In the miracles stories attributed to Thomas Becket from c. 1173, there is this request in the long account of a peasant named Eilward, imprisoned for theft, who vows to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land:

"I beg to have the sign of the cross branded on my right shoulder with a hot iron so that no one has the power to strip it from me even though my clothes are stripped away." The priest branded him accordingly, but also suggested that he should devoutly seek the protection of the saints, and especially of the glorious martyr St. Thomas whom the Lord magnified by such glorious signs.

But as far as I know, this kind of branding, along with tattooing, was rarely done, at least as a devotional practice. Somewhat related would be the increase in claims of the stigmata—the physical wounds of Christ “inexplicably” appearing on people’s hands and feet—from the time of Francis of Assissi’s death (1222) onwards, especially among women mystics.

Interestingly enough, Christianity helped the development of tattooing. After pilgrims returned from the holy land they often returned with a tattoo, made by Coptic priests, as proof that they went to the holy land. Most of the tattoos were of crosses, but there were also images of Jesus and St. Peter. The process of tattooing was really painful, but many of the pilgrims agreed to get one.

The tattoo got a new meaning in the era of the Crusade. Knights would get tattoos of crosses as a mark of their religion and pride. It also helped that the tattoo left an indelible mark that could help them be identified when they needed to be buried.

More reliable reports of tattooing date from the period of increased contact with non-European cultures. Sir Martin Frobisher (1535–1595) on May 31, 1577 set out on from Harwich, England with 3 ships and about 120 men to find a north west passage to China and the promise of gold. Frobisher took prisoner a native Inuit man and a woman with a child. The woman had tattoos on her chin and forehead was a great attraction at the court of Elizabeth I. All three died within a month.

In 1691 William Dampier brought to London a native of the western part of New Guinea (now part of Indonesia) who had a tattooed body and became known as the "Painted Prince." The "Prince" went on a reception in the kingdom’s court. He eventually died from smallpox.

Between 1766 and 1779, Captain James Cook made three voyages to the South Pacific, the last trip ending with Cook's death in Hawaii in February 1779. When Cook and his men returned home to Europe from their voyages to Polynesia, they told tales of the 'tattooed savages' they had seen. The word "tattoo" itself comes from the Tahitian tatau, and was introduced into the English language by Cook's expedition.

Cook's Science Officer and Expedition Botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, returned to England with a tattoo. Banks was a highly regarded member of the English aristocracy and had acquired his position with Cook by putting up what was at the time the princely sum of some ten thousand pounds in the expedition. In turn, Cook brought back with him a tattooed Raiatean man, Omai, whom he presented to King George and the English Court. Many of Cook's men, ordinary seamen and sailors, came back with tattoos, a tradition that would soon become associated with men of the sea in the public's mind and the press of the day. In the process sailors and seamen re-introduced the practice of tattooing in Europe and it spread rapidly to seaports around the globe.