pilgrimage

Caesarius of Heisterbach, Dialogue on Miracles (cont’d)

amelia.kennedy

Introductions and updated translations by Josh Parks

About the Text

Note bene: The stories translated here concern themes of sin, death, and punishment, in particular hanging.

Drawn from the miracle collection compiled by Cistercian monk Caesarius of Heisterbach (c. 1180-1240), the stories below, presented as a dialogue between a novice and an experienced monk, illustrate some of the dangers pilgrims faced on the Camino de Santiago.

The first story points to the role of moral uprightness, common sense, and civil authorities in resisting those dangers. After a thief infiltrates a group of pilgrims and claims that one of their horses is his, a local judge devises a way to test his story. When the thief can’t remember which horse supposedly belongs to him, the group laughs at him and the judge sentences him to death. Notably, this is not technically a miracle story: the thief is defeated by his own ineptitude, not by the supernatural intervention of St. James. And yet the narrator frames it as an instance of God’s protection, and even emphasizes to the novice that sin’s punishment—such as the accuser’s death by hanging—always ultimately comes from God.

In the second story, unlike in the one above, the earthly justice system fails and St. James must miraculously intervene to save his pilgrims’ lives. After a pilgrim is falsely accused and convicted of theft, he is sentenced to death. But his son insists on taking his punishment and is hanged in his place. After sorrowfully completing his pilgrimage, the father returns and finds his son alive and well thanks to St. James’s intervention. This miracle then spurs more devotion, and the father and son return to Compostela out of gratitude. This story’s conclusion also offers a glimpse at how miracle stories spread: After being brought back by pilgrims to their hometowns, stories could travel through networks of monks and clergy.

Translation: Dialogue on Miracles 6.25

Of the false pilgrim who was hanged by the just judgment of God, after blaming his crime of theft on a true pilgrim.

Not long ago, a group of pilgrims was traveling from Germany to the dwelling of St. James. One night, a false brother joined them. After they left the guest house in the morning, he followed them out to the city gate. He seized one of them by the hand, crying out that this one had stolen his horse. A judge ordered them to return to the guest house. All the pilgrims testified that the one whom the hostile man had attacked was a sincere and good man. The judge, acting wisely, ordered that, without the thief1 present, the horses have their saddles and bridles taken off and be led into the stable. When this was done, he said to the thief, “Go in and lead your horse out.” He entered and led a horse outside, but it was not the one that he had said had been stolen at the gate, because at the time he had not looked at it closely enough. Then they all laughed at him, even the one whose horse had been brought out, and when they explained what happened to the judge, the deceitful man was hanged on a gallows. See now how God protects those who walk in innocence and punishes the evil of connivers?

Novice: I remember you said earlier that sin’s punishment is from God.

Monk: The prophet Amos is our witness that every punishment is from God, saying, “Shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord has not done?” (Amos 3:6). Or as the Lord says through Isaiah, “I am the Lord, I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil” (Isaiah 45:6-7). “Evil” here means punishment and tribulation, which seem evil to their sufferers, though they are good in themselves as creations of God. Now I will give you an example of how sin’s punishment is from God.

Translation: Dialogue on Miracles 8.58

Of the man who was saved from hanging by St. James.

A certain citizen of Utrecht set out with his son to the dwelling of St. James. It happened—if I remember correctly—that in a certain place their host lost something, and he grew suspicious and accused the man of theft in front of the city’s judge. The man denied it and said, “God knows and St. James witnesses that I’ve never been a thief, nor a friend of a thief.” The judge did not believe his words, but condemned the innocent man to death by hanging. When the son saw that his father was condemned, and that the testimony of his brothers [i.e., fellow pilgrims] was doing him no good, he wept and cried and said to the judge, “I ask you, lord, that for the sake of God and St. James you would hang me and let my father go. For I know that he is innocent.” The judge, moved at last by the son’s tears and insistence, absolved his father and hanged him instead. His father went on with his companions in deep sadness. When they arrived at the dwelling of St. James, he prayed to him for his son’s soul. Later, when they returned to the place of the hanging, he said to his brothers, “Look, brothers: it’s my son. I beg you to stop for a minute while I take him down and bury him.” When the son heard his father’s voice, he replied, “Welcome, father, for I am still alive!” When he’d been taken down and asked about the cause of this miracle, he said, “St. James the Apostle has sustained me in his arms from the moment I was hanged on the gallows until now. I didn’t get hungry, I didn’t thirst, I felt no pain—nothing has been better for me in all the days of my life.” Immediately they both rushed to the Apostle, the son to perform his vow, the father to give thanks, and then they returned safely to Utrecht. This miracle was well-known and famous in that city, just as our fellow monk Wilhelm, who was the canon there, has told us.

Novice: What you’re saying is amazing!

Monk: I will report another miracle of St. Thomas the Apostle, which I think is even better.

Notes

1 “Thief” (Latin: fur) here and below refers to the man who has accused another of theft, not the one who’s been accused. Scott and Bland translate this as “accuser” to avoid this confusion, but this obscures a nuance in the text: the narrator knows who the true “thief” is before any of the characters do.

References

Translations are based on the edition by Joseph Strange: Caesarii Heisterbacensis monachi Ordinis Cisterciensis Dialogus miraculorum. 2 vols. Cologne, 1851. Available online via Archive.org: Volume 1, Volume 2.

An English translation of the full text has been completed by Henry von Essen Scott and C.C. Swinton Bland: Dialogue on Miracles by Caesarius of Heisterbach. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929. Available online via Archive.org: Volume 1, Volume 2.

Welcoming Pilgrims to the Santiago Cathedral (c. 1243-1250)

amelia.kennedy

We would like to thank Sebastian Rider-Bezerra for his suggestions on the linguistic aspects and translation of this text.

Upon arrival at the Cathedral of Santiago, pilgrims today participate in rich traditions that shape their experience of at last reaching their destination: They may attend a pilgrims’ mass, descend into the crypt to view the relics of St. James, watch the enormous botafumeiro swing, marvel at the Pórtico de la Gloria, and, of course, greet their host: One of the most beloved Camino traditions involves climbing the stairs embedded within the ornate altar to hug a statue of St. James from behind.

Thanks to some intriguing medieval documents (as well as painstaking scholarship by José Pensado, Francisco Javier Pérez Rodríguez, and Pär Larson, among others), we can get a sense of what pilgrims experienced when they entered the cathedral centuries ago. The 13th-century document translated below, held in the Cathedral Archive in Libro 2 de Constituciones (f. 64-65), is an excellent example. It outlines the important features within the cathedral and contains instructions for those working there to welcome and guide pilgrims in their path through the cathedral interior. The multilingualism of this text is especially striking: It proposes various “scripts” that can be addressed to pilgrims in different languages, including forms of Occitan and Italian. Above all, practicality pervades the text, and these multilingual lines seem to reflect the kinds of pragmatic communication that arose from a diverse context of locals and pilgrims.

Background on Pilgrims’ Experiences in 13th-Century Santiago

The Altar of St. James was the principal attraction of the cathedral, and it received the richest portion of visitors’ offerings. These offerings were then shared out to various beneficiaries, including the archbishop and the cathedral chapter. Such a collection of offerings was known as an arca, a word that can refer both to the physical donation box and to the fund more generally.

Next in importance after the Altar itself was the Arca de la Obra, which likewise took in a variety of offerings, in this case earmarked for the cathedral fabric: Within this context, the word “fabric” refers to the physical materials and upkeep of the cathedral. The donations made to the Arca de la Obra thus supported the stone masons, as well as other groups with a stake in the fabric of the church. It’s hard for us know exactly how funding for the cathedral’s maintenance worked in practice, given a lack of relevant documentation; we are thus left to speculate about precisely how the alms given to the Arca de la Obra were divided, as well as how stone masons and artisans were contracted and by whom.

