Not to Santiago - Santiago: the history, the myth and Cluny

The intermezzo below is taken from De weg naar Santiago de Compostela: Analyse van verhalende bronnen als graadmeter voor een gemeenschappelijk gedachtegoed, Annick Plancke, 2002, Universiteit van Gent, Faculteit der Letteren. Text has been copied, adjusted and shortened. Insertions about the untruthfulness of the apostel in Spain are of my own

See also: Xavier Barral I Altet, Compostelle Le grand chemin, Découvertes Gallimard Religions, 1993 en 2002.

See also the linkpage.

Intermezzo: Saint-Jacques (appears in the first voyage in Le Puy en Velay)

Who is this Saint-Jacques, the blessed James, who so many people are following? Walking towards? As with all stories of saints, it is a mixture of truth and lies. Disentangling them is difficult.

The story is a product of the combination of church and state. Of worldly wishes and divine desires. Of secular integrity and religious distortion.

All this leading to the lie.

James and his younger brother John were the sons of the Galilean fisherman, Zebedee. They were recruited by Christ as apostles. Christ gave them the surname, Sons of Thunder (Mark 3: 7-19). The name comes from the episode where they went to Jerusalem with Christ. When the brothers were unable to find shelter in a Samaritan village, they suggested to the Master to 'let the fire from the heavens descend on these inhospitable people' (Luke 9: 51-56). Both brothers also had a problem with the other ten apostles when their mother, Mary Salome, asked for a place for them in the messiah's future kingdom. Together with Peter, they formed a privileged group within the community of the apostles. They were present at the transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor and they were also witnesses to Jesus' fear of death in the Garden of Gethsemane.

After Jesus' ascent to heaven, James stayed in Jerusalem with the other apostles and disciples. He seems to have stayed in town during the first persecutions, just like the other apostles. As an apocryphal source reports, he probably preached the gospel in Judea and Samaria. In the year 43 or 44, Herod Agrippa had some members of the church imprisoned and James was condemned to death by the sword. So, of all the apostles, it was James who became the first martyr for the Lord. He must have been middle-aged at the time of his execution and this is how he is usually depicted in the iconography.

So far there is no connection between the apostle James and Spain. This connection first appears in the 7th century in a Latin version of the history of the apostles, Brevarium Apostolorum: 'He [James] preached in the west of Spain; he died by the sword of Herod and was buried in Achaia Marmorica'. This last name becomes in later versions of the legend 'Arc Marmorica'. It is a place name, indicating the presence of an ancient cemetery. This led to a search for the grave of the apostle in an old Roman cemetery in a place that was later called Compostela. The report of James' preaching in the west of the Iberian Peninsula is current in Spain from the 8th century. It can be found in a liturgical hymn, composed in North-West Spain by the monk, Beatus of Liebana.

The hymn, in the honour of King Mauregatus of Asturias (783-788), provides more evidence on dating and also suggests a link between James and the struggle against the advance of Islam. In this hymn the apostle is called tutor, or 'protector', and patronus vernulus, 'national defender', of Spain. These two elements return explicitly in the later Jacobite tradition.

The young Asturian church eagerly seized on this version of the legend as a defence against the heresy of Adoptianism and against Islam, both of which were threatening to overwhelm it. In this way the Asturian church was able to link its origins to an apostle of Christ. Other big churches like those of Rome and Alexandria were its example. The ground had been prepared for the discovery of what was thought to be the grave of James in Galicia.

The most likely burial place of St James the Greater is the Mount of Olives. Antonius of Piacenza noted this when he travelled in the Holy Land around 570. The Mount of Olives is also named as the burial place of James the Greater in an early 8th century text from the monastery of Nonantola in Northern Italy. A century later when Ado of Vienna (± 804-875) wrote his chronicle, he had no doubts about this either. But the legend developed a life of its own in Spain.

We are told about the discovery of James' grave in the Concordia de Antealtares (1077) and the Historia Compostelana (early 12th Century). A hermit, Pelagius, is told in a dream about the place where the mortal remains of the apostle are to be found. Bishop Theodomirus of Iria Flavia (813-818) gave orders to investigate the old Roman cemetery at Compostela. The body of the apostle was discovered in a Roman mausoleum. The place was indicated by a bright star, which was why the place became known as Compostela, the name used since 1056.

In the Compostelan tradition, the finding of James' grave is presented as a rediscovery. After two centuries of neglect, the precise original location had been forgotten. An altar was erected on his grave and the Asturian king, Alphons II, built the first church. In the second part of the 9th Century Alphons III replaced this with a larger complex consisting of three churches. In 997 this was destroyed by punitive expeditions of the Moorish Caliph, Al Mansur. These expeditions were directed against the large religious centres of Leon and Castile and the sanctuaries of Santiago de Compostela and of San Millán de la Cogolla.

