THE WAY OF SAINT JAMES.
The name Santiago goes back to the Apostle James (Saint James = Santiago) who went to
this most north-western part of Spain, called by the Romans "Finis Terrae", "end of the world", to
preach
and
convert
people
to
Christianity.
After returning to Palestine in 44 a.C., he was taken prisoner by Herodes Agrippa and
tortured to death. The king forbid to bury him, but in the night Jacob's disciples stole the body and
brought him, in a sarcophagus of marble, on board of a small boat. The current of the sea drove the
boat to the Spanish coast, into the port of the Roman province's capital, Iria Flavia. Here the Apostle
was
buried
at
a
secret
place
in
a
wood.
Centuries later, in 813, the hermit Pelayo listened music in that wood and saw a shining. For
this shining the place was called, in Latin, "Campus Stellae", field of the stars, name that was later
turned
into
Compostela.
King Alfonso II declared Saint James the patron of his kingdom and built a chapel at that
place. It is reported that from then on Saint James did several miracles, even that he fought side to
side
with
the
christians
in
battles
against
the
Moors.
More and more pilgrims followed the way of Santiago, the "Way of Saint James", and the
original chapel soon became the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
A Pilgrimage Route: The earliest records of pilgrims to the shrine dedicated to St. James
at Santiago de Compostela date from the 9th century, in the time of the Kingdom of Asturias. The
pilgrimage to the shrine became the most renowned medieval pilgrimage, and it became customary
for those who returned from Compostela to carry back with them a Galician scallop shell as proof
of their completion of the journey.
The earliest recorded pilgrims from beyond the Pyrenees visited the shrine in the middle of
the 11th century. The earliest records of pilgrims that arrived from England belong to the period
between 1092 and 1105.
One of the great proponents of the pilgrimage in the 12th century was Pope Callixtus II, who
started the Compostelan Holy Years. Four pilgrimage routes originated in France and converge at
Puente la Reina. From there, a route crosses northern Spain.
The daily needs of pilgrims on their way to and from
Compostela were met by a series of hospitals and hospices. These
had royal protection and were a source of revenue. Since the
Christian symbol for James the Greater was the scallop shell,
many pilgrims wore one as a sign to anyone on the road that they
were a pilgrim. This gave them privileges to sleep in churches and
ask for free meals, but also protected them from thieves who
dared not attack devoted pilgrims.
Majority of the pilgrims came from France. French settled
in towns along the pilgrimage route.
Pilgrims walked the Way of St. James, often for months, to arrive at the great church in the
main square of Compostela and pay homage to St. James.
The popular Spanish name for the astronomical Milky Way is El Camino de Santiago.
According to a common medieval legend, the Milky Way was formed from the dust raised by
travelling pilgrims. Compostela itself means "field of stars". Another origin for this popular name is
the Book of Saint James which relates how the saint appeared in a dream to Charlemagne, urging
him to liberate his tomb from the Moors and showing him the direction to follow by the route of the
Milky Way.
ACTIVITIES.
1. Verbs: write down in your notebook verbs in infinitive, past and past participle of
paragraphs number 1 and 3.
2. Who was Santiago?. What happened to his body after his death?.
3. How did they find the tomb of the Apostle in 813?.
4. Describe the picture of the pilgrim.
5. True or false, change false sentences into true:
1. King Alfonso IV made Saint James the patron of his Kingdom.
2. Saint James appeared in a dream to Al Mansur, urging him to liberate his tomb from the
Christians.
3. Six pilgrimage routes originated in France.
4. Majority of the pilgrims came from England.
5. The symbol of the pilgrimage is a mussel shell.