Son of Zebedee, elder brother of St. John the Evangelist and a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, St. James the Greater was one of Christ's first apostles. After the Crucifixion, he set off to preach the Gospel, possibly in the Iberian peninsula.
As regards this, there is a controversy between historians as to the reality of his missionary work in Spain. His presence as the evangelist of the Iberian peninsula is in fact mentioned very late : about the year 400 by St. Jerome, then around 650 in some Byzantine texts. Furthermore, the legend of his Translation only dates from around 850-900.
St. James subsequently returned to Jerusalem where he was beheaded in about the year 44, on the orders of King Herod Agrippa.
Our knowledge of his life is somewhat tenuous : he is only mentioned 17 times in the Bible. Since the end of the 19th C., some historians have cast doubt on his evangelising presence in Spain and on the existence of his tomb in Galicia.
In the absence of real information about the life of St. James the Greater, many legends have grown up to fill the void.
Whilst St. James was preaching the Gospel in Judaea, the magician Hermogenes was given the task of turning the apostle away from his faith. He therefore sent one of his young acolytes, Philetus, to join the saint. But the young man returned as a convert to Christianity. In an access of rage, Hermogenes put a spell of paralysis on him. Informed of this evil deed, St. James hastened to release Philetus, which he did thanks to a miraculous shroud. Hermogenes then called up an army of demons, whom he ordered to bring James and Philetus back to him. But Divine power protected the apostle, who reversed the spell, and it was Hermogenes who, prisoner of his own demons, appeared before James. The magician then recognised the superiority of his adversary and, equipped with the stick which the apostle gave him to protect him from the forces of evil, ran to fetch his books of spells in order to burn them. Then, such an unbearable stink arose from the burning that Hermogenes threw the rest of his books into the sea. This legend goes back to the late 3rd century.
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| Stained glass window in the cathedral of St. Stephen in Bourges |
After his execution, the disciples of St. James placed his body in a boat of stone which, a few days later, guided by the Divine hand, came ashore on the Galician coast. This story was no doubt spread around from the middle of the 9th C. onwards.
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| Fresco in the church of Our Lady du Bourg in Rabastens©jjgelbart_acir |
The hermit Pelagius was told one evening by angels of the presence of the tomb of St. James the Greater not far from his hermitage. Almost simultaneously, the faithful in the nearby church of St. Fiz de Lovio saw a celestial light indicating a precise spot. The bishop of the diocese, Theodimir, informed of the event, ordered a search to be carried out. This revealed the tomb, hidden beneath a thick tangle of brambles growing over some arches made of marble.
One night, St. James appeared to Charlemagne in a dream. He asked the Emperor to raise an army and set out for Galicia in order to find his tomb and deliver it from the domination of the Moors. To help him do this, he showed him a path of stars traced across the sky. Thus the St. James' Way became the manifestation on Earth of the Milky Way. Nowadays, historians date the story of Charlemagne's campaign to the years 1090-1100 and place its origins in the Compostela Cathedral school.
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| Representation of the Dream of Charlemagne at the Hastingues motorway service station |
As of 711, the Moors invaded and took over the Iberian peninsula. In the context of the Reconquista, the apostle James was venerated as the protector of the Spanish kings and the people. In 844, the Asturian king Ramire I, about to face the Moors at Clavijo, had a dream in which he saw St. James who assured him of his protection. The next day, mounted on a shining white charger, the apostle appeared and gave the victory to the Christians. To thank him, the king vowed that henceforth all Spanish people should pay a tax to the Church of the apostle. The story of the "battle of Clavijo" was invented around 1170 by a canon of Compostela and brought his Church a regular income ; the tradition of the "vows of St. James" is perpetuated every year by the "royal offering" made on 25th July in Compostela.
