ABSTRACT
The story of mediaeval pilgrimage in England can only be understood when seen as an integral part of the whole history of the country: sometimes it is the cause, sometimes the outcome, of social or historical events, occasionally it is incidental. There are two imponderables: the eternal impulse to pilgrimage and the mediaeval mind which was circumscribed by time. Consideration of the influence of Rome is vital to a reckoning with the mediaeval mind which believed in the unity of the human race. The mediaeval pilgrim set out with the intent to worship, firm in the belief that knowledge and enlightenment could be found only in and through God. The most important thing to emerge from the writings of the middle ages is the prevailing sense of struggle against circumstance, relief in which could come only from God.
