To learn more about the medieval badges from these famous sites, Ann Marie Rasmussen met virtually with Dr. Carolin Rinn to discuss her dissertation, “Between Memory and Mediation of Salvation: Visuality and Mediality of the Medieval Pilgrim Badges from Aachen and Canterbury.” Carolin shared her experience studying medieval badges as an art historian and the findings and implications of her research.

The Norbertine Abbey of Averbode, Belgium acquired Sint-Martinuskerk (Church of Saint Martin) in 1232. Unbeknownst to all at the time, this church would transform Saint Job and Saint Job would transform this church. Sint-Martinuskerk was the first church in the Low Countries to create a devotion to Saint Job. Bart Minnen credits Saint Job for making Sint-Martinuskerk one of the richest rural churches in Brabrant. But how did this happen?

The Book of Job is part of Hebrew Scripture and the Christian Old Testament. It is an example of wisdom literature, which explores questions of suffering, justice, and the relationship between God and humankind.

The topic of medieval badges in Rouen was offered as a subject for study at the École du Louvre for several years before Guillaume Herrou chose to undertake it during his Master’s of Museology and Art History. Not fully knowing what he was getting himself into, Guillaume was fortunate to begin his thesis before Covid, when he could still go into the museum and archives, and talk to the curators.

The badges from Rostock and their corroborating evidence testify to the wide-ranging mobility of Rostock pilgrims. This fact should not surprise us; after all, the burghers of Rostock were sea-faring merchants and traders. The sum total of these artifacts suggests that piety wove together many strands of the lives of the inhabitants of medieval Rostock.

Dr. Ansorge’s article shows us the detective archaeologist at work, seeking out disparate kinds of evidence for clues to better understand the landscapes of religious belief in medieval northern Germany. To contextualize the Rostock badges, Ansorge unearths evidence from archives, manuscripts, early printed broadsheets, and books, and from other unusual sources as well.

The twenty-nine pilgrim badges found in Rostock testify to journeys to different holy sites. Medieval pilgrims purchased religious badges at the sites they visited and then brought the objects home with them. Dr. Ansorge uses the badges found in Rostock as evidence to see where and how far the Rostock pilgrims travelled.

This blog post in four parts focusses on twenty-nine medieval badges found in the Baltic coastal town of Rostock, Germany. It summarizes a recent article by Dr. Jörg Ansorge, one of the premier archaeologists working with pilgrim badges in Germany today. The article discusses all badges that were found in Rostock by 2018 (more have been found since then).