Bawdy Badges

Although at first sight the badges in this section may seem incredibly rude, they do in fact tell us a great deal about medieval popular belief. For years these badges were commonly and inaccurately called 'brothel' or 'fair' badges, and they received little of the research devoted to their more decent pilgrim badge 'cousins.' Recently, however, they have begun to be researched in some detail, and although much remains to be discovered, they are at last being recognised for the important items that they are.

Essentially, the function of these badges seems to have been apotropaic; that is, items that would, through their obscene imagery, deflect the unwanted attention of the ever present malevolent 'evil eye.' The idea being that the evil eye would be so transfixed by the obscene badge that it would avoid the badge's wearer. The principle of using obscene imagery to deflect evil spirits was well known from Roman times, having been described by Plutarch, and perhaps surprisingly survives to this day in some Buddhist countries. As deflectors of bad luck the badges would, by definition, be bringers of good luck, perhaps more specifically in the search for love or sex!

A close parallel can be found to this day in churches and cathedrals in the form of gargoyles. Although these stone devils and demons may at first sight seem purely decorative, their symbolic function was to ward off other devils and demons and thus protect the sanctity of the Church.

While some of the badges are explicitly sexual, others seem to incorporate a certain amount of humour, and it is difficult not to imagine the medieval badge makers really letting their hair down with the designs of these badges and simply having some fun!