I would like to know what life was for pilgrims that were rich and poor?

I am trying to write a story about a teenage love between a rich pilgrim girl and a poor pilgrim boy. The problem is that I have no clue about those times. Please help!
I would like to know what life was for pilgrims that were rich and poor?
A pilgrim before setting out would normally require the permission of his lord, bishop, or (if he was a monk) his abbot. If his journey was approved, he would be given a letter of recommendation to be carried with him. This document was important for three reasons. First, it verified his purpose as a pious exercise so that he was not mistaken for a wanderer. Secondly, it made him eligible for the privileges to which a pilgrim was entitled, like alms and lodgings. Lastly, it was a crucial symbol of his status as a pilgrim. Under an ordinance of Richard II in 1388, a pilgrim could be arrested if discovered without this letter of testimoniales on his person. This was to discourage the abuse of pilgrimage by adventurers of less than pious motives.





Next, the pilgrim would attend a special consecration ceremony, in which he would be adorned in the recoginsed pilgrim%26#039;s garb. The subject would be blessed along with each article of pilgrimage that would go with the pilgrim. He would hear confession to purge himself of sin before he left. His scrip and staff would be consecrated by being sprinkled with holy water. For those making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, their cloak would be adorned with a red cross at the shoulder.





Pilgrims would often be escorted to outside the city gates or boundary of the village by members of the village, brotherhood or guild. Some guilds had particular rules about the undertaking of pilgrimage by one of their members, so that small donations of money would be made to their cause. The fourteenth-century Guild of the Resurrection, at Lincoln, encouraged its membrs to give at least a halfpenny to the departing pilgrim. some guilds went further by opening houses as lodgings for the poor pious traveller.





for a pilgrim travelling on foot, a substantial walking staff was a reliable companion, serving the duel purpose of support, and, if necessary, defence. In an amusing citation of the use of pilgrim staffs, an unrluly and impatient crowd of pilgrims on St Richard%26#039;s Day in 1487 took to using their staffs on each other. The pilgrim would also carry a scrip, or leather satchel, usually suspended from a belt worn across the body. This would carry provisions and a water bottle, as well as the important pilgrim%26#039;s letter of safe conduct, signed by the lord or the church authorities.





In %26#039;The Canterbury Tales%26#039; Chaucer writes about pilgrims travelling on horseback. Many of these pilgrims are wealthy. Bright coloured clothes were expensive in those days, since the dyes cost a lot of money, and Chaucer%26#039;s Wife of Bath wears hose (stockings) of scalret, the most expensive colour of all.





The pilgrim would have to make sure he took enough money with him to cover the cost of his journey, and he would need enough for offerings and donations to make at the many shrines along the way. Some poor pilgrims made their way by begging, and some were given gifts of money. He did not need health insurance as pilgrims hospitals and monasteries would care for him.





Monasteries were encouraged to accomodate pilgrims on their journeys. Monastic houses offered a kind of open house to all types and classes of pilgrims, including the poor and foreigners. Guests would be fed and given a blessing before they set off again, so that they were spiritually as well as physically rejuvinated by their stay. for those pilgrims requiring medical attention, monasteries also had their own infirmaries within the grounds. the Clunic monasteries are perhaps the best known for their hospitality to the pilgrim.





Pilgrims fortunate enough to find lodgings within the Guesten hall of Christ church Priory, Canterbury, were assured of the hospitality as a result of the statues of Archbishop Winchelsea. These dictated that pilgrim guests should be fed daily with bread and meat. Also, if any should die there, whatever his rank or nationality, he should recieve the privilege of burial within the cathedral grounds. Royal visitors to Canterbury were housed within Saint Augustine%26#039;s Abbey.





Those monastic houses in the vicinity of the larger, more famous shrines, were more likely to receive wealthier pilgrims and those of noble background. Moreover, such guests would be in a position to pay for such charity, while monasteries were obliged to shelter the poor for free.





Naturally, some monastic hostels offered better service to their guests than others. Abbot Agelwy of Evesham Abbey was particularly benevolent in his provision of shelter for the pilgrim and made it a ritual to wash the feet of all who entered.





As the numbers of pilgrims increased, many monasteries struggled to accomodte them, so special guest halls were often erected. This was the case at Worcester Cathedral for example where the remains of the large Guesten Hall can still be viewed in the cathedral%26#039;s grounds.





