• Pilgrimages were done to repent and ask for atonement. A debt committed was paid off. In Santiago di Compostela people hoped that their sin(s) would be redeemed.
• You were only allowed to go on a pilgrimage if you were free, i.e. you were allowed to leave your home village, your family (e.g. if you were divorced or you were not a serf)
• Pilgrimage was very dangerous. Not only was the journey very difficult, but dangers from fraudsters and robbers lurked everywhere. Outlaws, murderers, impoverished knights. Therefore, for protection, people only went on pilgrimages in groups. It was particularly dangerous for women, who were often raped. “Set out as a virgin – returned as a pregnant woman”. Pilgrims were under the protection of the king, but this was not important since he was far away. Like trade routes, pilgrimage routes were particularly at risk. In the late Middle Ages there were some communities and places, especially in the Netherlands, that condemned criminals to go on pilgrimage as punishment and penance. This certainly did not make the pilgrimage routes any safer. Today we know that 2/3 of the pilgrims never reached their destination. They perished, gave up, and started a new life along the way.
• In the past, as today, pilgrims carry a scallop shell and the Jacob's walking stick as identification symbols, as well as today a pilgrim's ID card (where people diligently collect stamps as proof that they have walked the pilgrimage route).
Nowadays, only about half of pilgrims walk the Way of St. James purely out of religious conviction. Interest in art history, the search for oneself or simply the sporting challenge are now often motives for people to walk the “Camino”.