buy salvation by building hospitals and providing for doles of bread and wine to those who made the sacred journey. Charlemagne made their case a tax on his subjects through whose bounds they passed. "Even in our entire kingdom neither rich nor poor shall dare to deny hospitality to the pilgrims.... On account of the love of God and the salvation of our souls, no one shall deny them shelter, fire, or water."
Shelters in Jerusalem
In Jerusalem vast caravanseries were built for them, Gregory the Great building there one of the largest of all shelters.
Washing Sins Away
The signs of the pilgrim—the staff, the wallet, and the scallop-shell—were blessed by priest or bishop before departure, and took on added sanctity, and even miracle-working power, if they had reached actual use in the Holy Land. It was not long before an indulgent Church guaranteed that bathing in Jordan should wash away all sin. And, as the Holy Land must be rich in the bones of martyrs and in the relics of Christ and His apostles, it was within the ambition of the pilgrims to possess a hair of the Virgin, a thread from the seamless coat, a nail which had pierced His hand, a splinter from the cross, or a thorn which had torn His brow. All these were believed to possess powers of healing,
and their possession permanently increased the dignity of families and the wealth of Churches.
Relics and Miracles
The demand for such relics from the Christian world was great and the supply was greater. Traffic in these was enriched by the purchase of the silks, spices, and other treasures of the East, and commercial greed came to move men under the cover of the cross.
Chosroes Conquers Syria
The stream of pilgrimage was full until the reign of Heraclius. Then the Persian king, Chosroes, carried his arms through Syria and Palestine to Egypt. The fire-worshipers defiled the holy city by their authority and their worship. They tainted and robbed the churches, and carried off what was believed to be the cross of the crucifixion, which had been guarded by the Church of the Resurrection.