Apart from these two main arcas within the cathedral, others existed of lesser importance. In the 13th century, these included: the chain, crown (corona), and treasury (thesaurus), as well as others whose precise significance is not immediately apparent (guardarie, madanela, carta). It’s clear that numerous places and objects existed within the cathedral where pilgrims could dedicate their offerings, each connected to some aspect of St. James’ life, though for some objects, the link to St. James is clearer than for others. The crown is particularly associated with German pilgrims, who participated in a special coronation ceremony; one striking sculptural depiction of such a ceremony once decorated the Nordstetter Kapelle, an important German waypoint along the Camino (today, the sculpture can be found at the Villinger Münster in southwestern Germany).

We know a considerable amount of detail about the cathedral customs that guided pilgrims’ visits thanks to the quarrels that erupted during the 13th and 14th centuries between the Altar of St. James and the Arca de la Obra. In 1228, Archbishop Bernard threatened to excommunicate anyone who confused or misled pilgrims while they were trying to leave offerings in the various chapels of the cathedral. Issues arose over the question of donations: If the arqueyrus of the Obra (guardian of the Arca de la Obra) wanted to secure a larger portion of the pilgrims’ offerings, then he might take advantage of the fact that the names of the two arcas were very similar: the fund for the Altar was the arca beati Jacobi, while that for the Obra was the arca operis beati Jacobi. An unscrupulous arqueyrus merely had to mumble the word operis or omit it entirely. In addition, the Arca de la Obra enjoyed a convenient position within the cathedral, attracting the attention of pilgrims soon after they entered.

The rivalry between the Altar of St. James and the Arca de la Obra led the Archbishop Juan Arias to entrust the cantor Juan Peláez, the cardinal Lorenzo Domínguez, and Juan Fernández Rapati with conducting an investigation. The document translated below is the result of this investigation. Though undated, the document is believed to date to the period between 1243-1250, based on the people involved in carrying it out.

Translation of the Text

How the guardians of the Altar of St. James should behave toward the guardians of the Obra of St. James, as well as the other honors of the church of St. James. These are the customs which the guardians of the Arca de la Obra of St. James ought to observe, along with the guardians of the Altar of St. James.

First, as soon as the bell has been rung at the Altar of St. James for morning mass, the arqueyrus (that is, the guardian of the Arca) and a cleric ought to stand there at the Arca de la Obra with their rods in hand for calling pilgrims to the Arca and for delivering [blows] to the backs and limbs of the pilgrims as penitence. But neither in the grilles of the doors, nor at the doors of the Altar of St. James, nor anywhere else, should they use the rods in a way that causes [noise] or tumult. And the cleric ought to wear his surplice and stand over the Arca, and he who speaks the indulgence or pardon ought first to identify the Arca before any other honor of the church.

And after it has been called out, the arqueyrus ought at once to say to the French, “Here is the Arca de la Obra of my lord St. James. Here is the work of the church [Ze e l’archa de l’obra mon sennor San Iame. Ze e l’obra de la egresa].”1

And he ought to say to Lombards and Tuscans, “O Master Lombard, here is the Arca de la Obra of my lord St. James. This goes to the work of the church [O miçer lombardo, quest’e l’archa de la lauoree de micer Saiacomo. Questo uay a la gage fayr].”2

And to campisinis, he should say, “And you [and] [those from Tierra de Campos] and the frontier,3 come here to the Arca de la Obra of the lord St. James. The offerings which you bring from the living and the dead for the work of the lord St. James, put them here, and not in any other place [Et uos et del estremo aca ueinde a la archa de la obra de sennor Santiago. Las comendas que trahedes de mortos et de uiuos para la obra de sennor Santiago, aca las echade et non en outra parte].”4

And he ought to say each one of these phrases once in the morning, at the time the pardon is given and not before. And then, he and the other people from the church should stand there quietly until the indulgence is said. And once the pardon has been said, he ought to call all the pilgrims to the Arca in each language. And he should say, “{?}5 This is the Arca of St. James; this is the Arca de la Obra [{ƀtom} A acron Sangyama, a acron de labro].”6

And then, after Matins are finished, when the group of pilgrims advances toward the Altar of St. James, the arqueyrus (or his man whom he has there) should call them to the Arca. And if he realizes that a pilgrim wishes to leave an offering there at the Altar of St. James, then he should speak to them and point out the Altar of St. James and say that this is [instead] the Arca de la Obra. And so, the pilgrims should be guided there [to the Altar], namely so that they first make offerings at the Altar of St. James, and then the chain, and then the Arca de la Obra, and then the other honors.

And if the crown of St. James has been brought to the Altar of St. James, the Germans ought first to make an offering there to the aforesaid crown, and then to the cross, which is brought before that crown, and then to the chain, and then to the Arca de la Obra. But if the Germans are brought to the crown and then to the treasury, when they are refreshed from the treasury, they first ought to make an offering to the Arca de la Obra prior to the Altar.

Likewise, if a pilgrim tells the treasurers that he is bringing an offering, the treasurers ought to ask him if he is bringing it to St. James or to the Arca de la Obra of St. James. And if he says that he is bringing it to St. James, they should tell him to put it on the Altar. And if he says that he is bringing it for the Arca or for the work, they should send him with it to the Arca de la Obra or lead him to the Arca.

Likewise, if a pilgrim says that he brings an offering, then the arqueyrus and cleric (or those who stand there with them or in their place) ought to ask if he is bringing the offering itself to St. James or to the Arca de la Obra. And if he says he is bringing it to the Arca de la Obra of St. James, they should say that they will bring it there.

But when the door of the Altar of St. James is closed, or the treasurers have gone from there, then the cleric who stands at the Arca ought to take off his surplice and go there with the arqueyrus and sit on the steps without his rod and guard the linens, wax, and other things; but the man of the arqueyrus should remain there. And they should not call pilgrims. But if a pilgrim asks after the Arca de la Obra or the Altar of St. James, the man ought to show him and he ought to do this well and faithfully.

After eating, when the treasurers come to the Altar of St. James, the arqueyrus and cleric should presently go to the Arca de la Obra, and the cleric should put on his surplice and stand there over the Arca with his rod, and the arqueyrus with his rod, and however the pilgrims come to the Altar of St. James, the arqueyrus and the cleric (or his man) ought to call out “Arca de la Obra of St. James” and not “Arca of St. James” – but rather the “Arca de la Obra of St. James.” And from there, they should lead the pilgrims through the honors according to how it is said above.

And at the conclusion of Vespers, the arqueyrus and the cleric should place any pilgrim, if there are any, under the guard of the Arca. Once a guard has been placed on the altar, he should say to anyone asking that this is the Arca de la Obra of St. James and tell them, if they ask, where they should put offerings to the Arca de la Obra of St. James. But he should not call pilgrims there. And the man of the arqueyrus should remain there, who guards the iron and linen and wax and other things. But he should not call any pilgrim. And the arqueyrus should not receive the image of a man, horse, or any other form; nor incense; nor any bread. Likewise, at the Altar of St. James and at the other honors of the church, they should not accept iron rods or iron crosses, nor lead or iron candlesticks. But they ought to accept at the Altar of St. James a good sword, a good knife, or a good bell. If any of the former things are offered, the Arca de la Obra should have them. Also, the arqueyrus should not accept unrefined beeswax, but he should have all the candles which are offered there, unless it is the great candle of clamor.7 And the treasurers should not show the collection box to the pilgrims who make offerings there.

Likewise, they ought to give something from the altar of St. James to the arqueyrus and the cleric and render service to them. And the arqueyrus and the cleric (or his man) should not say to the pilgrims that they should put what remains of the wax and hirloure (which is called expedimentum in Latin)8 at the Arca de la Obra of St. James. But they should tell them that they should put candles before the figure of St. James.

I, Juan Peláez, sworn public notary of Compostela, wrote this at the mandate of Juan Peláez, Cantor, and Lorenzo Domínguez, Cardinal of Compostela, and Juan Fernández, called “Rapati,” who investigated this matter at the mandate of the Lord Archbishop.