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| Stained-glass window in the Church of Our Lady en Vaux in Châlons-en-Champagne©jjgelbart_acir |
A father and son, on the way to Santiago de Compostela, stopped in Toulouse for the night. Whilst they were asleep, the greedy hotel-keeper concealed a silver cup in their bags, then accused them of theft the next morning. Their possessions were awarded to the hotel-keeper, and the son was hung. In spite of all this, the father continued his pilgrimage, and, on the way back, returned to retrieve the body of his son. Now, the latter, sustained by St. James, was still alive. So the pilgrim was then taken down from the gallows and the hotel-keeper hung instead. Aymeri Picaud, in Book V of the Codex Calixtinus (12th C.) and Jacques de Voragine, in his 13th C. "Légende Dorée" (Golden Legend) both tell this version of the story. It was not until the 14th C. that the miracle was transferred to Spain, to Santo Domingo de la Calzada, where the tradition has become firmly anchored. The legend was then augmented by a further episode : after having discovered his son alive, the pilgrim goes to tell the judge, who was busy with his lunch. The judge laughed in his face, saying that he'd certainly believe him if the cock that was roasting over the fire started crowing. This miracle then happened. At the end of the 15th C., a variation of the early legend appeared, in which a servant who had been dismissed trapped a young pilgrim travelling with his parents. In French iconography, this is the theme which was preferred.
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The image of him as an Apostle, less frequently seen than that of the pilgrim, is nevertheless very popular. He is represented as an apostle among the others, almost anonymous. He is represented in all the series showing the twelve Apostles and can be recognised by his bare feet, the book, the scroll or the sword of his martyrdom which he holds in his hand, and sometimes by an identifying inscription.
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| In the Basilica of St. Sernin in Toulouse©jjgelbart_acir | Illumination in the Codex Calixtinus |
The most traditional image, which made its appearance in the 12th C., is that of the pilgrim. In this case, he is shown clothed in a long cloak, with a wide-brimmed hat decorated with a cockle shell (the most frequently-occurring attribute from the 12th C. onwards, representing the accomplishment of the pilgrimage and rewarding arrival in Compostela), and carrying a bag (for bread and provisions) and a staff. This staff served as a weapon against dangers, to knock fruit off trees, and as a support when walking.
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| On the porch of the Church of Our Lady of Tramesaygues in Audressein©jjgelbart_acir | On a carved capital |
The image of the warrior, or "matamore" began to spread around from the 16th C. onwards. Barring a few exceptions, it was confined to the Hispanic world : Spain, Latin America, southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia, and the Holy Roman empire. A young warrior riding a white steed, or a bearded old man firmly seated on his mount, he is shown with sword held high, fighting the enemies of Christianity : the Turks (Ottomans), heretics (Protestants), and pagans (in the New World). He symbolises the combat that the faithful must pursue in defence of his/her faith.
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Current research suggests that the tomb of St. James was probably discovered during Théodomir's time as Bishop, therefore after 818 and before 847.
The news of the discovery of St. James' tomb spread very quickly, even in the absence of the story of the circumstances surrounding it. To attract ever more pilgrims to come via a land route, the King of Castile created a "Way" which, for the most part, follows the line of the old Roman road. Opened up in the 1070's, this itinerary was described at some time between 1125-1130 ("The Santiago de Compostela Pilgrim's Guide"), and copied in the Codex Calixtinus thirty years later. The extent and importance of the pilgrimage then incited large, foreign monastic foundations, such as Cluny, to seek to set up establishments along this "Way of the Franks" or "Camino Francés".
Between 1070 and 1170, Santiago de Compostela provided itself with a new church (which could hold more than 2500 people) and with texts which laid the spiritual foundations of the pilgrimage and related its history. Amongst these texts is the "History of Turpin", which was produced in the cathedral school around 1090-1100 and attributes the discovery of the tomb and the creation of the "French Way" to Charlemagne. This entirely fictitious story was intended to convince the Pope of the truth of the presence of St. James' body in Galicia. In 1164, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa made use of it to get Charlemagne canonised.