These centres were seen as important expressions of identity by another non-Arabic, non-Muslim group. And as such they formed a threat. In much the same way as the Western church saw all other expressions as a threat.

Alongside the discovery of the grave, a belief developed concerning the transfer or translatio of the apostle's body to Galicia.

The story is included in the third book of the Liber Sancti Jacobi, the Codex Calixtinus. This book focuses on the evangelisation of Spain by James and for the larger part also on the transfer of his body, the TranslaÂtio Sancti Jacobi. The whole hagiography of Jacob is laid out. His vita - the life of the saint, inventio - the rediscovery of the body, elevatio - the raising, translatio - the transport and miracula - the miracles.

This Jacobite lore appeared not only in the Book of Saint James, but also with some variations in several other liturgical scripts, including works by Honorius of Autun (died 1152) and John Beleth (died 1182), and in the Speculum historiale of Vincentius of Beauvais (± 1190 - ± 1264). From the Speculum historiale the story was copied around 1285 by Jacob van Maerlant (± 1235 - 1300) as part of his Spieghel Historieal, as a result of which the legend of James became known in the Netherlands. Via John Beleth it came into the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine (± 1228 - 1298) one of the most widely read and translated works of the Middle Ages.

In this way, step by step, the legend came into being that James the Greater, brother of John, son of Zebedee, preached the gospel in Spain after the first Whitsuntide. He returned to Jerusalem where he was decapitated. Finally his followers brought his body to Galicia where he was buried.

This, of course, is not true.

But it is what many still believe.

Following the discovery around 817 of St James' grave, several routes developed for pilgrims going to Compostela. It is hard to trace when the first pilgrims came to James' grave. There is no readily available chronological overview of the pilgrimage to Santiago. The first information we have about the pilgrimage is from the 10th Century.

The first foreign pilgrim for which there is documentary evidence is Godescalc, bishop of Le Puy. There is only an indirect reference to his journey in documents belonging to the monastery of San Martin de Albelda in Rioja, which he visited on his way back. His visit to Compostela took place around 950.

Some years later, around 959, Abbot Caesarius of Montserrat visited Compostela. He wanted to use the apostolic power of the church of Saint James to re-establish the standing of the Tarragonese church. This indicates that the bishopric of Iria Flavia had slowly required an apostolic status and that outsiders, like Caesarius, accepted this. The bishops of Iria Flavia gave themselves the status of 'Bishop of the Apostolic Chair', just like the popes of Rome did. The popes did not like this. Relations between Rome and Compostela were not of the best.

We know that a third pilgrim, Raymond of Rouergue, was killed in 961 en route to Compostela.

To help develop the route, several pilgrim houses were established along the way. Pilgrims went on pilgrimage for various reasons: for individual devotions; because they were delegated, sent by pious communities or by a city; or as a judicial penance. Pilgrimages in general were a very special external form of religious expression. Not just in the medieval Christian world but also in other religions.

The raids on Compostela in 997 by Al Mansur destroyed both the city and its church. The years which followed were difficult for the pilgrimage. There were also Norman raids, plundering settlements along the Galician coast, including one which destroyed the town of Túy.

Around 1050 Bishop Cresconius organised the defence of the Compostelan coast. A big wall was constructed, together with the Honesto castle. It was, though, a poor defence against invasions from the Atlantic Ocean. The Vikings were well represented in Christian Europe and, from the end of the 11th Century, they called Galicia 'James' Land'. Bishop Cresconius had built two towers just in front of the rebuilt church of Compostela. The towers would later be replaced during the construction of the Romanesque basilica we know today. Cresconius was excommunicated by the Council of Reims in 1049. The popes always thought that the title 'Apostolic' should only be used by the successors of Peter. The excommunication did not stop Cresconius' successor using the title 'Bishop of the Apostolic Chair'.

During the course of the 11th Century, the legend of James and Jacobite worship acquired their definitive form and meaning. In the second half of the 11th Century the number of pilgrims grew substantially. Compostela took an increasingly arrogant attitude towards Rome. The popes feared that, just as the Roman church led and ruled over other churches thanks to the Apostle Peter, the church of Saint James wanted to do the same with the other western churches in the name of the apostle. Rome was appeased when, at the end of the 11th Century, the Cluniac, Dalmatius, occupied the Bishop's Chair at Compostela. At that moment the axis Rome-Cluny-Santiago was all in the hands of Cluny. It was the culmination of her power. In 1095, at the council of Clermont-Ferrand, Pope Urban II (also from Cluny) accepted the transfer of the Bishopric of Iria Flavia to Compostela.