Notes

1 Francigenis: These lines are directed “to the French,” meaning more broadly those from the territory of France. José Pensado (1960) identifies the phrasing here as belonging to the language of southern France (langue d’oc) rather than northern France (langue d’oïl): see Pensado, p. 330.This linguistic community also implicates the Crown of England, since Occitan would answer for Gascony, Henry III’s nearest territory. The rhotacism (egresa for eglesa (< ecclesia)) is surprising, but perhaps not unthinkable in a Galician-Portuguese context (modern Portuguese has praia for Spanish playa, etc.). If so, it is quite telling, because it is very rare in an Occitan context.

2 Lombardis et tozcanis: “…to the Lombards and the Tuscans”: that is, to northern and central Italians more generally; see Pär Larson (2020), p. 334, n. 11 on the use of these terms to designate larger swaths of north/central Italy. Pensado identifies the lines that follow as combining Tuscan with other north Italian (Lombard, Genoese) elements. He notes that this script begins with a formula of invocation (O miçer lombardo…), which he views as an especially courteous opening; Larson argues instead that Spanish-speakers commonly used miçer at this time to address or indicate Italians. The final line of this section (Questo uay a la gage fayr) offers some complications. Larson suggests interpreting it as inflected with French ([questo] va à les gages faire) and thus meaning: “What you leave here goes to pay wages.” See Larson, p. 335. Pensado observes the Latin-influenced word order of the sentence, with the verb fayr at the end, rather than Questo vay a fayr la gage, which would be more typical; see Pensado, p. 338.

3 Campisinis: These lines are directed “to the campisini” (campisinis), though it is difficult to identify the precise group of people to whom this refers. The Castilian word campesinos would typically denote peasant farmers, and so the campisini here may refer to peasants from the surrounding areas or from across Iberia who spoke a variety of local dialects. Another possibility is that it refers to those from Tierra de Campos (see, e.g., Larson, p. 335). Some editions of this text (e.g., López Ferreiro) open the quotation that follows with E uos de Campos et del Estremo acá, but de Campos does not appear in the manuscript. Overall, we find it likely that this line may be a reference to Tierra de Campos, but that it is not strictly intended to be understood in that sense. Just as the reference to lombardi et tozcani covers the northern Italians more generally (remembering that there are also the Liguri, Veneti, etc.), and el estremo covers the Iberian frontiers to the south, campisinis is likely intended to mean simply “to the Iberians.”

4 Et uos et del estremo: As both Larson and Pensado note, the language used in this passage combines Galician and Castilian elements; Pensado ultimately concludes that these lines represent a lingua franca, “a mixed language, without linguistic reality, born from the necessity that contact among Spanish people from different regions and languages demanded for ease of mutual comprehension.” (“Nos vemos obligados a explicar el pasaje como una lengua mixta, sin realidad lingüística, nacida de la necesidad que el contacto entre gentes hispánicas de diversas regiones y lenguas exigía para una más fácil comprensión.”): see Pensado, p. 339-40.

5 ƀtom: Scholars have disagreed on how to read this line. One difficulty arises from a word in the manuscript beginning with ƀto and ending with either om or oni. Pensado’s transcription reads Et debet dicere bretoni: «A acron Sangyama, a acron de labro» (“And he should say to the Breton: «…»”). In this case, the language of the quotation would be Breton, a Celtic language spoken in northwestern France. However, this reading is implausible, and the language here does not appear to be Breton. Others read the word as bentom, bertom, or similar and see it instead as the first word of the recommended script spoken to the pilgrim. This second interpretation seems to us more plausible. Larson transcribes this section as follows: et debet dicere: ƀtom aatrō sangyama aatrō d’labro.

6 A acron Sangyama: Larson offers speculative readings of the line to be spoken to the pilgrims and in particular suggests swapping the vowel order of aatrō. The line thus becomes: ƀtom a ōtra [or otrā?] san gyama a ōtra [or otrā?] del obra, which he translates (leaving out ƀtom) as: “l’una è per san Jacopo, l’altra è dell’Opera” (“One is for St. James, the other for the Obra”). On this issue, we suggest following Pensado’s reading of the word as acron (arca) since this involves fewer changes to the sentence as it appears in the manuscript. We have thus settled – for now – on the translation above: “This is the Arca of St. James; this is the Arca de la Obra.”

7 The candela magna de clamore (“great candle of clamor”) was a big candle offered to the Apostle to request his help obtaining some special wish or goal. See Pensado, p. 330.

8 It is unclear what hirloure/expedimentum means, and decades of scholarship has been (to our knowledge) unable to decipher it. One early modern Latin dictionary defines expedimentum as fustian, a type of fabric: See Riders Dictionarie, Corrected and Augmented (London 1606), Link to Google Books. More convincingly, for expedimentum Du Cange gives impedimentum, sarcinae, with the meaning of “equipment, baggage”; he supplies as evidence a letter of St. Thomas Becket: “He says that he does not have [the letters] to hand, due to the fact that he had sent them with his baggage (cum suo expedimento) to Winchester.” In the context of the Liber de Constituciones, this could be all the other offerings and gifts which have been brought by pilgrims. Wax (cera) is a fairly standard gift, but there are other votive offerings (a number listed in the text itself) which should be accounted for in the rules of the cathedral. Thus, the proposal of expedimentum as a simple variant of impedimentum, perhaps arising conceptually from a confusion between those things which impede your movement (impedimenta) and those things which are carried along (expedimenta). Unfortunately, hours upon hours of searching have been insufficient to locate any piece of Galician, Castilian, or French vocabulary which is plausibly connected phonetically to hirloure and definitionally to expedimentum. That does not mean that it cannot still be found, nor that this definition does not serve, at least for the moment. [See: http://ducange.enc.sorbonne.fr/EXPEDIMENTUM].

REFERENCES

For the information in our introduction, see especially: Pérez Rodríguez, Francisco Javier. La Iglesia de Santiago de Compostela en la Edad Media: El Cabildo Catedralicio (1110-1400). Santiago: Xunta de Galicia, 1996. Pages 149-51.

For the primary source text itself: The manuscript containing this document is Libro 2 de Constituciones, held in the cathedral archives of Santiago de Compostela. An image of the manuscript, as well as a transcription and linguistic analysis, can be viewed in an article by José L. Pensado: “Aspectos lingüísticos de la Compostela medieval.” Vox Romanica 19 (1960): 319-40. Link to PDF.

The document is also included in López Ferreiro, Antonio. Historia de la Santa A.M. Iglesia de Santiago de Compostela. Vol. 5. Appendix #25, pages 64-67; and in a volume by Luis Vázquez de Parga, José M.A Lacarra, and Juan Uría Ríu: Las Peregrinaciones a Santiago de Compostela. Vol. III. Madrid, 1949. Pages 113-14.

On the coronation ritual for German pilgrims, see:

Plötz, Robert. “Santiago ‘coronatio peregrinorum.'” In Santiago, Camino de Europa: Culto y Cultura en la Peregrinación a Compostela. Edited by Serafín Moralejo and Fernando López Alsina. Santiago: Monasterio de San Martín Pinario, 1993), p. 344.

On the linguistic elements of the text, see:

Larson, Pär. “Per totam linguaginem. [‘In every language’].” Verba 47 (2020): 329-40. Link to DOI.

Monteagudo, Henrique. “O Camiño, as linguas e a emerxencia do galego.” Grial 42 (2004): 52-61. Link to JSTOR.

Pensado, José L. “Aspectos lingüísticos de la Compostela medieval.” Vox Romanica 19 (1960): 319-40. Link to PDF.

Caesarius of Heisterbach, excerpts from the Eight Books of Miracles

amelia.kennedy

Introductions and translations by Josh Parks.

About the Text

Nota bene: The thirteenth-century stories translated below concern themes of sin, death, and punishment; the second story (Book 3.62) in particular describes a scene of severe self-harm.

