Calvary from Gottsburen

This is a pilgrim badge depicting Calvary (the site outside Jerusalem where Jesus Christ was crucified) from Gottsburen in Germany. The badge has a shield-shaped frame with a central cross and two kneeling figures at the base, all in openwork. The cross has a central star motif and quatrefoil terminals. There is the inscription ‘INRI’ across the top of the shield-shaped frame (‘INRI’ are the initials of ‘Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum’, meaning ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’). There is a circular element projecting down from the top bar of the outer frame which is decorated with a central pellet and radiating lines. There is some untrimmed excess metal to the right of the upper arm of the cross. The body of the cross and the outer frame has a solid, cross-hatched background. On the back of the badge there are four small rectangular tabs (originally there would have been five) but one is broken and missing. These originally would have secured a thin background, probably in a different material e.g. paper, against the back of the badge. The remote village of Gottsburen in the wooded Reinhardswald region of Germany became a centre of pilgrimage after 1331 when a bleeding host (piece of bread or wafer used in the ceremony of the Eucharist) was found there.