According to scripture, James was one of Jesus’ first disciples, and after Jesus died he travelled to the Galicia region of northwestern Spain to preach the word of Christianity.
This area was accepted by the Romans, at the time, to be the very edge of the known world, so you could surmise that James was trying to get as far away as possible from the powers that crucified his lord, and by all accounts he should have stayed there.
Local tradition has it the Virgin Mary appeared to him on the banks of the Ebro River, prompting him to return to Jerusalem where he was promptly beheaded by King Herod, becoming the first disciple to be martyred.
He obviously made an impression during his time in Spain, as his body was ceremoniously wrapped, carefully transported by boat and then overland to what eventually became Santiago de Compostela – which translates to St James of the Field of Stars.
The first pilgrims to the site can be traced back to the 9th Century, however, it grew in popularity and by the 11th Century, people were crossing the Pyrenees to visit his remains.
By the 12th Century there were even more visitors, encouraged by a document called the Codex Calixitus which is recognised as being the first-ever guidebook.
Interesting side note:
The codex was found in the archives of the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in 1886 and displayed until it was stolen in 2011. A year later it was discovered in the garage of a Cathedral employee, along with 2.4 million Euros from the collection boxes!
The black plague, the emergence of Protestantism and a series of wars and political unrest whittled away the number of pilgrims until the 16th Century, when it was a seldom travelled route indeed.
It wasn’t until 1987, when UNESCO bestowed world heritage status on the walk that it began to attract greater numbers again. Since then it has gone from strength to strength, inspiring hundreds of thousands to walk the Way of St James, once again.
Religion and the Pilgrimage
There’s no doubt, or debating the fact that the Camino de Santiago began as a Christian pilgrimage. A way to test your faith, respect your god and perhaps seek redemption.
The Codex Calixtinus, written in the 12th Century as a guide to the Camino (also the very first guidebook ever written, about anywhere) leaves you in no doubt as to the nature of the walk.
‘The pilgrim route is for those who are good: it is the lack of vices, the thwarting of the body, the increase of virtues, pardon for sins, sorrow for the penitent, the road of the righteous, love of the saints, faith in the resurrection and the reward of the blessed, a separation from hell, the protection of the heavens.
It takes us away from luscious foods, it makes gluttonous fatness vanish, it restrains voluptuousness, constrains the appetites of the flesh which attack the fortress of the soul, cleanses the spirit, leads us to contemplation, humbles the haughty, raises up the lowly, loves poverty.’
Nowadays, however, even the Dean of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is not so sure anymore. Here’s what Segundo Perez Lopez has to say about the people who walk the Way of St James today.
“The current situation of crisis in the world, and personal searching, leads oneself to get out on the pilgrimage route, to try to find oneself, and transcend, making sense of our existence.”
Notice he doesn’t mention anything about religion, or god, gluttonous fatness or the protection of the heavens. Even for a Catholic priest he recognises the more personal, spiritual nature of many pilgrims today.
The church will even provide you with a non-religious ‘Compostela’ – certificate of completion – if you like, which makes only one stipulation in accordance with religion.
You have to ‘make the Pilgrimage for religious/spiritual reasons or at least have an attitude of search’.
So even the Church is saying it doesn’t necessarily have to be about religion anymore.
Spirituality, a shared experience with others, the monotonous isolation of walking for weeks on end – perhaps, the church is admitting that maybe, there’s a touch of the divine in the act of the walk itself. Who knows, but it can’t do any harm to go and find out.
