shrines. These pilgrimage centres, claiming to house either relics of Jesus' life or of the saints or statues of the Virgin Mary, to be visited either for more effective prayer, to obtain indulgences, or for healing, were a central element in medieval life. England could not emulate Jerusalem, the ultimate place of pilgrimage, Rome with its multitude of relics, or Compostella. Nevertheless, like other countries, England had shrines of great popularity, journeys to which were less arduous and expensive. Relics of Jesus' life were sparse indeed in England, though Bromholm priory (Norfolk), Waltham and Reading abbeys, and Canterbury all claimed to possess fragments of the True Cross. Canterbury's vast collection also included thorns from the Crown of Thorns and part of Jesus' seamless robe, while Reading had St James's hand and Glastonbury Joseph of Arimathea's Holy Thorn. Shrines of saints' mortal remains were almost as potent. Before 1066 the most popular included Durham (St Cuthbert), St Albans, and Bury (St Edmund), which all faded in the late 12th cent. before the brighter light of Westminster (St Edward), Worcester (St Wulfstan), and—by far the most popular—Canterbury (St Thomas Becket). Miracles also occurred at the tombs of the less worthy— Simon de Montfort, Thomas of Lancaster, Archbishop Richard Scrope of York, all opponents of kings—and of kings themselves, Edward II and Henry VI. In late medieval England as elsewhere, as devotion to the Virgin Mary intensified, her shrines at Westminster, Doncaster, Ipswich, and above all at Walsingham grew in importance. The last was much patronized and frequently visited by Henry III, Edward I, and their successors, so that by the Reformation it attracted offerings that surpassed even those at Canterbury. Late medieval shrines, encrusted with jewels, were an easy prey for reformers and for the covetous eyes of the crown.

Revd Dr William M. Marshall

shrine / shrīn/ • n. a place regarded as holy because of its associations with a divinity or a sacred person or relic, typically marked by a building or other construction. ∎  a place associated with or containing memorabilia of a particular revered person or thing: her grave has become a shrine for fans from all over the world. ∎  a casket containing sacred relics; a reliquary. ∎  a niche or enclosure containing a religious statue or other object. • v. [tr.] poetic/lit. enshrine.

shrine †box, chest; repository for a saint's relics OE.; casket for a dead body, tomb XIV; temple, church XVII. OE. sċrīn = MLG. schrīn, MDu. schrīne (Du. schrijn), OHG. scrīni (G. schrein). ON. skrín; Gmc. — L. scrīnium case or chest for books or papers.

shrine.
1. Fereter, often of great architectural magnificence, for Relics.

2. Building, feretory, or shrine-chapel in which the Relics are deposited.

shrine: see pilgrim.

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