What were the reasons for pilgrims going?

Answer 1

In large part; People who had reason to feel oppressed were the Pilgrims.

Oppressed by the King/Queen, oppressed by the Church, oppressed by the Central Bank, oppressed by "Taxation without representation", oppressed by the Trade Laws.

Others, would have been those who were looking for opportunities; like Business and Land Ownership, or the "The Next Best Thing" Free Spirit types.

Answer 2

The Canterbury Tales is about a group of people who are pilgrims. They are travelling on a journey to an important religious site. In the Middle Ages, many Christian people went on pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela and Canterbury. Canterbury Cathedral was a famous pilgrimage site because it contained the shrine (a place for remembering) of Saint Thomas Becket. Thomas Becket had been the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1100s. He had an argument with his old friend, King Henry II, and in 1170 he was murdered by some supporters of the king. The King felt very sad and guilty. He had a magnificent tomb built for his old friend. People began to visit the tomb. Soon, some people said that Thomas Becket was a saint, and that his bones could work miracles. He is regarded as a martyr for the Christian faith and as a saint by both the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. In the late Middle Ages his shrine made Canterbury one of the four most important pilgrimage places in Europe.

Many pilgrims used to meet together in London. The Canterbury Tales tells of the meeting of a group at an inn in Southwark, which was a village south of the Thames River and now making up part of London. This was a good place to meet because people from the north could cross the Thames River by London Bridge. Canterbury is in the south-east of England. A reason why pilgrims used to gather in groups was that it was dangerous to travel alone. In the days before modern banking, every traveller had to carry a lot of money to pay for food and accommodation (a place to sleep). Robbers often attacked people along the roads.

When pilgrims gathered in a group, the group could be made up of many different kinds of people, both rich and poor, noble and humble. The groups often contained a number of religious people such as priests, monks and nuns. In Chaucer's story, the most noble person is a knight. Among the more ordinary people are a cook, a sailor and a farmer.

Answer 3

People who are pilgrims are people that are going on a spiritual journeys, a pilgrimage.

Answer 4

Pilgrims are people who leave their home to find religious freedom. Pilgrims would be people who are not allowed to openly practice their religion in their current home.

Answer 5

Pilgrims of any religion in the world , have changed their ways and have become religious so they go on pilgrimages to shrines.