-Caveat Lector-
Turn of Y1K Stirred Pilgrimage
By DINA KRAFT
.c The Associated Press
JERUSALEM (AP) - The sign of the cross emblazoned on their robes, weary
pilgrims slowly wound their way by foot up the rocky path to Jerusalem - some
seeking salvation and others hoping to witness the Second Coming of Christ.
Those tenacious enough to make the long journey from Europe to the holy city
around the year 1000 found a small, dusty Muslim-ruled backwater with low
buildings, water cisterns and wide streets.
The city's holy sites, most notably the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where
tradition says Jesus was crucified and buried, fired the imagination of
European Christendom.
``From all over the world, an innumerable crowd began to flock to the
Sepulcher of the Savior in Jerusalem, in greater numbers than anyone thought
possible,'' French historian Radulfus Glaber wrote in 1044.
The milestone date 1000 lacked the hype of its media-slick successor 2000,
but historians say it also generated apocalyptic fears and hopes for
redemption.
Some scholars say Europe was engulfed in great fear that the ``Last
Judgment'' was at hand, sending people into a tailspin of panic so severe
that even natural occurrences like a thunderstorm or eclipse were thought to
portend the end of the world.
``I think that unquestionably big things were expected to happen,'' said
Richard Landes, who heads the Center for Millennium Studies at Boston
University.
In some parts of Europe, the millennial mood inspired social change.
In France, a grassroots movement that embraced the more upbeat view of the
millennium led to the emergence of peace councils across the French
countryside.
War-weary peasants would gather in the fields raising their palms skyward
chanting, ``Peace, Peace.'' Cheering crowds of commoners forced local
aristocrats to swear they would not attack unarmed people.
``This was a boon to economic activity because now you could travel on the
road without being beaten up,'' Landes said.
The year 1000 also brought an emotional surge of enthusiasm for Christianity,
making the continent truly Christian for the first time.
For most people the turn of the first millennium was probably a time like any
other, said British historian Norman Cohen.
Only monks and priests were literate in those days, he said, and uneducated
peasants probably would not have understood a calendar.
Furthermore, the church would not have encouraged beliefs that the end of the
world was near. Peasants who believe the ``Last Judgment'' is at hand don't
necessarily plant crops, church leaders would have reasoned, according to
Cohen.
Believers made the arduous journey to Jerusalem, traveling by sea or overland
in well-guarded caravans. Some rode on the backs of mules or camels. The
wealthy noblemen came on horseback.
The path could be dangerous, with nomad bandits hiding under the cover of
boulders and caves. It was strewn with bodies of unlucky pilgrims who never
got to reach their destination.
``Some may perhaps wonder that the bodies of Christians should lie there
unburied,'' the English pilgrim Seawolf wrote in 1102. ``But who would be so
foolish as to leave his party, and as it were alone, dig a grave for his
companion? If he did so, he would be making ready a grave for himself rather
than for his companion.
Israeli archaeologist Dan Bahat said pilgrims found lodging at one of two
Christian hostels located near the Holy Sepulcher. Tended to by Italian
monks, the poor slept on the floor and ate food paid for by charity. The
wealthy had wooden beds and paid for their own meals.
The Christian visitors were viewed as welcome guests by their Fatimid Muslim
hosts through most of their 130-year rule in Palestine. The pilgrims were
considered an economic asset to the city.
The reign of Caliph al-Hakim from 996 to 1020 marked a departure from the
Fatimid policy of tolerance.
Enraged by the influx of ``infidels,'' the Caliph, from his throne in Egypt,
ordered in 1010 the destruction of the focus of pilgrimage - the Holy
Sepulcher.
Outrage in the West over news of the razing of a sacred Christian site and
the mistreatment of pilgrims contributed in part to the launching of the
Crusades at the end of the century, historians say.
As present-day Jerusalem gears up for an expected flood of pilgrims for the
year 2000, the legacy of the year 1000 can serve as a reminder of the good
and bad that come from millennial expectation.
``Millennial enthusiasm can lead to peace and war,'' Landes said,
``Millennial energy can go both ways. We ignore it at our peril.''
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