What the heck is a lek?
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
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St Thomas of Canterbury (or Thomas Becket) was murdered for opposing King Henry II’s Constitutions of Clarendon. On 29 December 1170 four knights attacked him in Canterbury Cathedral and cut open his head. Two years later he was made a saint, and Canterbury became a major centre of pilgrimage.
In medieval times religious beliefs played a fundamental role in the life of every person in England. It dictated the structure of all aspects of working and social life – from when one could work and rest in a calendar of holy days and fasts and feasts, to when it was the appropriate time of year to marry or have children.
Medieval pilgrimage was big business. Making a journey to a religious shrine was a popular way to repent for sins and earn the right to heaven after death. All pilgrims wanted to carry home a souvenir from their travels, and cheap metal badges were widely bought and worn on a cloak or hat. This marked the wearer as someone entitled to support and hospitality along the way.
Most of Salisbury’s citizens embarked on relatively local pilgrimages that could be completed in a few weeks, by foot, horse or cart. The shrine of St Thomas (or Thomas Becket) in Canterbury Cathedral was a popular pilgrimage destination and from Salisbury it was two full days’ walk.
Journeys further afield to Europe involved hazardous sea voyages. This did not deter ardent pilgrims – in 1434 no fewer than 2,310 licensed pilgrims set sail from English ports to the shrine of Compostela in northern Spain.
The healing properties of some shrines was recognised – and a pilgrimage might be made to a local shrine in the hope of a cure or as thanks for deliverance from an illness. Thomas Becket ‘water’ (believed to be a mixture of Becket’s blood and water) was known to perform miraculous cures and could be purchased from Canterbury Cathedral in an ampullae (or miniature container) – some of which have been found in Salisbury.
Other pilgrim badges in the Salisbury Museum collected from shrines that offered cures and miracles are:
St Osmund built the first cathedral at Old Sarum. He died in 1099 and was buried there, but in 1226 his body and tomb were moved to Salisbury Cathedral. St Osmund reputedly granted many miracles, including the recovery of a drowned child. When placed on Osmund’s tomb, the child opened its eyes and smiled.
The Virgin Mary, patron of Salisbury Cathedral, was believed to protect Salisbury’s citizens. In 1409 a local girl watching a game of quoits was hit on the head by an iron ring – she recovered after bystanders prayed to Our Lady of Salisbury. This shrine was popular with pilgrims from Europe.
Virtually all the medieval pilgrim badges found in Salisbury were discovered in the city’s watercourses: the water channels that once ran through the streets of Salisbury, the River Avon and Millstream. Soft, anaerobic river mud has helped to preserve these delicate items – but this does not tell the full story. It is believed that returning pilgrims threw their badges into watercourses as a thank you offering for their safe journey.
Salisbury Museum has a major collection of pilgrim badges
and souvenirs – among the largest in England. The badges originate from across
England and Europe and reflect the fact that Salisbury’s population, by the
mid-15th century, had reached up to 8,000 people, making it the seventh largest
city in England. Salisbury was no longer a weather-beaten outpost – it was a cosmopolitan
hub, with connections stretching across Europe.
Although there are records of pilgrim badges made of gold or enamel, those that have survived in the Salisbury Museum collection are mass-produced of a tin-lead alloy of about six parts tin with four parts lead. Moulds were made of fine-grained stone – often steatite, slate, chalk or lithographic limestone. There is however one badge in the collection, a badge in honour of St James Compostela in Spain, where the reverse shows the imprint of tree rings or a cuttlefish bone (see image above). A mould made from wood or cuttlefish bone would have produced a higher quality badge but would have been less durable.
This pilgrim badge was selected by the Drainage Working Group – a group made up of local people who co-curated the re-display of the story to tell, and researched and wrote the text for each object.
Margaret Ward, from the Drainage Collection Working Group, wrote:
“Having been on a pilgrimage myself I was intrigued that something tangible had been brought back by a pilgrim as a memento – but why had it been thrown into the river/drain, along with many others? It is an important object for Salisbury’s history – as it reflects Thomas Becket’s association with Clarendon Palace and the disagreement with King Henry II which led to his murder. I cross St Thomas’ bridge often, where legend has it he walked.
The object raises lots of questions: Who was the owner of this badge and why had they felt they had to go to Canterbury? Was it for deeply religious/spiritual reasons, or had a friend persuaded them to accompany them? How long did the journey take? Where did they stay on route? What about their family and job while they were away?”
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
The great bustard has a dignified slow walk but tends to run when disturbed, rather than fly.
The hen-bird on display at The Salisbury Museum was one of the last great bustards to be eaten in the town!