The Camino de Santiago (Saint James’ Way), origins of the tradition and its worldwide fame
- June 7th, 2010
- Posted in Spanish Traditions
Although in the modern day the Camino de Santiago is quite fashionable and enjoys high popularity, even among those who aren’t in the least religious, at first it was necessary to overcome the ostracism and abandonment it had suffered in the era that followed its beginnings, which were marked by splendour and devotion.
The dawn of this custom is rather uncertain, but it seems to have been at about the year 800 CE when a rumour went around that the Apostle James was buried somewhere in Galicia, where he’d once spent some time envangelising. The Apostle’s alleged tomb was discovered by a local bishop and a hermit – who said that he’d seen a star over the cemetery. Following the visit of Asturian King Alphonse II, considered the first pilgrim in history, word spread and the tradition of the pilgrimage was conceived.
Soon Christians from around Europe began to travel to this place, which they dubbed Campus Stellae (“Star Land” in Latin). This eventually morphed into the modern name, Compostela. Many years later, in the 10th century, as European isolation was on the wane the number of pilgrims increased significantly and Iberian monarchs ordered the construction of bridges and paths to encourage them. During the 12th century, the Camino de Santiago experienced a surge and it seemed that it would soon be consecrated as the definitive act of faith. In the 14th and 15th centuries, however, with the many miseries and wars faced by Europe and attention now monopolised by the south of the Iberian Peninsula due to the Reconquest, the tradition of the Camino de Santiago began to diminish and seem more and more obsolete.
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