middle ages pilgrim numbers--urban legend?

[Gene Silva]

Barry:

It is highly unlikely Saint Francis found himself in the company of one
million other pilgrims. Since most peregrinos at that time were other
inhabitants of Europe, this figure is almost certainly exaggerated. At the
end of the Roman Empire in the west, there were about 700,000 people in the
area of present day modern Germany. Those numbers gradually rose to 3
million in the year 1000. By the thirteenth century there were as many as 12
million, but that was the high point of the middle ages. France's numbers
are about the same.

Spain's population is hard to estimate because of the uncertainties created
by the destruction of records during the reconquest. However, there were no
more than a million living in Portugal between the years 1250 and 1350.
These numbers dropped to under 600,000 following the black death in 1348.
The plague killed one in three Europeans. It took another century before the
Portuguese population topped one million again. This demographic pattern was
consistent throughout Europe from the fifth century through the sixteenth.

Saint Francis would have made his pilgrimage to Santiago between the years
1212 and 1219. While the issue remains disputed, there were probably fewer
that 70 million inhabitants in all of western Europe at that time. There
were not even 100 Knights Templar protecting the whole camino.

I suspect the one million a year pilgrim figure in the thirteenth century is
"Biblical".




----- Original Message -----
From: "Barry Evans" Sent: Monday, November 19, 2001 2:40 PM
Subject: middle ages pilgrim numbers--urban legend?


> "Camino Pilgrim Net (an online resource for Camino pilgrims) reports
> that in the year when Saint Francis made his pilgrimage from Assissi,
> on foot, he was one of about a  million people who did so."
>
> I'd heard this too, but I wonder if this is a bit of an urban legend?
> this would have been when the total population of Europe was around
> 80 million, hard to believe that 1 in 80 could take off from their
> non-stop work (no paid vacations then!) and trek not just to Santiago
> but home again.
> I'd be fascinated to know if there's any independent documentation of
> middle ages numbers.
> (trying to imagine a few thousand tired peregrinos arriving every
> night at El Cebreiro!)
> Barry Evans
>