New Classicists (Jan 2021)
Revisiting the Anonymous 'Pilgrim' from Bordeaux: Defining Characteristics of Christian Sacred Space and Travel in Early Fourth Century Jerusalem
Abstract
Written in 333, the Itinerarium Burdigalense is often regarded as the first Christian pilgrimage account of the post-Constantinian era and has invited considerable scholarly interest over the past quarter century. The Itinerarium is a crucial witness to Jerusalem in the midst of transformation, as Constantinian churches in and around the city spurred further development of Christian topography and the notion of a Christian 'Holy Land'. Despite its dating, the technical structure and brief annotation found in the Itinerarium has led some to disregard its importance. In contrast, others have praised the work as an inventive adaptation of traditional genre, or as an important example of Christian appropriation in the religious topography of Jerusalem. In this paper, I discuss the Itinerarium Burdigalense and its depiction of religious topography in the early fourth century. Related to this inquiry, I question the semantic qualifications imposed on the author, the land, and the relationship between them through the use of the term, 'pilgrim'. I first situate the Itinerarium within contemporary debates about the defining characteristics 'pilgrimage' and 'sacred space' in spatial and anthropological discourse, as well as in the study of antiquity. As an example, I utilize one approach to sacred space, that of Jonathan Z. Smith, which was designed with the context of fourth-century Jerusalem in mind. Smith considered the interaction between place, story, and ritual as essential components for the composition of sacred space. By analyzing the treatment of places in the Itinerarium, I affirm that the author presented a complex understanding of place and history. However, I observe a lack of evidence for ritualisation, or liturgy. I conclude by challenging the tendency to refer to the author as a 'pilgrim'. However, I also question to which standard the Itinerarium is held in the first place. Within its wider, inclusive definitions, the author was certainly a 'pilgrim'. The author’s observations certainly surpass an arbitrary note of destinations. His/her journey was one of sight and historical interest, though not necessarily of action and ritual. While this complicates Smith’s framework, it is to the pilgrimage accounts of the late fourth century, which paint our assumptions of early Christian pilgrimage and sacred topography, that the Bordeaux pilgrim is most often compared. The Itinerarium Burdigalense, rather than being an account of ‘pilgrimage’ or ‘sacred space’ par excellence, helps to stretch our definitions and assumptions regarding the content and context of Christian pilgrimage.