The first story (Book 2.19) introduces a moneylender whose act of pilgrimage proves a failure. Despite the moneylender’s devotion to St. James, which includes an expensive pilgrimage to Compostela, his behavior remains greedy and selfish. When sickness drives him to the point of death, he appeals to St. James for mercy by pointing to his acts of devotion. But James responds that his sins still stand between him and salvation. James returns the money that the moneylender spent on the pilgrimage, even though he refuses it, and then James disappears. This story suggests that pilgrimages were not always straightforward acts of asceticism; for the rich they could also be luxurious displays of wealth. But this expensive kind of devotion, the narrator concludes, cannot undo the sins of greed and usury.

In the second story (Book 3.62), we see St. James watching out for the fate of even the most inexperienced and unworthy pilgrim. Gerard embarks on his pilgrimage on a whim, and the devil takes advantage of his ignorance by impersonating St. James and urging him to injure and then kill himself. Gerard’s companions flee and leave him for dead. But as the demons carry Gerard’s soul past a church, the real St. James intervenes and appeals to the Virgin Mary on Gerard’s behalf. Mary rules that his soul must be returned to his body, and the man awakens, safe but severely scarred from his ordeal. He then joins a monastery out of gratitude to the Lord and spends the rest of his life there. This story portrays pilgrimage as a place of spiritual warfare, where demons and saints battle over pilgrims’ souls, often with severe bodily consequences for the pilgrims themselves.

These stories were compiled by the Cistercian monk Caesarius of Heisterbach. While he is best known for the Dialogus miraculorum (Dialogue on Miracles, c. early 1220s), he also produced a collection known as the Libri VIII miraculorum (Eight Books of Miracles, c. 1225). It is from this latter collection that the following stories are drawn. The fundamental plot of 3.62 is not unique to Caesarius; it appears in different versions in other medieval miracle collections, including the Liber Sancti Jacobi.

Translation: Book 2.19

Of a moneylender, to whom St. James returned money when he died.

A certain moneylender lived in the city of Trier. One day, he was moved to visit the dwelling of St. James in Compostela. He spent five pounds of silver and lived luxuriously on his journey, and when he was back home, he did not give anything to the poor. Having returned home, he turned to moneylending as before.

After several years, he grew gravely ill, and since he feared to die, he frequently prayed to St. James, recalling his pilgrimages, works, and monetary gifts to him in his memory. “St. James the Apostle,” he said, “remember how I spent five pounds in your service.”

And when he had disturbed the apostle with these words, the blessed apostle appeared to him, stood before him, and said, “I am the apostle James, whose dwelling you visited with your money.”

Thrilled to hear this, the moneylender began to cry out and said with tears, “St. James the Apostle, help me!” He repeated this over and over.

The apostle answered him: “Your sins stand in your way. I worked on your behalf as much as I could, and I achieved nothing. The demons bring many terrible accusations before the highest judge of things that you did. Justice has been weighed, and you have been judged deserving of eternal punishment. Look, I have in my hand the five pounds that you spent in my service. I give them back to you.”

But the moneylender shouted, “My lord, my lord, I don’t want to take them back!” The apostle wrapped the money in a little cloth, put it on the moneylender’s head, and disappeared. The moral of this story is that it is not possible to please God or his saints with costly alms that come from bad money. This story was told to me by a certain devout priest who said that he had come to know it accurately.

Translation: Book 3.62

The example of a pilgrim seduced to death by the devil, whose soul holy Mary, by the prayers of St. James, ordered to return to his body.

Lord Hugh of Damas, the abbot [of Cluny],1 used to tell the story of a certain brother in his monastery. This brother’s name was Gerard, and when he was still a layman, he desired to hurry to the dwelling of St. James. And so he prepared the things necessary for the journey under the light of the day on which the journey was to be undertaken, while his concubine slept, defeated by the pleasures of the flesh.

And when he had gone a little way on the journey with his companions, the old enemy—the one who sometimes transfigures himself into an angel of light—desired to deceive him. This very enemy appeared to the pilgrim in the likeness of St. James and said to him, “You must know that because of the evil deeds you have done you will not be able to attain salvation unless you do what I am going to tell you. First, cut off your [genitals] and then kill yourself, and by doing this you will have an eternal reward.”

The man thought that he was really St. James the Apostle, and when he ordered him to do these things, he seized a piece of iron and cut off his [genitals]. And after that he wounded himself mortally by dragging it across his throat. When his companions heard that he was near death and saw him expelling his last breath—so that they saw him soaked in blood—they abandoned him and, frightened, fled with haste, lest someone think that they had killed him for the desire of money or some other reason.

Once the man had died, the devil took the soul of the one he had deceived, and he and his followers were more than a little delighted at their prize. But by the will of God, while they were passing near the church of St. Peter, St. James the Apostle came up to them with St. Peter and said to the group of demons, “Why have you taken the soul of my pilgrim?”

And when they had inflicted whatever evil they could on him and he had reached his end, St. James said to them, “You should know truly that you will not rejoice any more for his destruction, for under [the illusion of] hope for me you have led this ignorant one to death by the snare of your deceptions. And that which he has done in obedience to me, he has done earnestly. But if you fight against this, let us go to the judgment of the holy mother Mary.” 

So they came to the holy mother of God, and when they asked what would please her, Mary herself, the virgin full of piety, judged that the soul ought to return to the body so that he could be purged of the evil deeds he had done through penance. And so this was done: by the merits of holy Mary, Peter, and James, the soul returned to the body. 

It is said that the man, remembering, found himself safe and with only a bruise remaining to show where his neck had been cut. But his reproductive organs, which he had cut off himself, had not been restored to him, and nothing remained there other than a downward-facing hole through which he urinated. Therefore he left death behind as if he was waking from sleep, not forgetful of these benefits which divine mercy bestowed on him according to the saving intercession of the glorious virgin Mary and the apostles.

When he had been raised from the dead, he lifted his hands and his soul to the heavens of the Lord, and he praised the Lord and his saints for their great benefit to him. But when he had made his pilgrimage to St. James and then reached the aforementioned monastery of Damas [i.e., Cluny], he became a monk there, and he lived many days afterward to the end of his life devoted to the service of the Lord and his mother and his saints.

Notes

1 “Dominus Hugo abbas Damiacensis“: In this case, Damiacensis seems to refer not to a location (such as Damietta in Egypt) but rather to the House of Damas, a French aristocratic family to which Hugh, abbot of Cluny, belonged.

References

Caesarius of Heisterbach. Die Fragmente der Libri VIII Miraculorum des Caesarius von Heisterbach. Edited by Aloys Meister. Rome 1901. For these specific stories, see Book 2.19, p. 92-93 and Book 3.62, p. 185-87.

Stone ruins of Heisterbach Abbey

Ruins of Heisterbach Abbey, pictured around 1900 (image via Library of Congress).

Caesarius of Heisterbach, Dialogue on Miracles

amelia.kennedy

About the Text

Cistercian monk Caesarius of Heisterbach (c. 1180-1240) is well-known for his Dialogue on Miracles, a collection of short anecdotes that illustrate key points of Christianity, organized in 12 books on topics such as confession, temptation, demons, and visions. The work is presented as a dialogue between a curious novice and an experienced monk who provides stories as well as clarifications and interpretations. Some of these stories concern the pilgrimage to Compostela or mention the power attributed to St. James.

The first story translated here features two friends on pilgrimage whose bond is tested by the devil. This short account mentions various aspects of their pilgrimage: They have a long way to travel from Cologne, though their access to horses would speed up the journey. Godefridus carries a staff, a tool typically associated with pilgrims and useful for fending off wolves or dogs. Finally, the story elegantly captures both the camaraderie and the potential irritations of traveling the Camino with friends.

The second story presents an impressive display of miraculous power for the benefit of a confident soon-to-be pilgrim. Taken captive as part of a longstanding family feud, the man refuses to give his captors any significant funds and brashly declares that he has no intention of remaining locked up long: He has new shoes and plans to visit St. James in them. This episode echoes biblical accounts of miraculous deliverance (see, for example, Deut. 4:20, Jer. 11:4, Dan. 3).