After the rebuilding of the church in Compostela, the pilgrimage became an international phenomenon, becoming so successful that it overshadowed all other European pilgrimages. Compostela was where you could worship the body of the only apostle buried in the West. And because the grave itself was at the end of the world (Finistère), the pious motives of the pilgrimage were reinforced by the temptation of a secular adventure.

The success of Santiago of Compostela is evidenced by the fact that important people, such as William V, Duke of Aquitaine, chose Rome one year and Compostela the next, as the goal of their annual pilgrimage.

Compostela was to become THE most important site of pilgrimage. Equal in importance to Jerusalem and Rome. The town of Compostela grew in size to become a great centre of commercial importance. The sole reason for that was the pilgrimage.

From the middle of the 11th Century, the Jacobite tradition and the Compostelan pilgrimage moved out of the limited sphere of the Spanish Mozarabic church and opened themselves up to Christian Europe. Several factors influenced this: the great Spanish kings, among them Alphons VI (1072-1109); the establishment of a recognised route - the camino francès, the great route which led to Compostela through France and Spain; the introduction of the Roman Liturgy (1080) which replaced the old Mozarabic rites; the development of colonies of French artisans and merchants in the cities along the pilgrim route; and, in the last decades of the 11th Century, the introduction of the great Franco-Romanesque architectural style of the Christian West. In brief: the influence of the monks of Cluny on the organisation of the pilgrim route.

The phenomenon of Compostela acquired a more European character while the town itself gained in importance. The bishop's chair of Iria Flavia was transferred to Compostela. Thanks to gifts from an increasing number of important pilgrims and from the monarch, Alphons VI, Bishop Diego Pelaez began the construction of a great new basilica for the pilgrims, designed by French architects and built in the Romanesque style. Bishop (later Archbishop) Diego Gelmirez, a former monk from Cluny, completed this work during the course of the 12th Century. He had the honour of being the man who brought Compostela and the Jacobite pilgrimage to its apogee. Under him Compostela became a second Rome and the pilgrimage to Saint James' tomb grew to be a truly international phenomenon. The success of the pilgrimage to his tomb was important for the iconography of the apostle. Jacobus apostolus becomes Jacobus peregrinus.

It is useful to look briefly now at Cluny, because Cluny had a special relationship with Spain and with the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. In terms of policy, Bishop Diego Gelmirez gained support from Rome and its bastion in Europe: the abbey of Cluny. Cluny was at that time, according to the Historia Compostelana, 'the head and capital of monastic religion'. Diego Gelmirez's predecessor, Dalmatius, had been a monk at Cluny. It was thanks to Dalmatius that the transfer of the bishop's chair from Iria Flavia to Compostela received official recognition from Pope Urban II, a Cluniac pope, at the Council of Clermont-Ferrand in 1095. In 1104 Bishop Diego Gelmirez was awarded the pallium, a white woollen band, as a sign of honour, and in 1120 Pope Calixtus II, another Cluniac pope, promoted Compostela to the status of an archbishopric at the request of Abbot Pons de Melgueil of Cluny.

Cluny had an important influence in the religious sphere. It planned to reorganise Spain, which was threatened by the Saracens. Cluny would create a religious network from Burgundy to Santiago. The religious mission gained support from the political sphere. It became politics. During the 11th and 12th Centuries, the Abbots of Cluny developed connections to the political leaders and, on the initiative of the Spanish sovereigns, Cluny was called on for advice. Around 1032 Sanchez the Great of Navarre sent Paternus to Cluny for assistance. On his return to Spain, Paternus reformed the abbeys of San Juan de la Peña and Leyre which are at the start of the camino. Sanchez's three sons - Garcia of Navarre, Ramirez and Ferdinand - maintained the contact with Cluny. Alphons VI of Castile sent the monk, Robert, in his turn to reform Sahagun according to the Cluniac rule. In return he gave Cluny the financial means to construct the great church of Cluny III. To reinforce the spiritual alliance, Constance, the niece of Hugues de Semur of Cluny and daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, married Aphonso VI of Castile around 1079.

Cluny tried to be a major influence on the politics and future development of Spain, through the advice that Cluniac monks in Spain offered to Spanish princes. It also helped to maintain good relations between France and Spain. Cluny saw the institution of the pilgrimage as a way of creating a bulwark against the Arabs.

