Abstract
In the wide range of printed books on religious topics, a specific role was played by printed pilgrimage manuals, whose main aim was to increase the prestige and fame of pilgrimage sites and strengthen the promotion of worshipped cults among believers. In this study, attention was focused on several such manuals. In this paper, we try to characterise universal manuals, especially ones created by religious orders – Jesuit pilgrimage manuals linked to Marian or non-Marian pilgrimage sites in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Pilgrimage manuals pertaining to pious pilgrimages leading across the border, specifically to the Styrian pilgrimage site of Mariazell, are also discussed.
Keywords: Pilgrimage manuals, Jesuit pilgrimage sites, pilgrimage, Mariazell