Palmer (pilgrim)

In the Middle Ages, a palmer (Latin: palmarius or palmerius) was a Christian Pilgrim, normally from Western Europe, who had visited the holy places in Palestine and who, as a token of his visits to the Holy Land, brought back a palm leaf or a palm leaf folded into a cross. Palmers were often highly regarded as well natured holy men because of their devotion to Christ along the pilgrimage. (The word is frequently used as synonymous with "pilgrim").^[1]

One of the most prominent literary characters to have been a palmer was Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the title character of the book by Sir Walter Scott.^[2] A palmer also plays a significant role representing Reason in Book II of Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene.^[3]

Notes

1. Chisholm 1911, p. 645.
2. Cummings 2010.
3. Woodhouse 1949.

References

• Cummings, Michael J. (2010) [2004], Ivanhoe, Cummings Study Guide
• Woodhouse, A. S. P. (1949), Nature and Grace in the Faerie Queene, The Johns Hopkins University Press, JSTOR 2871731

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Palmer". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 645.