In Gottes Namen fahren wir

In Gottes Namen fahren wir. German, 13th century and after. This is the German pilgrims’ hymn, probably dating from the time when pilgrimages became an important part of the religious life of the Middle Ages. For those who could travel, there were journeys to be made from all parts of Europe to Jerusalem, Rome, or Santiago de Compostella, and in England to Canterbury or Durham. ‘The five hundred years from the early 11th to the early 16th century were the golden age of pilgrimage in Europe. It has been estimated that in certain years one-fifth of the population of Europe was either on pilgrimage or engaged in servicing the pilgrim trade’ (Bradley, 2009, p. 44). The medieval pilgrim would...