would have had his mass before setting off where his staff and cloak would have been blessed and would have been issued with his testimonicales from his overlord giving him permission to make the journey (indeed after 1388 it was an arrestable offence to travel without this document which gave access to the privileges of a pilgrim and hospitality). He would have set off on foot (or by horse or donkey if he were richer) and, from Britain at least, set off to one of the ports before catching a boat, undertaking a sometimes dangerous sea crossing and then walking further to Santiago.

I recently visited Worcester Cathedral and was surprised to find that there is the grave of a 15 th Century Pilgrim there – it was found in 1987 during excavations on the Cathedral floor and is the first discovery of a Pilgrim burial in England.   Within the grave was found a skeleton wearing the remains of knee-length boots and woollen garments. He had with him a small wooden staff that was painted purple and topped with a horn peg and with a tip of an iron double-prong. A scallop shell, pierced so that it could be hung by a cord was to one side of him. His head (on which may have been his pilgrim hat) was lost in 19 th century works.

Just found this article on buzz feed http://www.buzzfeed.com/jonmichaelpoff/spanish-towns-that-will-transport-you-back-in-time?s=mobile '13 beautiful Spanish towns that will transport you back in time' and three of them are on the Camino: Number 6 is Logrono, 8 is Burgos and 9 is Pamplona, all amazing places to visit or just walk through.

I sent the text below to my sister a few days ago - does anyone else have a memory like this?