Pilgrim's Badge with Becket's Gloves

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Badges and souvenirs of this kind were sold across Europe during the Middle Ages, at sites where saints had been martyred, their relics were housed, and miracles had occurred. Outside of Rome, Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, where the relics of Saint James the Greater were preserved, was the preeminent pilgrimage destination in Europe. Canterbury Cathedral, where Thomas Becket was martyred, was foremost in England. Badges associated with each holy place offered proof that the wearer had made the pilgrimage. The sale of souvenirs was a major source of income for religious foundations. Lead alloy was also used for secular objects including buttons, badges, rings, as well as toys.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

Metropolitan Museum of Art