Pier, Norwich.
PIETISTS. A set of zealous but misguided men in Germany, the followers of Philip James Spener, who attempted the revival of what he called vital religion in Germany in the seventeenth century, and to that end assembled around him those like-minded with himself, and in societies which he formed, commonly called Colleges of Piety, laid the foundations of many disorders. His disciples, as is usual, far outran the more measured zeal of their master; and their false notions, amounting sometimes to principles of mutiny and sedition, gave rise to a long and bitter controversy in Germany.
PILGRIMAGE. A kind of superstitious discipline, which consists in making a journey to some holy place, in order to adore the relics of some deceased saint. Pilgrimages began to be made in the fourth century, but they were most in vogue after the end of the eleventh century, when every one was for visiting places of devotion, not excepting kings and princes; and even bishops made no difficulty of being absent from their churches on the same account.
PILLAR. The isolated support of an arch, including base, shaft, and capital, in Norman and Gothic architecture. There were great variations in the forms of pillars during the progress of ecclesiastical architecture. The Norman pillar is often a square, pier-like mass, relieved by attached semi-pillars, or by three-quarter shaft in retiring angles, as in the accompanying example from Norwich; or it is a cylindrical shaft, often fluted, or cut in zigzags or other diaper patterns. The Early English pillar frequently consists of a central bearing shaft, surrounded by smaller detached shafts; either set almost close to the central shaft, sometimes even within hollows, as at York, so as to lose the effect of their separateness, or at a very considerable distance from the central shaft, as at Chichester and Ely.
Pillar, Norwich.
York
Chichester.