Medieval pilgrim badge - Rose
England, 14th-15th century
Dimensions: 30 × 60 mm
In the Middle Ages, the rose was a symbol with an extremely rich and multilayered symbolism, spanning the realms of religion, poetry, mysticism and alchemy.
In the Catholic tradition, the rose was seen as a symbol of the Virgin Mary, representing purity, divine beauty and a spiritual ideal. In the courtly poetry of the troubadours, the rose becomes a metaphor for feminine beauty and love, often in the context of unattainability.
In Guillaume de Lorris 's allegorical novel Roman de la Rose, the flower has two basic levels of meaning: firstly, as a sign of courtly love, the rules of which were firmly established in the 12th-14th centuries, and secondly, as the unattainable Lady, separated from her lover by the strict laws of chivalric devotion - the so-called courtly fief.
Under the influence of Arabic and Persian poetry, which spread to France thanks to the Crusades, trade links and the cultural proximity of Muslim Spain, the rose also acquired the meaning of a search for Truth. In an alchemical context, the rose at the centre of the so-called Garden of Love (Cupid's Garden) becomes a mystical symbol of knowledge. The search for the rose here means the search for lost knowledge, and the plucking of the flower means the attainment of enlightenment.
Many medieval alchemists called their writings "The Rose Bush of the Philosophers " - plucking the rose from this bush symbolized the acquisition of the philosopher's stone and enlightenment of mind and spirit.
The rose-shaped badge could thus serve as a religious artifact, a secular ornament, and an alchemical talisman, referring to the mysterious, hidden Rose in the garden, which was also a symbol of love, beauty, and knowledge.
Based on the book "Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges" by Brian Spencer.
Brass casting. Dimensions: 30 × 60 mm.
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