Overview

Pilgrimage, the journey to a distant sacred goal, is found in all the great religions of the world. It is a journey both outwards, to new, strange, dangerous places, and inwards to spiritual improvement. Throughout the world the idea of pilgrimage is understood and accepted as a natural activity. Pilgrims move invisibly in huge numbers around the world: the pilgrimage to Mecca can attract almost two million travellers a year, while the vast tide of men andwomen that flows to the Ganges at Prayaga for the great festival held every twelve years numbers over fifteen million - more than the entire population of one of the world's greatest cities. This is the first book to offer a survey of pilgrimage traditions in all the great religions of the world. It outlines the history and nature of the different ideas and rites of pilgrimage, and brings together some of the common themes which emerge in the process. These reveal a surprising consistency of practice, often down to small details, among pilgrims of widely differing beliefs and times. RICHARD BARBER's books includes Tournaments, The Knight and Chivalry, andbiographies of the Plantagenets Henry II and the Black Prince, as well as two classic Arthurian books, Arthurian Legends and King Arthur Hero and Legend.

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9780851155197

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A fascinating account of journeys to a distant sacred goal, to Jerusalem and Mecca, to Rome and Canterbury, to the shrines of Fatima in Portugal, to Benares and the shrines of India, to Mount Kailas, holiest of the Tibetan mountain peaks. This is a revealing and well illustrated survey by Richard Barber, explaining not only where pilgrims went, how they travelled and what they did when they reached their destinations but also why they set off on such usually long and often painful journeys. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

RICHARD BARBER has had a huge influence on the study of medieval history and literature, as both a writer and a publisher. His first book on the Arthurian legend appeared in 1961, and his major works include The Knight and Chivalry (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award in 1971), Edward Prince of Wales and Aquitaine, The Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe and The Holy Grail: the History of a Legend which was widely praised and was translated into six languages.

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