Alongside the construction of the basilica in Compostela in the 12th Century, there is also the start of written documentation. The Book of James (Codex Calixtinus) and the Historia Compostelana. Both of which are conceived by Diego Gelmirez. The Historia Compostelana is seen by Diego Gelmirez as an explanation and justification of the events in his bishopric. It is written between 1107 and 1139. From 1120 Compostela became the seat of the archbishopric. The Historia starts with the origin of the worship of St James and the early history of the see of Iria. From the 13th Century it was seen as an important historical source on the origin of the see of Compostela.

The Book of James, also known as the Liber Sancti Jacobi or Codex Calixtinus, is the literary epitaph for James and the climax of Jacobite literature. According to M.C. Diaz y Diaz it was originally meant to be a work of propaganda for the worship of James and for the pilgrimage. It dates from the beginning of the 12th Century and was reworked with more ambition in the middle of the same century. The Codex Calixtinus is a guide for pilgrims - the first - and is attributed to Aimery Picaud of Parthenay-le-Vieux. The guide describes the roads to the pilgrimage site and the city's basilica. In the Codex, the Book of James eventually takes on another form. The larger part of this consists of sermons and liturgical texts connected to the apostle. Here James is presented as a Knight of Christ. It contains the Book of Miracles, texts in the Jacobite tradition where he is presented as patron saint of pilgrims and guide for the pilgrim. It is the first elaborate travel guide for Compostela.

Later, between 1140 and 1150, the Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle was added, which sets out in particular the role of Charlemagne. This chronicle links the legend of Charlemagne and Roland with the Jacobite cycle. In the kingdom of Asturias, the worship of James soon began to take on a distinctive form. The figure of the apostle and 'Fisher of Men' evolved to become an image of the Knight of Christ. Stories were told of how James, mounted on a white horse, took part in battles against Islam, although no examples exist in other texts of that time. Around 840, the Battle of Clavijo. James, a shining knight on his white horse, gave victory to the Christian army against the Muslims.

Santiago Matamoros was born. James, slayer of the Moors.

Alongside the internationalisation of the figure of St James as apostel-peregrinus, there develops the image of the apostel-strenuissimus miles, the brave apostle-warrior and the foremost fighter of Spanish Christianity against the Moors. The Matamoros. In this way, James acquires both religious and political significance. With stories like these, James becomes the patron saint of the Reconquista.

These texts, of course, have no direct influence on common people. They were illiterate. The influence is indirect. The legitimisation of the legend leads to the pilgrimage and the priests start to believe it themselves. The common people are influenced by monks and parish priests. By the pulpit.

The lie becomes truth. Propaganda.

Thanks to the legendary presence of the apostle's mortal remains, North-West Spain remained free from Saracen conquest. Thus it is logical that James was seen pre-eminently as the patron saint of Latin Christian Spain. That is why he became the spiritual patron and protector of the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of Spain from Islam and also of the expansion into Latin America. With the aid and military patronage of the same saint, the campaigns against the Moors and the Indians were legitimated.

James was not only the patron saint of Galicia, but of all Spain. This patronage enhanced the status of the kingdoms of Asturias, Galicia and Leon - and later Castile - against the competing claims of Navarre and Aragon. In this way, through the identification of the Reconquista with James, the Asturian kings took the wind out of the sails of both their internal and their external rivals. Now they could justify their actions against Islam in Spain.

James became a sign of Spanish nationhood. Saint James becomes the patron of Spain. Patrono de las Españas .

Joseph Bédier explains the incredible rise of the Santiago the Compostela pilgrimage as a product of propaganda originating from the abbey of Cluny. The Book of Saint James is, according to Bédier, part of this propaganda.

The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela became the main vehicle for the Romanisation of the Iberian peninsula and its integration within Europe. The pilgrim route served as a highway along which people and ideas circulated.

Thanks to the density of meeting points and cloisters along the network of pilgrim routes, it is probable that the routes to Compostela lent themselves extremely well to being a propaganda channel for the dissemination of anti-Islamic ideas. If one reflects on this, it seems incontrovertible that the abbots of Cluny played a major role in the process. Whether the propaganda itself was actually written in Cluny is not important. The influence is clear. And there were not many other candidates around.

It is the story of a follower of Christ. Distorted by time, church and state. Used by time, church and state. Believed by the ignorant, understood by their rulers.

It is a story of propaganda.

Saint James is created from and for politics against Islam.

Saint James is associated with crusades, bloodshed and murder.

Einde Intermezzo

[MENU]

Not to Santiago and back again

Santiago: the history, the myth and Cluny

Select Language

Menu