Translation: Dialogue on Miracles 5.39

On the devil, who tried to sow discord between two friends on pilgrimage

Two citizens of Cologne, wealthy and reputable men who were good friends, one named Sistappus and the other Godefridus, set off [on pilgrimage] together to St. James the Apostle. One day they were riding by themselves; the other brothers had gone ahead. At the entrance of a certain wood, the devil, jealous of their friendship and easy rapport, broke in half the heavy stick that Godefridus was carrying slung across his back. [Godefridus] looked around and saw no one else there, so he turned to his companion and cried out in agitation: “Hey, brother, why did you break my stick?” The other man denied having done so with an oath, and Godefridus, as he himself told me, was so enraged that he could scarcely restrain his hands from attacking him. At last, by the grace of God and the merits of the Apostle, he was restored to his senses. He expressed his regret to his beloved friend, and the source of all the discord – the devil – fled in dismay.

Translation: Dialogue on Miracles 10.7

Of a countryman shut in a furnace in Hemersbach who was freed by St. James

Near Cologne, two generations of country families had carried on a very bitter feud. One side was weaker, and its members moved to the neighboring castle of Hemersbach. From there, they inflicted considerable losses on their opponents. One day, they seized one of them, and three of their number sought to extort money from him, saying, “If you don’t give us money, we will punish you.” To which the man replied, “I have three obolos [coins of small value]. Buy cakes with them and eat them, for you will get nothing more.” And having faith in God and St. James, he added, “I have five marks at home in my chest and some new shoes, in which I am going to seek the shrine of St. James; I will not give you that money. On St. Stephen’s Day, I am going to set out, and I will leave you before daybreak.” They were amazed at the boldness of his words but bound him with fetters and put him in the furnace, appointing eight men to guard him that night. Once, and then again a second time, they asked him if he was still there, and each time heard him reply, “Yes, I’m still here.” But when they asked the same question for the third time, they got no response because the power of faith had already led him out of the closed furnace. Much has been said about hope in earlier chapters; but the following will set forth the virtue of charity.

References

Translations are based on the edition by Joseph Strange: Caesarii Heisterbacensis monachi Ordinis Cisterciensis Dialogus miraculorum. 2 vols. Cologne, 1851. Available online via Archive.org: Volume 1, Volume 2.

An English translation of the full text has been completed by Henry von Essen Scott and C.C. Swinton Bland: Dialogue on Miracles by Caesarius of Heisterbach. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929. Available online via Archive.org: Volume 1, Volume 2.

Song in Praise of Roncesvalles (“Carmen in laudem Roscisvallidis”)

amelia.kennedy

About the Text

Composed in Latin between 1199 and 1215*, this poem by an unknown author** celebrates an important pilgrims’ hospital “in the immense mountains” along the Camino de Santiago. Perched in the Pyrenees, the hospital offered a serene oasis where pilgrims could eat, sleep, receive medical care, and enjoy a respite from “perpetual ice” and “wintry air.” The poem’s first editor Fidel Fita gave it the title “Carmen in laudem Roscisvallidis,” which we have adopted here.

A recent photograph of Roncesvalles
Image by Marianne Casamance – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Hospital of Roncesvalles emerged in the context of the high medieval “charitable revolution,” a proliferation of various charitable institutions across Europe. Established in 1132 by Bishop Sancho of Larrosa, the bishop of Pamplona from 1124 until 1142, the hospital at Roncesvalles sheltered travelers across one of the most popular passes of the Pyrenees. The poem, paraphrasing the foundation charter, comments in stanzas 6 and 7 that Bishop Sancho founded his hospital “at the base of the highest mountain of the Pyrenees” with financial assistance from the king Alfonso–that is, Alfonso I “the Battler” of Navarre and Aragon (r. 1104-1134).

Thanks to this poem, as well as the foundation charter on which parts of the poem are based, we know quite a bit about this particular hospital and its history. The poem provides unusual insight into the hospital; typically, hospitals produced largely administrative documents, which later historians piece together to gain an understanding of the hospital’s operations. In this case, however, we have an idea of how the hospital was presented and advertised and how its day-to-day activities were understood.

Given its mountainous location, the hospital at Roncesvalles was clearly built to serve pilgrims and travelers, in particular pilgrims along the Camino de Santiago, “those piously seeking St. James” (stanza 34). Roncesvalles was an important site along the Camino, often associated with Charlemagne, whose military defeat there was memorialized in the Song of Roland, though this connection is not explicitly mentioned in the poem.

Instead, the poet focuses on describing the landscape, a cold and austere place that stands in contrast to the bountiful oasis of the hospital; enumerating the various amenities and services provided, from patching up leather shoes to burying the dead; and praising the founders, donors, and workers who make the hospital’s operations possible.

The Poem: Carmen in laudem Roscisvallidis

1 Venerable house, glorious house,
admirable house, fruitful house,
it flowers like a rose on the Pyrenees,
most gracious to people of all nations.
 
I would like to recount its benefits,
the house which I must love sincerely and always.
I will be able to praise it multiple times:
I see flowing from everywhere the necessary material.
 
I wish to exalt it with praise
that can be proved by suitable witnesses;
one who wants to despise the truth and venerate falsehood
is most odious to heaven, land, and sea.

This house is called "the dewy valley" [Roscidee Vallis, i.e., Roncesvalles],1
a necessary house, a hospitable house,
open to all good people, showing its back to the bad;
the Omnipotent always covers it with his wings.2
 
5 Pouring out the dew of grace, these goods are generously bestowed
by the Holy Spirit, from whom all good things flow;
in the present world, it is nourishment to all;
and it will be a crown to the faithful in heaven.
 
Bishop Sancho, the founder,3
in honor of the Virgin Mother of God,
at the base of the highest mountain of the Pyrenees,
established a hospital where one can be saved.
 
When he was named the bishop of Pamplona
He founded a hospital in the immense mountains,
and aiding him greatly with the expenses was
Alfonso, the celebrated king of Aragon.4
 
Seeing this, the venerable convent of canons,
guarding the honesty of morals,
and donating many goods to the hospital,
made itself a participant in its merits.
 
After the era, 1100 years having elapsed,5
To which quantity 70 more years should be added,
the founding of the hospital took its beginning,
which is a shelter for those traveling the path.
 
10 The location, by the rigor of winter,
the perpetual ice, and the annual snow,
was nearly always burdened, and also by the wintery air;
The only serenity is the hospitable house.
 
The earth is wholly sterile by the circuit [of the sun];6
any inhabitant lacks bread, wine,
cider, and oil, and wool, and linen;
the hospital is ruled by the divine Spirit.
 
Inside, one does not feel the force of cold,
nor misery of poverty.
For here there remains unceasingly a font of goodness
which drives out the starvation of all need.
 
Many have known the merits of this hospital;
the way is universal to all seeking
the threshold of the Apostles; there is no other such path
for those seeking [Saint] James, nor one so common.
 
The hospital, with a generous look, welcomes guests
each day, although it is in the mountains,
it consoles them freely with necessary things,
which flow to them from the aforesaid sources.
 
15 The entrance is open to all, infirm and healthy,
not only Catholics but also pagans,
Jews, heretics, idlers, the vain,
and, to put it briefly, both good and profane.

Here are performed the six works ordered by God7
to be done by humankind, lest when the jubilee
year arrives, one be judged guilty,
and set apart from the faithful as a Pharisee.8
 
The goodness of this house thus is amplified
Such that, through it, the Lord is often praised.
The celestial cohort rejoices in it;
but the legions of demons are greatly alarmed.
 
In this house, the feet of paupers are washed,
their beards are shaved with razors,
their heads are washed and their hair cut;
It would take too long to tell of everything that follows.
 
If you saw the shoes of the poor there
being repaired with leather, then you would praise God.
You would recount the benefits of this house loudly,
and you would greatly admire it with all your mental energy.
 
20 Someone stands at the door offering a portion of bread
to those passing by, doing no action
apart from this one and prayer,
that God give consolation to the house.
 
Here, one who seeks, receives the benefit of charity,
and the one has asked does not suffer refusal;9
what this house gives out free to everyone
is not a human work, but a divine one.
 
