Comparisons

• View of the Corona, Canterbury Cathedral
• Virgin of Guadalupe

Both the shrines of Thomas Becket and the Virgin of Guadalupe draw pilgrims who claim the occurrence of miraculous events in their presence. Thomas Becket became a local martyr-saint when Henry II’s soldiers killed him in response to his resistance to the king’s attempts to control the Church. The Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to a poor, native peasant in Mexico upon whose mantel soon appeared a miraculous image of her. Becket was seen as a champion of the people against the dominating ruler and the Virgin seemed to favor a Nahua Indian over the ruling Spaniards, thus increasing the subject people’s acceptance of European Christianity.

Key Topics

Pilgrimage as a religious quest and the development of sacred architecture.

• Spiritual and political goals: reflected in the sophisticated architecture at sacred sites in ancient Greece and in shrines celebrating the power of the guardian deities.

• Medieval pilgrims: shrines housing holy remains attracted the first Christian pilgrims, in many respects the forerunners of modern tourists.

• Sacred architectural forms: developed in response to an increased flow of visitors, seen particularly in the plans of Romanesque churches.

• Ambition: religious building projects in the Gothic era imposed a burden on taxpayers, creating a sense of alienation with the Church.

• Mecca: the city toward which daily prayer is directed and the birthplace of Mohammed is the supreme site of pilgrimage in Islam.

• Convergence: Jerusalem as the site of rivalry between Jewish, Christian, and Muslin faiths, reflected in the city’s architectural history.