Pilgrimage in Practice

The Institute for Pilgrimage Studies at the College of William & Mary in Virginia was created to facilitate the study of pilgrimage through two primary mechanisms.

First, the Institute provides support for the international Consortium on Pilgrimage studies. The Institute supports the Consortium by:

Sums up basic aspects of women and pilgrimage for this encyclopedia on women and gender.

Asks why Christine de Pizan did not write a pilgrimage narrative despite its being the prevalent form for writers in the 14th century. Compares de Pizan with Margery Kempe.

Focus on literary theory and pilgrimage texts such as Chaucer and Langland. Theoretical approaches to medieval literary pilgrimage texts.

Explores aspects of gender and women with pilgrimage practice. Theoretical, art historical, literary, and historical aspects.

Examination of images and their memory on pilgrimage routes with special focus on Walsingham.

Explores the prehistory of Ophelia's reference to Walsingham and the sacred and profane aspects of her utterance. Pilgrimage badges are explored.