In a maternal manner, it nourishes many orphans,
correcting them piously, with hand, sticks, and mouth,
so that they learn how to live by manual labor,
and are not forced to seek subsistence with shame.
 
This house provides the highest cure for the sick,
proffering to them the best things which the farms produce
and indeed many more things
than that which this writing is able to enumerate.
 
Women with splendid honesty of morals,
lacking filthiness and deformity,
are charged with their service here;
they care for the sick with the fullness of piety.
 
25 There are two most suitable houses for the sick,
one for women, the other for men;
They are appointed for their use and enjoyment,
and are ready for all kinds of benefits.
 
There is in it a chamber adorned with fruits;
there are almonds and pomegranates,
and other kinds of fruits are seen
which come from diverse parts of the world.
 
During the day, the divine light brightens the houses of the sick,
and at night, lamps shine like the early morning light;
in the middle, there is an altar, at which Catherine
is venerated continuously,10 along with Marina.11

The work of piety is practiced on the sick,
who rest on soft and well-equipped beds.
One does not leave except for free,
and having accepted the gift of health.
 
There are lodgings set aside for them,
which flow with running water;
baths are prepared at once for those seeking them,
so that their bodily filth may be washed away.
 
30 If the companions of the sick wish to stay,
the father of the order commands that they be venerated,
and that necessities be given to them diligently,
until it happens that they are refreshed.
 
When someone migrates [i.e., dies], a burial
is provided, as the laws and Scripture command;
There is a basilica in which those who have paid their debt
to nature remain justly forever.
 
For the flesh of the dead that which is apt
is what is rightly called a "carnarium" (from the word carne).12
Often visited by a legion of angels,
as is proved by the mouth of those hearing it.
 
In the middle of this basilica,13 there is a famous
altar, for purifying the souls of contagion;
there one celebrates the mystery dear to the King of Kings,
but this is very bitter to Prince of Darkness.
 
Those piously seeking St. James,
bearing with them gifts for James,
looking around the machine of burial,
give praises to God on bended knee.
 
35 Its form is in all respects square;
the summit of the square is domed,
at whose pinnacle is placed a cross,
the form through which the rage of the enemy lies prostrate.
 
The most energetic man, the King of Navarre14
built here the church of pilgrims;15
donating to it a perpetual revenue of
10,000 solidi and 400.
 
An emperor16 fathered the mother17 of this king;18
his father was Sancho the Battler.19
A most wise king,20 a lover of all
probity, and a defeater of his enemies.
 
The brothers and sisters of this house are often
stewards of all the aforesaid things;
they lead a regular life and morals,21
and they disdain the secular world and its honors.
 
The guardian of all this is named Martin,22
a man of praiseworthy life, like a tall pine,
thus spreading out his bosom widely for the poor of Christ.
His insides are full of the divine spirit.
 
40 He conserves, he increases these possessions of the poor,
offering his suffering for the poor,
for the glories of the celestial Father
are had through great tribulations.
 
The Lord has given him the role of manager,
expecting a reckoning from this share accordingly.
When he has made a good return on investment,
he will receive a worthy reward.
 
The house offers many good assets
which are not declared on the present page.
Unless this series of rhymes comes to an end,
the prolixity will bore the listener.

*Dating: The 1199-1215 date is based on the years of the priorate of Martin Guerra, who is most likely the “Martin” mentioned in stanza 39.  

**Authorship: The poem’s first editor (1884) Fidel Fita thought the poem was written by the chronicler and bishop of Toledo Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, who uses the name “Roscida vallis” in De rebus Hispanie and describes the hospital of Burgos in similar terms in that text (VII.XXXIII, 1-11). Salvador Martinez also attributes the poem to Rodrigo, adding additional details to support this attribution and connecting the writing of the poem with the bishop’s stay at Roncesvalles on his way back from Rome in 1210. However, the later editor (1996) Antonio Peris questions the attribution of the poem to Rodrigo, arguing that the linguistic/stylistic similarities between the poem and Rodrigo’s description of the hospital of Burgos are tenuous; the biggest similarity is that both use a version of the phrase “repulsam non pati,” which comes from Ovid. Peris also dismisses attempts to connect the poem with Rodrigo’s stays at the hospital as stretching the available evidence: we cannot even be sure if Rodrigo was actually there. Rodrigo was also unfavorable to some of the kings described in the poem. In sum, we do not have a solid attribution for the poem’s authorship.

Notes

1 On etymology, see Cirot, Roscidae valles, Bulletin Hispanique 28 (1926), p. 378; Dubarat-Daranatz, Recherches sur la ville, vol. 3, p. 1013-21; Alonso, La primitiva epica francesa, 145-51.

2 Cf. Psalms 16:8.

3 Sancho de Larrosa, bishop of Pamplona (1124-1142). This stanza and the next more or less paraphrase the foundation charter.

4 Alfonso I the Battler of Navarre and Aragon (1104-34).

5 Era 1170, i.e, 1132 CE.

6 This stanza is reminiscent of the description of Navarre in the Pilgrim’s Guide.

7 The seventh work of mercy, redeeming the captive, was not commonly included until the end of the 12th century.

8 The use of “fariseus” to mean “separate” can be found in Isidore of Seville’s Etymologies.

9 From Ovid: “nullam patiere repulsam.”

10 These relics are now contained in the late 14th-century Relicario de Ajedrez.

11 I.e., Marina of Aguas Santas, a Galician martyr saint of the second century; a Romanesque church in Aguas Santas was built in the twelfth century.

12 I.e., a bone house/charnel house.

13 This building, which still survives, dates to the 12th century and is mentioned in the Pilgrim’s Guide.

14 Sancho VII the Strong (r. 1194-1215).

15 The Collegiate Church of Santa María (replacing an older structure built by Bishop Sancho de Larrosa).

16 Alfonso VII, called ‘the Emperor,’ king of León and Castile, d. 1157.

17 Sancha of Castile, d. 1179.

18 Sancho VII.

19 Sancho VI the Wise (r. 1150-1194).

20 According to Cistercian chronicler Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Sancho had a collection of 1.7 million books.

21 I.e., according to the Rule of St. Augustine.

22 Prior Martin Guerra (d. Dec. 1, 1215).

References & Further Reading

The poem is available on Xacobeo in French and Latin.

The most recent edition: Peris, Antoni. “El Ritmo de Roncesvalles: estudio y edición”. Cuadernos de Filología Clásica. Estudios latinos. 11 (1996), pp. 171-209.

For more on medieval pilgrims’ hospitals, see our page on Hospitality along the Camino de Santiago.

On Pyrenean pilgrims’ hospitals, see the following:

Brodman, James. Charity and Religion in Medieval Europe. Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2009. Chapter 3: “To Shelter the Pilgrim: Military Orders, Hospices, and Bridges,” and esp. p. 116-118 on the Pyrenean hospitals at Aubrac, Roncesvalles, and Somport.

Jugnot, Gérard. “Deux fondations augustiniennes en faveur des pèlerins: Aubrac et Roncevaux.” In Assistance et charité. Toulouse: Éditions Privat, 1978. P. 321-341.

A view of Roncesvalles
Image by Nafarroako Gobernua – CC BY 3.0

Hospitality Along the Camino

amelia.kennedy

Hospitality and the “Pilgrim Experience”

The entrance is open to all, infirm and healthy, / not only Catholics but also pagans, / Jews, heretics, idlers, the vain, / and, to put it briefly, both good and profane.

Porta patet omnibus, infirmis et sanis, / Non solum catholicis verum et paganis / Judeis, hereticis, ociosis, vanis, / Et, ut dicam breviter, bonis et profanis.

Carmen in Laudem Roscisvallidis, stanza 15

Occasionally quoted in modern-day pilgrims’ guides and memoirs, these famous lines from an early thirteenth-century poem in praise of the pilgrims’ hospital at Roncesvalles offer a distinctive view of hospitality: This pilgrims’ hospital is not just for devout pilgrims. All are welcome, including various groups that the poet specifies as less deserving. Hospitality, in this view, is not about the potential guest at all, but about the performance of hospitable service, seen as one of the acts of Christian charity.

