The University  of Arizona's Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies, with St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church, presents Summer Lecture Series 2009: "Pilgrimage."

Paul Buehler, a Ph.D. student, will discuss "Roma Caput Mundi: Pilgrimage to Rome in the Middle Ages"

This year's Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies' speakers will take us back in time to the Middle Ages and lead us to four pilgrimage sites that were very significant for European Christianity: The Holy Land, Rome, Canterbury and Santiago de Compostela. We will imagine the pilgrims' journeys and listen in on their social interactions. We will hear of sites that memorialize Christ's life, a major saint's life, a great miracle or divine appearance, and we will learn of the rituals that evolved in association with each place. The lectures will probe the motives of pilgrims. Did they originate in piety, penance for a sin committed, the fulfillment of a vow and/or the search for a miraculous cure?

Two more lectures will take place on Aug. 9 and Aug. 16.