"That stretches people to go on pilgrimages," Gregory Chaucer said in his book, The Canterbury Tales, meaning that people long to go on religious pilgrimages. The act of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages was a very popular and traditional practice in Christian society. This visit to shrines or holy places was an act of religious devotion and played a role in the lives of many Europeans, especially those from the western regions of medieval Europe. To understand the importance of pilgrimages, we will highlight the purpose of pilgrimages, the diversity of pilgrims who took part in them and the various shrines visited by pilgrims. The reason for going on pilgrimage to Western Europe during the medieval period consists of several purposes. Pilgrims usually went because of the description of religious pilgrimage in the Bible. Christian pilgrims followed a scripture in the Bible that emphasized the activity of pilgrimage in life. This writing was the word of St. Paul and Christ (Housley 654). He described how a follower of the Christian religion was a “wanderer of this world,” which is an indication of a pilgrim (654). The Scriptures also emphasized the idea of ​​how life on earth was a preparation for true life in heaven. These biblical teachings were the reasons why pilgrims drew closer to God during the Middle Ages. Another reason why Christians participated in pilgrimages was for the relics of worship (654). The relics of the cult were physical remains of dead saints. The objects ranged from sculptures to antiques consisting of spiritual powers such as healing illnesses and answering prayers. Although the church hierarchy usually ignored the idea of ​​cult relics, cult relics had been proven to perform miracles and provide healing powers according to... middle of paper... sometimes fraught with difficulty. Sometimes there may be obstacles, including bad road conditions. On the other hand, bandits used to interrupt the pilgrimage, especially the barbarians. Despite the difficulties, Christians have always appreciated participating in this holy journey to praise their leader. Work Cited Bunyan, John. The pilgrim's journey. New York: Signet Classic, 1981. Print.Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales .Eds. A. Kent and Constance Hieatt. New York: Bantam, 1981. Print.Housley, Norman. “Pilgrimage, Western Europe”. Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Vol.9. Ed. Joseph R, Strayer. New York: Sons of Charles Scribner, 1982. Print.Knight, Judson. Almanac of the Middle Ages. Ed. Judy Galens. Detroit: UXL, 2001. Print.Sumpton, Jonathon. The Age of Pilgrimage: The Medieval Journey to God. Mahwah, NJ: HiddenSpring, 2003. Print.