Noblemen in combat

19-03-2016. Erica, pilgrim 462.

In café de Tabaksplant in Afferden I get this booklet and the camera pressed into my hands. Because I accept it, I get my tea for free! Well, what am I going to do with that? I walk from Tabaksplant onto the Waalbandijk and there is an old cross with a beautiful background. It’s not just the cross that’s beautiful. What an accompanying story: ‘In 1542 a Franciscan priest went to the castle of Druten to administer the last sacrament to a dying castle inhabitant. When he walked on the Waalbandijk, he saw two noblemen dueling. He tried to make peace between the ruffs and jumped between them. In the process, the priest was unluckily hit and killed. Frightened, the nobles gave up their fighting, and in remorse they buried the unfortunate man on the dike. The story goes that they then entered the monastery to atone for their sins. Afterwards, a stone cross was placed on the site of the grave. That cross has survived all the centuries of floods and dike improvements.”

Inspired by the website ditgeeftzin.nl , a route camera is circulating on which pilgrims can leave one photo of a place or situation that symbolizes something important to them, e.g. a theme or feeling. Read more.