Introduction

The mention of community in the context of pilgrimage probably conjures up for students of medieval literature the kind of company which Chaucer depicts assembling at the Tabard inn one spring evening or the parties of travellers described by Felix Fabri1 or Margery Kempe:2 groups, assembled by prior arrangement or happenstance, brought together by the common purpose of seeking of a shrine and the benefits which such a journey were considered to bring. Chaucer's ‘compaignye’ of ‘sondry folk’, fallen into ‘felaweship’ provides a very useful narrative frame; it must also have often been a reality, as pilgrims from differing social backgrounds and varying spiritual aspirations formed a temporary community on the road for company and mutual protection.

However, behind any such group of pilgrims, historical or fictional, lie other communities which also need to be taken into account. Those engaged in pilgrimage to a holy place lie at the centre of a series of concentric circles, multiple communities which interact with one another and which must be considered together. It is therefore instructive to consider the dynamics and roles of these other communities before attempting to assess the functioning and characteristics of the central group.

The Community of Pilgrims through Life

The first and most broad-based community which needs to be considered is formed by those engaged in the ‘pilgrimage of life’, in other words the entire medieval Christian community at work and play, the community to which Chaucer's original audience all belonged. Shaped by New Testament3 and patristic4 writings, the idea that all Christian believers are pilgrims en route to the heavenly Jerusalem is a commonplace of medieval sermons and poetry. This wider community not only provides an important backdrop to particular pilgrim expeditions but also functions as a dynamic component within them.

This is a view which runs counter to much discussion of pilgrim groups over recent years, strongly influenced as that has been by the work of Victor and Edith Turner and their stress on concepts of liminality and communitas.