Regardless, hospitable institutions and the sources they produced constitute some of our best evidence for understanding something of the medieval “pilgrim experience” along the Camino de Santiago. Medieval pilgrims faced many hazards on the Camino, from wolves in the Pyrenees to dangerous river crossings to inclement weather to robbery and assault. In response to such dangers, locals built infrastructure, such as bridges and hospitals to facilitate travel. Learning about the hospitable infrastructure along the Camino gives us a better understanding of the options available to medieval pilgrims.

The Medieval “Hospital”

While the term “hospital” derives from hospes (“guest”) and initially denoted a guesthouse for receiving travelers, the word took on a dizzying array of meanings in the Middle Ages. The hospital was one of three main welfare institutions, alongside monasteries and churches, though the three categories sometimes overlapped. A medieval “hospital” thus could be a welfare house, a place for welcoming pilgrims and travelers, a center for distributing alms, and/or an institution that provided care to the sick and poor.

Pilgrims’ hospitals could be described using a number of terms: The medieval poem in praise of the hospital at Roncesvalles used a variety of terms to describe the institution at its center: domus (“house”), hospitale (“hospital”), hospitium (“guesthouse”), and domus hospitalis (“hospitable house”). Hospitals could be big or small, vast institutions caring for hundreds or tiny lodgings for just a handful of people. Depending on the hospital’s function, it might be established in any number of places; some hospitals were near towns or churches, while others were in the middle of nowhere serving travelers and pilgrims who traversed treacherous mountain passes. 

Hospitals arose, for instance, in Alpine passes serving pilgrims traveling to and from Rome. The hospitaller congregation of Great St. Bernard, occupying a site previously held by a Carolingian monastery, was named for the eleventh-century archdeacon of Aosta, Bernard of Monte Giove. Run by canons regular, this hospital community received considerable donations from across Europe, attesting to its important role in ensuring safe travel across the Alps.

A “Charitable Revolution”

Historians such as André Vauchez and Adam Davis have characterized the 12th and 13th centuries as a “charitable revolution,” a time of rapid and widespread foundation of hospitals across Europe. Caritas, or “charity,” had a long history in the ancient and medieval world, in the early Middle Ages denoting a sense of duty to assist one’s relations. From the 12th-century on, as Sally Mayall Brasher has explained, charitable impulses shifted more toward misericordia, the need to support the poor and vulnerable for the sake of a community’s overall well-being (Ch. 1).

Hospital founders came from a variety of backgrounds; they could be kings, towns, bishops, religious institutions, nobles, and so on. While some specialized in certain populations (for example, leprosaria or houses for the blind), others were more general in their service. Managing and operating the hospital could fall to a variety of people as well, such as monks or nuns, canons, or even a married couple. Given the differences among all the different hospitals–in terms of their foundations, functions, daily operations, and institutional affiliations–it is hard to settle on a single clear and specific definition of the medieval “hospital.” Yet as Sethina Watson argues, “the chaotic variety of [the hospital’s] manifestations was not a sign of its liminality but, rather, a consequence of its very significance in Christian religion and Christian society” (p. 314).

Crossing the Pyrenees: The Hospital of Roncesvalles

Santa María de Roncesvalles emerged within this diverse and “chaotic” context. It belonged to a group of three hospitals in Pyrenean mountain passes, all three of which were larger than typical hospitals, lived as communities of canons following the Rule of St. Augustine, and led to the emergence of minor hospitaller orders. Historian James Brodman has outlined the development and functions of these hospitals.

The Hospital of Santa Cristina de Somport was the earliest and likely the smallest of the three Pyrenean foundations, emerging sometime between 1100 and 1115 to support pilgrims on routes between Béarn and Saragossa. Early documents indicate the presence of a prior and only five to seven brothers, while thirteenth-century sources show that the population there had risen modestly to about a dozen. The Hospital of Aubrac emerged slightly later, between 1120 and 1122. According to legend, it was founded by a former pilgrim named Adalard who was caught in a snowstorm while headed through the Pyrenees en route to Compostela. In 1162, the Bishop of Rodez approved a rule, and the hospital received papal recognition from Alexander III. 

The Hospital of Roncesvalles was founded in 1132 by Bishop Sancho of Larrosa, the bishop of Pamplona from 1124 until 1142. The poem composed in its praise, paraphrasing the foundation charter, remarks in stanzas 6 and 7 that Bishop Sancho founded his hospital “at the base of the highest mountain of the Pyrenees” with financial assistance from the king Alfonso–that is, Alfonso I “the Battler” of Navarre and Aragon (r. 1104-1134).

Over the course of its operation, the hospital at Roncesvalles acquired various dependencies, including, by the thirteenth century, nine additional hospitals in the Pyrenees, one in Toulouse, some in Normandy and northern France, one at Westminster, and a small foundation in Valencia. 

Primary Sources on Digital Camino

References & Further Reading

Brasher, Sally Mayall. Hospitals and Charity: Religious Culture and Civic Life in Medieval Northern Italy. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2017.

Brodman, James. Charity and Religion in Medieval Europe. Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2009. See Chapter 3: “To Shelter the Pilgrim: Military Orders, Hospices, and Bridges,” and esp. p. 116-118 on the Pyrenean hospitals at Aubrac, Roncesvalles, and Somport.

Brodman, James. Charity and Welfare: Hospitals and the Poor in Medieval Catalonia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.

Davis, Adam. The Medieval Economy of Salvation: Charity, Commerce and the Rise of the Hospital. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019.

Vauchez, André. La spiritualité du Moyen Âge occidental (VIIIe-XIIIe siècle). 2nd ed. Paris: Seuil, 1994. See esp. p. 118.

Watson, Sethina. On Hospitals: Welfare, Law, and Christianity in Western Europe, 400-1320. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.

Ziegler, Tiffany. Medieval Healthcare and the Rise of Charitable Institutions: The History of the Municipal Hospital. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Pivot, 2018.

Royal Documents on Protections for Pilgrims to Santiago

amelia.kennedy

About the Texts

These three royal documents delineate pilgrims’ rights and protections during the thirteenth century. The first two were issued by King Alfonso IX (1171-1230) and the third by King Alfonso X (1221-84). In reading these texts, we gain insight into some of the problems and challenges that pilgrims faced.

The first document [Text #1] is undated but pertains to King Alfonso IX. Historian Fernando López Alsina situates the document prior to the 1228 Council of Salamanca. This text discusses the subject of pilgrims’ deaths, as well as common problems afflicting pilgrims (such as unscrupulous donkey-drivers who overcharged them, or inn-keepers who took advantage of them). These various abuses of pilgrims had previously been denounced in the sermon Veneranda Dies, which forms part of the Liber Sancti Jacobi. While Text #1 is not the first document to discuss the free circulation of pilgrims, it is the first known document to address pilgrims to Santiago specifically.

In February 1228, while at the Council of Salamanca, King Alfonso IX of León issued a constitution [Text #2] concerning pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela (as well as pilgrims to other sites). The council was held under the auspices of the papal legate John of Abbeville for the purpose of bringing the Spanish Church into better alignment with the reforms of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. In particular, this document specifies a procedure for handling pilgrims’ deaths and the distribution of their belongings. Death along the Camino was a risk all pilgrims undertook; some fell ill, became dehydrated or exhausted, encountered bandits, were attacked by animals, or succumbed to inclement weather. The concern demonstrated here for pilgrims’ belongings suggests that many pilgrims were quite well-off and had substantial assets on their person.

Finally, the third document translated here [Text #3] dates to 1254, during the reign of Alfonso X. It likewise concerns challenges facing pilgrims and outlines protective measures that should be taken. Unlike Alfonso IX, who ruled a smaller territory more centered on northern Spain, Alfonso X governed a larger area (as can be seen from his longer list of titles). Santiago de Compostela was no longer as central to the Castilian king’s domain, but pilgrimage to Santiago nevertheless remained a concern.

