Metal detectorist stumbles upon rare medieval pilgrim badge

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A metallic detectorist in southeastern Poland lately unearthed a Christian pilgrim badge from the Middle Ages, state officers say.

The badge was discovered within the village of Wólka Nieliska, lower than 50 miles southeast of Lublin, in accordance with the Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments (WKZ).

The pendant, produced from lead and alloy, has a diameter of round 2.8 centimeters and is 1 millimeter thick.

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In a Facebook submit that was translated to English, the WKZ mentioned that the badge “features a dragon enclosed in a circle.”

Split image of front and back of pilgrim badge

A medieval pilgrim’s badge was discovered within the village of Wólka Nieliska, lower than 50 miles southeast of Lublin, Poland. (Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments through Facebook)

Archaeologist Thomsz Murzyński instructed Fox News Digital that the artifact was given to him by an nameless metallic detectorist. Murzyński then handed the badge over to the federal government.  

Medieval pilgrims wore badges for quite a lot of causes: not solely did they consider it may shield them from illness and hazard, but it surely additionally marked them as Christian vacationers as they journeyed by way of unfamiliar territories. 

“Such badges served as a kind of talisman, intended to provide the person wearing it with success in the journey and to protect such a person from all kinds of ‘evil,’ i.e. assault, theft, diseases and other random accidents,” the WKZ described.

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Split image of close-ups of pilgrim badge

The badge is produced from lead and alloy and has a diameter of round 2.8 centimeters. (Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments through Facebook)

“They have been additionally a method to distinguish your self and manifest your vacation spot.”

Travelers may additionally buy the badges as souvenirs at pilgrimage websites, which many did as a commemoration of their journeys. According to the WKZ, not many medieval badges have been present in Poland.

The badges date again to the early Middle Ages and gained reputation within the twelfth century after Thomas Becket’s loss of life impressed mass pilgrimages to Canterbury Cathedral. Pilgrim badges fell out of favor by the sixteenth century.

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Medieval depiction of pilgrim journey

A thirteenth century Spanish miniature of a poor man and a pilgrim receiving hospitality at a monastery. (Photo12/Universal Images Group through Getty Images)

According to the WKZ, the badges may depict something from unique animals to Christian symbols.

“They had various forms and shapes – spiral, square, in the form of cross, shells, rings, shield,” the Facebook submit learn. “They featured figures of saints, knights, human heads and chests, as well as zoomorphic figures (birds, animals, dragons).”

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Wide image of pilgrim badge

Archaeologists say that related medieval pilgrim’s badges are onerous to search out in Poland. (Lublin Provincial Conservator of Monuments through Facebook)

Fox News Digital reached out to the WKZ for remark. 

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