ABSTRACT

This chapter considers the role of the Order of St John in Portugal in relation to the political implications of pilgrimage. It proposes to take a broad approach, both conceptually and geographically, since this is the most useful and indeed, perhaps the only possible way in which the topic can be discussed. The chapter is therefore appropriate to consider ways in which the Order of St John differed from other institutions, together with the ways in which it was similar to comparable orders, both religious and military orders. In the North of Portugal, the brothers of St John proved their worth through their participation in pilgrimage and their assistance in making it viable, while in the South they cooperated in the frontier war. In this context, the most emphatic expression of the association between pilgrimage and the political sphere was the Order of St John itself. This Order was a guarantee of the pilgrimage internationalization to Santiago de Compostela.