Adam was the first pilgrim: after the expulsion from Eden life became exile; within life there is the journey towards salvation. The great time of pilgrimage was the 12-15c, esp. for ordinary people. But even in the 9c monks and kings made pilgrimage to Rome. Indeed, Alfred the Great went twice, in 853 and 855. Then the journey took up to two months. One pilgrim in the early 10c noted 79 stopping-places or pilgrim hostels for overnight stops. Only after the First *Crusade was preached in 1095 did the idea of going further than Rome become widespread. It is important to note that around Jerusalem, in Palestine, and in Egypt, the Saracens and others were very tolerant of early European Christians. So long as fair money was paid for what was required there was little tension. Indeed even when war was waged against them by virtue of their not being Christian, they at first simply laughed at the idea, thinking it absurd to fight for no reason, as they saw it. The Latin used of both pilgrim and crusader was peregrinus. -
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.