Walking to/with Queen Saint Elizabeth: “Where Your Very Steps Lead Me”

The cult of Queen Saint Elizabeth constitutes one of the most persistent manifestations of popular religiosity in central Portugal, especially in Coimbra. Following her death, popular veneration of this saint rapidly consolidated, later legitimized by her beatification in 1516 and canonization in 1625. This article aims to understand how Elizabethan devotion currently constructs an identity in Coimbra, Portugal. To characterize the pilgrimage and expressions of faith, I observe the biennial festivities, the processional routes, sacrifices, adherence, and generational beliefs in this feminine cult, relating them to the pursuit of health. The article studies the main institutions that regulate devotion in modern times (notably the Confraternity of Queen Saint Elizabeth) and explores some processes of its patrimonialization and touristification. Finally, I also analyze the performativity of rituals and the identity of pilgrims, highlighting how expressions of faith also constitute social, cultural and economic practices. The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews and documentary analysis. The ethnography (still ongoing) on this very Portuguese pilgrimage already reveals points of differentiation and of commonality with other more famous pilgrimages, such as Fátima and Lourdes, while remaining a significant and unique part of the character of popular religiosity and the local identity of Coimbra.