Revisiting Female Pilgrimage in Medieval Oxford: Evidence from the Miracula Sancte Frideswide

The most common form of female pilgrimage in medieval England was local pilgrimage to a saint's shrine. One English pilgrimage destination which is especially associated with women is St Frideswide's shrine in Oxford, owing to a collection of miracle stories compiled in the 1180s in which...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bailey, Anne E. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2023
In: Journal of religious history
Year: 2023, Volume: 47, Issue: 4, Pages: 604-625
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Summary:The most common form of female pilgrimage in medieval England was local pilgrimage to a saint's shrine. One English pilgrimage destination which is especially associated with women is St Frideswide's shrine in Oxford, owing to a collection of miracle stories compiled in the 1180s in which women are particularly prevalent. Drawing on a new edition and translation of the Miracula sancte Frideswide, this article revisits the cult of Frideswide in the late twelfth century and takes a fresh look at the experiences of women visiting Oxford on pilgrimage. The article reassesses previous speculations about women's attraction to the cult, brings to light some little-appreciated aspects of female pilgrimage, and finds that many of the accounts challenge assumptions made about female behaviour and expectations in the Middle Ages.
ISSN:1467-9809
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religious history
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/1467-9809.13015