The widespread nature of the cult of St. James generated a strong, sustained veneration, the traces of which are still frequently visible today in many places. However, the presence of the cult of St. James, or references to him, in a given place does not necessarily mean that it was a pilgrimage destination, or somewhere which pilgrims passed through. This presence simply bears witness to the widespread devotion to this popular, well-known saint, whose image spread out over much of the Christian world.
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| The Abbey of Saint Peter in Moissac, a daughter-house of Cluny©jjgelbart_acir |
From the 10th C. onwards, the first foreign pilgrims began to arrive in Compostela. Very few sources exist for this subject, but one reliable piece of information has come down to us : the first known foreign pilgrim was Godescalc, Bishop of Puy en Velay. Between 950 and 951, he made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela on horseback, accompanied by a large train of followers. On his return, he had the church of Saint Michel d'Aiguilhe built, which was consecrated in 962. NB : Godescalc is certainly the first known foreign pilgrim to have visited Compostela, but he is probably not the very first foreign pilgrim ever to have paid his respects at the tomb of the apostle. The names of earlier foreign pilgrims could easily have disappeared in the twists and turns of History...
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| Saint Michel Aiguilhe©jjgelbart_acir |
St. James was so popular that churches and chapels dedicated to him sprang up all over Europe. But not necessarily as halts for pilgrims on their way, as is too often believed ! They are so many traces of the devotion of the people, who placed themselves under the protection of this "son of thunder". Religious societies, statues, paintings and stained-glass evoke his life and miracles. His cult was taken to the Americas by the Conquistadores. Thus he is the holy protector of Spain, but also of Nicaragua and Guatemala.
A powerful intercessor, considered as a great magician, in the Middle Ages St. James was the patron saint of pilgrims. Capable of curing many ills, notably spiritual ones, his protection was also often invoked either at the approach of danger or before undertaking a journey. By extension, and because in mediaeval times pilgrimage was a prefiguration of salvation and a symbol of the journey of life towards its end, St. James was also venerated for the help he could bring at the hour of death. He became the guide to follow along the road of the last great pilgrimage towards Paradise.
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| ©apha |
The notion of "St. James heritage" is somewhat artificial. It refers to things connected with the devotion to St. James or to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
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| Carved capital in the Abbey of Fontcaude©amisabbayedefontcaude | Door latch |
Relics played a major rôle in pilgrimage in mediaeval times. It was a time when medicine was ineffective and the only source of help was to be found in God. The preoccupation with Salvation after death governed one's whole existence. Relics prolonged in this world the beneficial influence of the saints, humanity's friends and intercessors with God.
It was thanks to relics, by getting close to them or venerating them, that pilgrims were able to obtain the grace which they had set out to seek. And the more relics they visited, the more they increased their chances of winning the favours of Heaven.
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| Reliquary A of Charlemagne, Conques Treasury©jjgelbart_acir | Reliquary, Conques Treasury©jjgelbart_acir | Reliquary, Moissac©jjgelbart_acir |
The veneration of relics guaranteed the prosperity of sanctuaries, which benefited from the offerings of numerous pilgrims. What is more, canon law required that a church or an altar dedicated to a particular saint should possess relics of that saint. So, even though the simplest way of obtaining relics was to bring them back, little by little, from Rome, an inexhaustible reservoir of holy bodies, they were nevertheless always bought and sold, trafficked and stolen, just like any item liable to be worth a lot of money.
The Middle Ages generated a flourishing trade in relics, to the extent that there are apparently 10 skulls of John the Baptist, 18 arms of the Apostle James, and a score of skeletons of St. George. The mediaeval mindset paid no attention to these discrepancies, because this multiplicity of relics effectively met a real need.
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| Reliquary of St. James in Asquins©jjgelbart_acir | Reliquary, Neuvy-Saint-Sépulchre©jjgelbart_acir | Reliquary, Toulouse©jjgelbart_acir |
