15th century

Pilgrim Badge with the "Rood of Grace" from Boxley Abbey, Kent

Wearable souvenirs such as this badge were produced at religious sites for sale to pilgrims. They were collected as mementoes, as signs of the bearer’s piety, and for their talismanic properties. This badge represents the Rood of Grace, an infamous cross once housed by Boxley Abbey, which is located along the pilgrimage route to Canterbury. Canterbury Cathedral in England was a popular pilgrimage destination and site of the famous shrine to Saint Thomas Becket. The Boxley cross attracted pilgrims because the figure of Christ would move and change expression before its viewers. When it was discovered that the miracle-working cross was controlled by hidden wires, it was exposed as fraudulent, torn to pieces, and burnt in London in 1538.