02Knights Templar - Julian Emperor

SAINTS
tance and significance as a focus for pilgrimage. It became a
popular destination for Christians who would travel first to
Shrewsbury to pray at the shrine of StWinifride and then continue
on to Holywell in Clywd, North Wales, another site
linked to theWelsh saint. It became such an important shrine
that, in 1416, Henry V travelled on foot from Shrewsbury to
Holywell. King Edward IV is another English monarch who is
also said to have taken this important journey.
Today, as in the past, saints continue to fascinate, inspire
and appal us.Their lives and actions have become part of the
fabric of society from place names to significant dates in the
ritual and secular year.Whilst they continue to serve as an important
focus for religious belief, their influence has also permeated
into all levels of popular culture. One answer as to
why this is so may be because they tap into enduring concerns
and mythic cycles that resonate as much with people today as
they did in the ancient and medieval worlds.
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