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Crusade precipitation
- In Crusades: The effects of religion
  … was another popular religious practice, pilgrimage to a holy shrine. Eleventh-century Europe abounded in local shrines housing relics of saints, but three great centres of pilgrimage stood out above the others: Rome, with the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul; Santiago de Compostela, in northwestern Spain; and
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grave shrines
saint veneration
- In saint: Forms of cults
  …at Roman Catholic places of pilgrimage.
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In Christianity: Veneration of places, objects, and people
…and the destination of the pilgrimages of Jews of the Diaspora. After the destruction in 70 ce of Jerusalem, which had become the holy city for the early church, it remained for Christians—as the site of the suffering and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and as the place of his return…
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Jerusalem
- In Jerusalem: Roman rule
  Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem are not recorded until the 4th century. It was the conversion to Christianity of Constantine I (the Great) and the famous pilgrimage (326) of his mother, St. Helena, who found the True Cross, that made possible the building of the great shrines…
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Palestine
- In Palestine: Roman Palestine
  …began to attract floods of pilgrims from all parts of the empire. It also became a great centre of the eremitic life (idiorrhythmic monasticism); men flocked from all quarters to become hermits in the Judaean wilderness, which was soon dotted with monasteries. Constantine added the southern half of Arabia to…
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Rome
- In Rome: Factional struggles: papacy and nobility
  …had begun to draw many pilgrims and prelates to Rome, and their gifts and expenditures on food and housing stimulated a considerable flow of money. Although Rome had a population of fewer than 30,000 (occupying less than one-quarter of the lands within the old walls), it was becoming once again…
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Santiago de Compostela
- In Santiago de Compostela
  …most important Christian place of pilgrimage after Jerusalem and Rome. The whole town, except the tomb itself, was destroyed in 997 by Abū ʿĀmir al-Manṣūr (Almanzor), military commander of the Moorish caliphate of Córdoba.
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