Medieval 'Thames' St Catherine's Wheel Pilgrim's Badge 14th century A.D. A complex pewter pilgrim's or follower's badge showing the spiked wheel of St Catherine within an arched trellis frame and foliage. See Spencer, Brian, Medieval Finds from Excavations in London - Pilgrim Souvenirs and Secular Badges, Museum of London, 2010, pp.179-180, for information; see Mitchiner, Michael, Pilgrim and Secular Badges, Hawkins, 1986, pp.185-186, for information. 2.81 grams, 41 mm (1 5/8 in.). Found on the Thames foreshore, London, UK. Acquired on the UK antiques market between 1974-1985. Albert Ward collection (part 4), Essex, UK. St Catherine of Alexandria was a very popular saint and her badges almost always depict the wheel upon which she was tortured before being executed in the 4th century A.D.; to be 'broken on the wheel' was to be tied across a large wheel with arms and legs spread out and then to have the limbs broken with bars or hammers; this was often the prelude to execution. It has been suggested that that the Hospital of St Katherine by the Tower could have been a place of pilgrimage and hospital inmates were apparently required to wear 'signs of St Catherine' upon their robes. [No Reserve]