Latin Christian pilgrimage in the Holy Land, 1187-1291

This thesis discusses the practice and sites of Latin Christian pilgrimage in the Holy
Land during the period between the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, sultan of Egypt
and Damascus, in 1187, and the end of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291
following the capture of Acre by al-Ashraf Khalīl, the Mamlūk sultan. It demonstrates
how pilgrimage of this period changed from pre-1187 practices, and discusses how
pilgrimage developed from 1187 to 1291 under the influence of a continued Frankish
political presence in the Holy Land which did not extend to control over most of the
holy sites. It investigates this through an analysis of both the texts written by and for
pilgrims at this time, and a variety of other documentary and chronicle source material.
It concludes that Holy Land pilgrimage had a different character to that practised during
the period 1099 to 1187 due to: 1) changing access to holy sites as a result of raiding
and treaties, in some cases causing complete breaks with earlier tradition; 2) Islamic
political control of holy sites; and 3) interaction with non-Latin Christians. Many of the
unique aspects of Holy Land pilgrimage, with its dearth of healing shrines and
indulgences, focus on the New Testament and the life of Christ, and large number of
holy associations in a small area, remained unchanged, but the details of where pilgrims
went and the balance of site-types visited was modified. Pilgrims visited a broader
range of sites, most of which were shared with Greek and Eastern Christians, and some
of which were shared with non-Christians. The geography of several sites changed, and
they began to be identified with other locations. New holy sites were visited for the first
time, while the area within the walls of Jerusalem was harder to visit than ever. Overall,
the thesis demonstrates that Latin Christian holy sites and pilgrimage traditions in the
Holy Land were not static, and continued to develop and change into the fourteenth
century.