Going to a specific shrine to see a relic was an important part of pilgrimages, which were journeys that medieval Christians undertook as a form of religious practice. Pilgrimages were dangerous and expensive, but they offered many spiritual benefits. Those who completed a pilgrimage might receive miracles or indulgences, and their previous sins were forgiven. Those who died during pilgrimage—a common occurrence—were guaranteed spiritual security. The city of Limoges, where this reliquary casket was made, was an important stop for French pilgrims on the Way of St. James, a pilgrimage route that led them to the shrine of St. James the Great in Spain. 
  
Some pilgrims took pilgrimages all the way overseas, as the crusaders to Jerusalem did. The first Crusades were not understood to be wars as we understand them now but were instead considered by those who joined them as simply a continuation of a long pilgrimage tradition. These crusaders were given the same blessings and other spiritual benefits that had always been given to pilgrims; the only apparent difference was that they were also armed.