The Camino de Santiago is probably one of the most popular destinations today. What was originally a pilgrimage, made by numerous pilgrims who wanted to achieve some divine favor or atone for some sin, is today a journey that brings numerous and varied surprises: cultural wonders, extraordinary landscapes and the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. different origins.
You may wonder when, how and why the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela began. In this article we try to resolve your doubts and propose a trip to the origin of the Camino de Santiago
Since the origins of Christianity, the relics of saints have been part of popular devotion. Not long after the death of Christ and his first followers, discoveries of remains of figures who had played an important role in the history of Christianity began to proliferate.
There are different types of relics; There are those that correspond to fragments of the body, such as bones, hair, teeth or skulls, but we also find the so-called “contact relics”, which become sacred because, supposedly, they have been touched by a holy personage. This is the case of cloaks, parts of footwear or objects that the person in question owned during his or her life.
During the Middle Ages, the possession of relics was essential to guarantee the wealth of a city or a territory Keeping some holy remains ensured the flow of pilgrims, and that meant economic gains for the local inhabitants, since these pilgrims spent the night and ate in hostels. Furthermore, we must remember that, at that time, it was necessary to have a relic in order to consecrate a church, so the need to possess sacred remains became even more pressing.
The great importance of the possession of relics (not only on a spiritual level, but also economically), led to considerable trafficking in supposedly sacred remains during the years of the Middle Ages. Counterfeiting and substitution of this type of items were the order of the day; This is one of the reasons why, currently, there are so many relics spread around the world, whose history and origin are full of enormous contradictions.
Legend has it, collected in the chronicle Concordia Antealtares (written in 1077), which, Around the year 813, a hermit named Pelayo or Paio saw strange lights appear in the sky, whose glow began to repeat night after night Apparitions of angels often followed the luminaries, so Pelayo was sure that a message was being delivered to him from Heaven.
Not only the hermit had witnessed the lights. Other witnesses to the miracle emerged, so the bishop of Iria Flavia, Teodomiro, became keenly interested in the phenomenon. After verifying for himself the appearance of the night lights, the bishop decreed an official three-day fast and marched towards the place indicated by the luminaries with a handful of faithful. There, according to the Concordia Antealtares, the tomb of the apostle Santiago was discovered.
It seems that it was Teodomiro himself who notified Alfonso II the Chaste, who then occupied the throne of Asturias, of the discovery. In a copy of a diploma of the monarch, dated to the 12th century (that is, a century later), 834 is given as the year in which the discovery of the tomb was communicated to the king In the same document it is attested that Alfonso went to venerate the relics of the apostle along with a retinue of nobles from his court and gave orders to build a basilica in the same place where the discovery was made.
History has remembered Alfonso II as the first Jacobean pilgrim, although it is very likely that it was something more than faith that prompted the monarch to promote the pilgrimage. The discovery of the tomb of Santiago Apóstol would, of course, guarantee the flow of pilgrims to his territories, which would lead to the consolidation of its borders and the increase of its wealth. On the other hand, the consolidation of a Christian route in the north of the peninsula also guaranteed the permanence of Christianity in the area; Let us remember that the rest of the Iberian territory was in the power of the Muslims at that time.
The first question that may assail us is the following: how could it be that Santiago was buried in Galicia, when his martyrdom occurred in Jerusalem?
The answer seems to be in the third book of the Codex Calixtinus, called precisely Liber de translatione corporis sancti Jacobi ad Compostellam (Book of the transfer from Santiago to Compostela), where it is said that, after the martyrdom and death of the apostle, the disciples took his body and took it onto a boat. After several days of crossing (seven, specifically), the faithful and the remains of the apostle arrive at Iria Flavia, a Roman city located in Gallaecia
The history of Santiago from the Codex Calixtinus, written in the 12th century, is a compilation of older stories that would have been transmitted orally from the beginning of Christianity. The oldest mention that places the apostle in Hispanic lands is the Breviary of the Apostles, a text written in the 6th century that stated that Santiago had preached in Hispanic lands, that he had died there and that he was buried in a place called Arca Marmarica. . The story spread throughout Europe, spurred by the De ortu et obitu Patrum of San Isidoro of Seville, where the bishop collected the history of Santiago’s preaching in Hispania. According to the first tradition, therefore, the famous Jacobi Traslatio (Transfer of Santiago’s body) from Jerusalem to Galicia never occurred.
However, this version was in direct contradiction with the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which stated that the place of martyrdom and death of James had been Jerusalem. Therefore, It was evident that the apostle’s body had indeed been transported to Hispania and this was reflected in subsequent stories, duly seasoned with completely legendary elements.
The question is, therefore, the following: are those truly the remains of Santiago that lie in the current cathedral of Santiago de Compostela?
The popularization of the Jacobean route
Although the pilgrimage to Santiago began to gain fame in the first centuries of the Middle Ages, andThe peak of its popularity occurred in the 11th century, when Pope Calixtus II and the Abbey of Cluny strongly supported the Jacobean route
Among the causes of the growing interest in the Camino de Santiago we have the increasing difficulty that pilgrims encountered when going to the other great pilgrimage centers of Christianity: Rome and Jerusalem. The first was completely devoted to the struggle between the pope and the emperor of the Holy Empire, to the detriment of spirituality; The second, although recently conquered by the Crusader army, still posed a considerable risk for any pilgrim who wanted to get there.
On the other hand, The 11th and 12th centuries are the centuries when cities took off The medieval cultural and economic landscape was changing, and urban life was beginning to take on an importance not seen since classical times. Consequently, there are many pilgrims who leave the cities with Santiago de Compostela as their destination. A goal that has endured to this day, although it has lost, practically in its entirety, the spiritual and religious meaning of medieval times.
