Comparative Study: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales And Camino De Santiago Pilgrimage Narratives.

Two distinct cultures: a comparison of pilgrimage narratives

Out of all the works done on medieval literature Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is about the pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage site of Medieval Origin to Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela located in Galicia, North Western part of Spain (Belova, 2015). Pilgrimage Narration as Genre describes memoirs of early Renaissance to Enlightenment which set their subject in a religious framework. The rhetorical traditions of any particular religion were also described to be of great importance. In the book, the authors have contrasted the pilgrims’ narratives of two distinct cultures. Basic elements that define a memoire genre of a pilgrimage when identified by comparing narratives of pilgrimage exceed the modalities of one religious tradition. Some of the aspects of two pilgrimage narratives are idiosyncratic and some of them are religion-specific. In Chaucer’s work in Canterbury Tales, pilgrimages initiated as exercises in penance (Harvard University, 2022). Going on any pilgrimage can be penitential act. Sometimes walking barefoot or even when riding a horse can be very difficult along with the poorly maintained road routes which are also dangerous.

Allison is a twenty-year girl who decides to go on a pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago so as to escape somewhere, far away from the problems happening in her life. She comes to Camino de Santiago and here she finds her inner peace that she thought was long gone. Allison has known about the pilgrimage tale of Wife of Bath and she decides to explore her ideologies about pilgrimage. Wife of Bath lived in Avon Valley in England and the region was known for cloth production that was rivalling Belgium wool. Though Allison faces challenges due to varied cultural incompetency, she is also able to relate her situation to the pilgrims in Canterbury Tales (Couch, Hasell, Knowles, & Pring, 2022). The main idea of the book according to Chaucer was to for a group of pilgrims and then every one of them will recite their pilgrimage story. Whichever story will be best described, that pilgrim will win a meal at Tabard Inn. Camino de Santiago, also called Way of St James, is a popular and large network of pilgrim routes during ancient times that stretched across Europe and came back together at St James tomb which is situated in Santiago de Compostela in north western part of Spain. Allison took the most popular route and she also planned her trip in mid-summer during which the route is densely crowded.

The challenges faced by contemporary pilgrims

This route is Camino Francés that stretches almost 780 Km from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port which is situated nearby Biarritz to Santiago in France (Camino de Santiago, 2022). This route comprises three main French routes, first one is Voie de Tours, second is Voie de Vezelay and third is Voie du Puy, and Allison decided to take second route during her pilgrimage. This network, as recognised by Allison and historians, was very much similar to river system and most of them were joined together to form Camino Francés. In ancient times, people used this route grow up the network (Davidson & Gitlitz, 2008). According to Canterbury Tales, the pilgrims were led by their host who introduced himself as shrewd businessman who flatters the pilgrims by taking away their money at the start and then he takes away their mind by distracting them with irrelevant topic.

Same was the problem faced by Allison when her host misled her in Camino de Santiago after taking away her money. When Allison reached at the pilgrimage site, it was found that there was an entire crowd of people from different cultures who altogether came to pilgrimages. Allison herself did not believe in a particular religion but after reaching here, she realised that it was very difficult to adapt herself in an environment where people have from all across the globe. They all had their own point of views, different cultures and traditions that they followed while being on the pilgrimage. Allison, knowing little about culture and rituals, found the interaction to be very problematic. If she took out herself completely, then she would not be able to even enjoy her time at the pilgrimage.

It was important to understand and know about the medieval history of the place and pilgrimage sites so that this could prevent any type of misunderstanding and confusion that might arise due to pilgrim’s inadequate knowledge about a place. In the role played by Wife of Bath in Canterbury Tales, it is shown that she travelled and lived at different places in England and due to that she developed wealth and security related mindsets about all her husbands (Chaucer, c. 1400). Allison thus understands the importance of knowing about geographical importance and history of every site in Camino de Santiago. Unlike Wife of Bath, Allison also takes the route to cathedral and shrine of Apostle James situated in Santiago de Compostels, for her pilgrimage in St James. Pilgrimage is set with an aim of seeking intersession from God and saints of that particular place formed in an array of concerns. The characteristic of knowledge manifestations, pilgrimage is described as social construction and also cultural product. Chaucer described it in his Canterbury pilgrimage that each of his pilgrims were portrayed based on objective facts and their individual opinions (Chaucer, c. 1400).

