“The Narrative is Ambiguous and that Location Isn’t the Right Location”: Presenting and Interpreting Medieval Saints Today in Canterbury, Durham and York

Abstract

Drawing on research for the Pilgrimage and England’s Cathedrals, Past and Present project, this article explores how the project’s medieval case study cathedrals – Canterbury, Durham and York – present their saints and shrines, and how visitors react to and interpret them. While looking at various narratives – predominantly about saints in historical and contemporary contexts – attached to these cathedrals, I also aim to offer some glimpses into how people interact with and relate to space. I argue that beliefs and narratives about saints play a significant role in the pilgrimage culture of the cathedral. I will also explore how the lack of a clear central narrative about the saint leaves a vacancy that will be filled with various other narratives.

The Pilgrimage Landscape in Contemporary Estonia: New Routes, Narratives, and Re-Christianization

“…Reflecting on the role of pilgrimage in Anglican cathedrals, Coleman and Bowman (2019: 30) note that there is the question of how and whether a post-Reformation institution should be encouraging such activity, and, more generally, how far the Church of England can reappropriate medieval practices of piety. Some Anglicans still associate saints and pilgrimage with Catholicism and find their re-emergence in the Church of England difficult to come to terms with (see Sepp 2019).…”