Revealed: How mass tourism helped England after the Black Death

July 12, 2024

New historical research shows how medieval mass tourism helped revive important aspects of the English economy after the Black Death.

At least a third of the population died when the bubonic plague devastated the country – and especially the cities – in the mid-14th century.

Important parts of the country’s financial system were in decline – but in an unexpected way, fear of the plague helped revive the economies of many urban areas of England.

New research at the Centre for Pilgrimage Studies at the University of York now reveals the surprisingly efficient way in which plague-stricken English cities reignited their economic prosperity – through a medieval form of mass tourism.

Fear of the plague caused people to become more religious and more receptive to religious marketing that sought to encourage them to make pilgrimages to holy sites in the cities of England.

New studies on the management and economics of the medieval pilgrimage industry have shown that the individual larger pilgrimage centers (often cathedrals) only wanted to offer their “pilgrimage offer” about four times a year – in order to deliberately concentrate mass tourism in the respective cities on a manageable sequence of very short seasons.

This maximized efficiency and profit and minimized the impact of mass tourism on normal church life.

New research by Dr John Jenkins, co-director of the Centre for Pilgrimage Studies, also shows that even the highly lucrative sale of pilgrim souvenirs (particularly pilgrim badges) was organised much more efficiently than previously thought.

Instead of producing the badges separately in each pilgrimage center, many of them were produced in moderation by specialized badge makers who traveled from pilgrimage center to pilgrimage center throughout the year.

The Black Death led to a rise in pilgrimages - because people often lived in fear of imminent death, which made them more religious. The so-called — The Black Death led to a rise in pilgrimages – because people often lived in fear of imminent death, which made them more religious. The so-called “Dance of Death” (pictured here) – a popular image in the Middle Ages – symbolized this fear. (Michael Wolgemut)

It is estimated that between 1300 and 1450 at least 10 million English people made a pilgrimage – with each person making several pilgrimages in their lifetime, often at least half a dozen.

They probably collected badges (made of pewter) from many or even most of the pilgrimage sites they visited. So literally tens of millions of badges must have been produced over the course of the Late Middle Ages.

It is estimated that over 10,000 specimens have been found by metal detectorists in recent decades, but only about a thousand of them have found their way into museums (i.e. a tiny percentage of the number originally found).

Few museums have really good collections – but one of them, Salisbury, will open a special new gallery tomorrow (Saturday) displaying many of the hundreds of badges found so far in that city.

The new exhibition shows the extraordinary diversity of the places to which the people of medieval Salisbury made their pilgrimages – pilgrimage centres such as Canterbury, Walsingham, Chester, St Albans, Bury St Edmunds, Westminster, Ely and Windsor.

Abroad, the badges show that citizens of Salisbury visited the Sanctuary of St. John the Baptist in Amiens Cathedral in France, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Sanctuary of the Holy Blood in Wilsnack in Germany and the Sanctuary of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

A late medieval image of a group of pilgrims who had just visited the shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. In the background are the walled city of Canterbury and its great cathedral (Wikipedia/Unknown author)

Although pilgrimages were religious in nature, they often reflected the strong political divisions within medieval society.

Some pilgrimages (to places such as Pontefract, York and Windsor) were often perceived by the authorities as anti-government subversion, since the unofficial “saints” the pilgrims venerated there had often been anti-government rebels or “wrongly” deposed rulers before their often violent deaths.

Typical examples of such unofficial political “saints” from the rebel era included a 14th-century baron (who ruled England for four years but was eventually beheaded); a deposed English king from the Lancastrian family who was almost certainly murdered in prison by his ruthless Yorkist successor; and an archbishop who led a rebellion and was sentenced to death by a mock court but insisted on being beheaded with five strokes – to imitate the five wounds in Christ’s crucifixion.

Although widespread fear of the Black Death encouraged the idea and practice of pilgrimage, government fears that pilgrimages would spread subversive ideas led to draconian attempts to suppress them.

In fact, as early as 1388, the government passed a law stating that no one could travel outside their place of residence without authorization! As the Late Middle Ages progressed, some pilgrimages therefore became controversial political statements and questions of “freedom of movement.”

Canterbury was a major pilgrimage center in the Middle Ages - because one of its archbishops, Thomas Becket, was murdered at the altar by assassins instigated by King Henry II. This 13th-century painting depicts the event. Becket was canonized by the papacy shortly after his murder. — Canterbury was a major pilgrimage center in the Middle Ages – because one of its archbishops, Thomas Becket, was murdered at the altar by assassins instigated by King Henry II. This 13th-century painting depicts the event. Becket was canonized by the papacy shortly after his murder. (Unknown author/Wikipedia)

Salisbury’s internationally important collection of pilgrim badges will go on display at Salisbury Museum in a brand new gallery telling the story of the city from the 13th century to the present day. It is the centrepiece of a £5.1 million museum refurbishment, largely funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

“The new gallery will help the public understand the growth of an important medieval city – and how its citizens travelled widely to venerate saints across England and abroad,” said Dr Jenkins.

“People in the Middle Ages were much more mobile, both domestically and internationally, than many people realise,” he explained. “Salisbury’s collection of pilgrim badges is one of the finest in the world and of international importance,” said Dr Jenkins. Salisbury was once called “the English Venice” – because of its network of major drainage canals.

But by the 19th century, these canals had become so unsanitary that they contributed to outbreaks of cholera. As a result, the urban waterways of English Venice were removed and replaced with more modern sewers and water supply systems.

During these 19th-century urban construction projects, numerous medieval finds came to light, including a wide variety of pilgrim badges. These show how far the medieval citizens of Salisbury had travelled – and how internationally mobile many English people were in the Middle Ages.