Allison's journey to Camino de Santiago

It is observed in Chaucer’s work that each pilgrim represented broad cross-section of English society in Fourteenth century. Now Allison thinks this about herself that what place does she hold in the cultural value of a pilgrimage site. The pilgrims are also differentiated on the basis of their economic status in a society and since Allison does not come from a rich background, so she feels that it will be hard for her to intermingle in that environment. Based on the challenges as faced by contemporary pilgrims at Camino de Santiago, the walking distance of Camino is very large and even the duration of walking remains very long (Belova, 2015). While passing through French Way, Allison faced her greatest challenge when she crossed the mountain range of Pyrenees that was present over Napoleon pass. Other major challenges arose on her way to Coastal Ways. A challenge that was faced by Allison was quite reasonable that in modern day world, only 30% of people come to Camino de Santiago for religious purposes, rest other only come here for hiking with their family and friends. This is now considered to be an escape from people’s everyday life and this is the reason why Allison found it challenging to adjust in the environment because the thoughts of pilgrims and hikers clash and so do their motifs. This is the main reason of Allison facing challenges during her visit.

Camino de Santiago is network of trails of Pilgrim which spans across Europe and meets in Santiago de Compostela that is in Spain at The Great Shrine of St James. I have chosen this site for my pilgrimage because first, I was impressed by Wife of Bath’s descriptions about her pilgrimage sites and second, I have always wanted to explore the broader ideologies about different religions and cultures and could not have found any better place than Camino de Santiago. The route that was taken by Wife of Bath still endures in present day. To Spain it holds the same importance what Canterbury pilgrimage route, as chosen by Chaucer’s pilgrims held for England. The main motivation I got for coming to this place is that, I researched that every year this place gets thousands of visitors. I have travelled from Australia all the way to Europe to walk Camino de Santiago.

Earlier it was only used for traditional purposes but today it can be visited for any reason regardless of religious needs or seeking motivation. I came here to seek motivation and to find myself again because my life have been little unfair recently and I needed an escape to find my way back again. Historically, this place is important Christian Pilgrimage and people used to take this route to reduce their punishments for sins they have committed. I personally have felt that I have not been treating everyone the right way and this is the reason why I felt a need to travel to Camino de Santiago. Based on the work of Linda and David, the narratives of a pilgrimage are important to form an opinion about a place as this give a clear cut idea of two different religions. This perspective has helped me to shape my opinions about pilgrimage and culture. Even though the pilgrimage site was enthusiastically refreshing and illuminative, there were some cultural problems which I faced because of the diversified ethnicities that surmount the sites of Camino de Santiago. It was because of the traditions and culture of various kinds that I found myself in a confusing and helpless environment where I could not decide how to fit into the variedness of cultures around me. As it was mentioned for Wife of Bath that she took the pilgrimage to prove her thoughts and ideas, I also came along to rediscover my strengths and to redefine my identity. My decision to go on a pilgrimage have been the life-changing decision for me and I whole heartedly devout my surrealism to the vastness of art and culture that exists amidst Camino de Santiago. 

References

Belova, E. (2015). Memories of a Pilgrim on the Way of St. James – El Camino de Santiago. Retrieved from Haaga-Helia The University of Applied Sciences: https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/101641/Thesis%203.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Camino de Santiago. (2022, March). Camino de Santiago. Retrieved from Camino de Santiago: https://santiago-compostela.net/

Chaucer, G. (c. 1400). The Canterbury Tales.

Couch, C., Hasell, E., Knowles, J., & Pring, J. (2022, May). The Wife of Bath's Prologue. Retrieved from Mapping Chaucer:

https://mediakron.bc.edu/mappingchaucer/the-wife-of-baths-prologue

Davidson, L., & Gitlitz, D. (2008). Pilgrimage Narration as a Genre. La corónica: A Journal of Medieval Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, 36(2), 15-37. doi:https://doi.org/10.1353/cor.2008.0013

Harvard University. (2022, March). Pilgrimage. Retrieved from Harvard's Geoffrey Chaucer Website:

https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/pilgrimage