Medieval pilgrim identity was designed to be easily faked for material gain

Evidence

In other cases, identity appropriation was quite clearly not accidental. One of the standard identities in Medieval Europe was the pilgrim, who traveled to this or that sacred place and who was granted free board, room, and entertainment in the monasteries or urban hospices along the way: Naturally, imposters and charlatans abounded to take advantage of the many earthly benefits accorded to genuine pilgrims… . Each had his script and burdon, that is, the wallet for food and the staff, with an iron point at one end and a knob at the other, carried by all pilgrims. But more important, his hooded gown would be covered with badges and brooches to prove he had visited the various shrines… . Aided by a vivid imagination and agile tongue, these rogues poured out lurid stories of the wonders seen on their travels, their well-filled scripts witnessing to the delight, gullibility or simple faith of their hearers. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 290

Categorization

• XREF: Materially parallels how medieval sumptuary/livery systems aimed to make status legible at a glance — and how that legibility is what made fraud possible.
• CANDY: That medieval pilgrims wore badge-covered gowns that charlatans copied wholesale, complete with ‘well-filled scripts,’ is a delightfully specific, tell-at-a-party fact.
• SEED: A piece about how every identity-lending system — pilgrim badges, passport stamps, LinkedIn — simultaneously creates the market for its own forgery.