Within the grounds of Winchester Cathedral, the Pilgrim%26#039;s hall was built during the reign of Edward I (1272-1307). Erected by teh monks of Saint Swithin%26#039;s priory, its function was to receive pilgrims visiting the saint%26#039;s shrine. Later such halls came to be located outside the monastic precincts.





In the 8th and 9th centuries, many more hospices were established in response to increased travel. These received and sheltered the pilgrim as %26#039;hsopes%26#039; or guests. Hospitals were sometimes founded by knightly orders, like the Knights Templar, recognised guardians of the pilgrim and the traveller, as well as poorere brotherhoods and those of wealth and influence.





Conditions within medieval hostels varied greatly. Often word was spread by pilgrims themselves, in the form of guidebooks, as to which were better and what to preapre for. One book relates the following exchange between a traveller and his servant who had been sent ahead to check that there %26quot;be no fleas, nor bugs, nor other vermin.%26quot; His reply came %26quot;No sir...for please God you will be well and comfortably lodged there - except that we suffer much from rats and mice.%26quot; another section reveals something of the other problems encountered. %26quot;Wiliam, undress and wash your legs and then dry them with a towel and rub them well on account of the fleas, that they may not leap on your legs. For there is a mass of them about in the dust under the rushes....%26quot;





Pilgrims would also lodge at inns, which would also vary greatly in quality and provision, but at the least should have been able to offer the guests a bed. Many inns got away with charging expensive board for low-rate accomodation. A letter from John Paston in 1474 relates such an experience at the George Inn in Southwark, which left much to be desired.





In most hostels, guest would sleep on straw-covered floors. With so many pilgrims frequenting the same hostels and sleeping on the same floor, there were no reasurance as to how often fresh straw was laid. In general, beds were prized objects owned by those who could afford them. Surviving medieval wills speak of beds, stuffed mattresses, pillows and sheets. In a few cases, such articles were even left to hostels.





Taverns, for those who could afford them, were known for serving better food and were far more likely to have beds. In these instances you could expect to share a bed with at least one other traveller, although the advantages of this do not need to be stated in colder climates (i.e. it kept you warm). Men and women would often be offered seperate quarters, so that even husbands and wives would sleep apart from each other.





Competition ensued between inns, hostels, and taverns who all vied for supremacy and employed sneaky methods to canvas more customers. many of them hired boys to rush to the gates of the city to greet, kiss and hug the arriving pilgrims and then lead them back to their respective hostelry. In Compostela in Spain, such boys went out wearing or carrying placards that openly advertised their employer%26#039;s tavern or inn.





Many mementos and trinkets were available to the pilgrims as souvenirs. These could be obtained at any of the numerous stalls that were close to the entrance of a shrine in expectation of pilgrim custom. In Canterbury%26#039;s Mercery Lane, anarrow road leading straight to the entry gate of the cathedral precinct, was the place to buy souvenirs. A guidebook to Santiago de Compostella states that the open square outside the cathedral was the place to buy souvenirs as well as necessities.





In the Holy Land since the sixth century, small flasks could be bought by the pilgrims wishing to collect miracle-working water from teh Jordan. However, it was the second half of the twelfth century, with its boom in pilgrimage activity, that saw the beginings of the mass manufacturing of pilgrim souvenirs and badges.





Wherever possible, the pilgrim would endeavour to further substantiate his souvenir by having it blessed at the related shrine, or by bringing it into as close physical contact with the shrine as possible. In this way, it was beleived that a portion of the relic%26#039;s supernatural power would be transmitted to and absorbed by the souvenir.





Important pilgrimage sites often sold souvenir badges that were mostly made of a tin-lead alloy, or brass or clay. They were fitted with a pin or clasp so that the badge could be worn, and the surface was stamped with either a portrait of the saint, a scene from his life or death, or a symbol associated with him.





Badges from the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham portrayed the Virgin, whether it be the statue shown on its own or within an openwork depiction of the Holy House.





Pilgrims wore these badges with pride, attaching them to their broad brimmed hats. As well as serving as souvenirs, the badges assured the weare%26#039;s status and credentials as a pilgrim and offered visible authentication of his journeys. For some it seems there was also an element of competitiveness.