ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. This book discusses religious travel of the later Middle Ages. Travelers knew that they were re-interpreting the visual world of the holy places for people who had only heard or read about them. They tried, where possible, to convey a sense of what it actually felt like to be in sacred places. Sometimes they invited readers to visualize the scenery. They also invited readers to help them make sense of the information they had worked so hard to gather, both before and during the voyage. But as much as the author assumed that their books would be read interactively, they remained firmly in control by editing and shaping the narrative and by reminding the reader that he was only getting the information that had been pre-selected for him. The pilgrims were looking more for affirmation of the old than information about the new.