Texts #1 and #3 are found in the Tumbillo de Concordias, a collection of documents probably compiled during the late thirteenth century, relating to the administration of Santiago and its surroundings. Texts #2 and #3 are in Tumbo B, a cartulary produced c. 1320s under the authority of Archbishop Berengar of Landorra, decades after either document was originally written. However, the fact that they were copied into Tumbo B suggests that they remained relevant in the fourteenth century.

What differences do you notice between the texts? Why might kings have been interested in protecting pilgrims? What can these documents tell us about royal justice and administration during this period? About the experiences of pilgrimage?

Translation: Text #1

[Statute given by King Alfonso IX in favor of the pilgrims to Santiago.]

He who receives leadership over a kingdom from the Lord ought to care for all those gathered by the control conferred by God under the protection of his wings and to defend them along the journey against the plots of depraved men and the various dangers of the way, especially those who have less protection, and most especially those who are going out from their homeland and away from their kin on account of God, those who, after God, do not have a protector except for the Catholic prince, before other princes. Therefore I, Alfonso, King by the grace of God of León, Galicia, Asturias, and Extremadura, recognize that I am especially responsible for pilgrims, since my realm is graced by the presence of the body of the most glorious Apostle James, to whom the nations of all the lands from all parts of the world gather for prayer. Thus, for the love of God, from whom the power of the kingdom is given to me, and also by the singular protection of the aforesaid most glorious Apostle, both my kingdom and all of Spain survives. I firmly wish and decree and institute that it should be perpetually conserved by all my successors that pilgrims of God and St. James should be immune from all harms throughout my entire kingdom. Nor should any host or anyone else dare harm them in any way. Therefore, when pilgrims who are arriving are invited in by hosts, no one–neither innkeeper nor anyone serving at the inn–should dare to draw them in violently or impel them or provoke them with abuses or do any sort of violence to them. But whosoever should do any of those things, if he is the owner, owes ten morabetinos to the royal official, or five if he is a servant. And such a servant should be sent outside of the house of the owner. And if the servant should have more money, he owes ten morabetinos. And whoever does not have what he owes is to be beaten.

Also, anyone who receives pilgrims into their home should treat them nicely and faithfully, and should not dare to change the previously-advertised measure either of wine or of grain or of anything else. Whoever does so owes ten morabetinos, and moreover is compelled to hand over the agreed-upon measure to the pilgrim.

Also, if it should happen that any pilgrim becomes sick in my kingdom, he is permitted to make arrangements for his belongings freely and according to his volition. And after his death, however he arranged to dispose of his things should be observed in full. The pilgrim, however, should be advised that the host will receive his finest clothing if he should die. But neither the host nor anyone else should dare to take any of his other belongings except that which the pilgrim left to them in his will. If, however, the pilgrim did not make a will, then if he has companions from his homeland, they should bury and make arrangements for him as they see fit. And they should make an oath in the hands of the chaplain and the host that they will faithfully bring the deceased pilgrim’s belongings back to the heirs, and not carry off anything from them except for the best outfit which is owed to the host.

But if the deceased did not leave a will and also does not have companions from his land, then he is to be buried honorably by the host and the chaplain, and the necessary things are to be administered for his funeral. The host should receive a third part of his belongings. The royal official should receive a third part. And the church that has his grave, a third part. And neither the primary host nor the chaplain nor anyone else should dare to take anything from the companions of the deceased, just as in the case of the deceased himself. But the friends of the deceased should have his belongings peacefully, as long as they swear themselves to be such. But if anyone should complain that they [e.g. the host or anyone else] took something, it should be restored. If this happens, the guilty party should receive nothing, and he owes the royal official 100 morabetinos. And let it also be prohibited by the bishop of that place under the pain of excommunication lest either the host or anyone else take cunningly from the sick person the portion of the chaplain. And if anyone is caught doing this, he incurs the penalty mentioned above.

Also, let no donkey-driver dare to lie about the destination or the distance, nor cause any pilgrim to descend by violence or fraud of any sort before he leads him to the agreed-upon location. Whoever is caught doing any of these things should lose his donkey or any travel permit. And moreover he owes the royal official five morabetinos if he is a servant, and the owner of the license should also lose the license. And the one serving should owe five morabetinos, and if he does not have enough, he should be publicly flogged.

I constitute these things to be firmly observed out of love for my most glorious patron, for the remedy of my soul and that of my ancestors. Furthermore, so that anyone who becomes aware of it should graciously see to the security and convenience of pilgrims.

Alfonso, by the grace of God, king of León, to all of his vassals who have lands along the Camino Francés from Mansella to Santiago, sends greetings. You know that I made a decree and constitution about how pilgrims who come through my kingdom to Santiago should live and be treated. And I firmly order you to observe and cause to be observed that decree and that institution which I made and sealed with my seal, throughout all your lands. And if you do not, you will lose my grace and love.

Translation: Text #2

[Another statute by Alfonso IX concerning pilgrims, modifying the previously outlined procedure for handling a deceased pilgrim’s belongings.]

Alfonso, King of León by the grace of God, sends greetings to all whom this letter reaches. Just as it is fitting for the royal Majesty to encourage the honest and good customs of his kingdom, so too it behooves the sublimity of regal providence to extirpate the dishonest customs, and especially those which are found to be against God and justice. So it is–upon the insistence and petition of the reverend father John, Bishop of Sabina by the grace of God and legate of the Apostolic See–that I, Alfonso, King of León and Galicia by the grace of the same, constitute and firmly order to be observed as law throughout my whole kingdom that pilgrims visiting the threshold of the most glorious Apostle James, or San Salvador in Asturia, or the shrine of any saint, be permitted to make arrangements concerning all of their goods according to their own volition; and that their wills, whether made in writing or orally, should be fully binding. But if they should die without a will, prevented from making one by death, then their companions from their land who are present at their death should receive in full the goods of the deceased, once they have sworn an oath that they will faithfully restore them to those who ought to succeed the deceased. Otherwise, all the goods of the deceased should be conserved for up to one year under the authority of the diocesan bishop of the place where they died, so that if within a year, the rightful heir(s) should arrive, they may recover the goods. But when a second year has elapsed, if no one has shown up who is a legitimate heir of the deceased, then the diocesan bishop, having God before his eyes, for the remedy of the deceased pilgrims, should distribute the goods in a certain way: namely, a third should go to the church where the pilgrims were buried and to the church’s clerics, and the other two thirds should be assigned for use in the frontier conflict against the Moors.

Also, I order all of my judiciaries to observe this constitution or law that I have promulgated, and that they cause it to be firmly observed for all time.

This was enacted in Salamanca, with the following present, consenting, and approving: the venerable fathers Bernaldus, the archbishop of Compostela; and all the bishops of my kingdom, convoked by the aforesaid legate to the council; as well as the barons of my kingdom. In the year of the Lord 1228, on the feast of St. Agatha the Virgin, in the month of February.

Translation: Text #3

[Statute of Alfonso X confirming the previous statutes and once again modifying the procedure for handling the belongings of a deceased pilgrims.]

Let it be known to all who see this text that I, Alfonso, King by the grace of God of Castile, Toledo, León, Galicia, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia, and Jaén, having thoroughly discussed with the bishops, princes, knights, religious men, and nobles of the whole sacred palace, grant this favor of my piety to all pilgrims and especially those coming to the threshold of St. James from anywhere, that they may safely come, go, and dwell within each of my kingdoms and the provinces subject to my jurisdiction. And also their companions. For I estimate it worthy that, since those performing good deeds merit my protection for praising God, I should defend them from all harm or injury. Therefore, I decree by a royal constitution, valid in perpetuity, that no one should presume to harm or damage pilgrims or their companions by a reckless act. But rather, they should go and come freely, and they should be received safely and without any coercion or violence where they choose. And pilgrims should be freely permitted to acquire necessary goods from anyone they want, with fair weights and correct measures used. And because there is nothing that should mean more to men than that the pen of last will is free, I institute–or rather, declare to be instituted–that if it should happen that any of the above be detained by infirmity, he may freely relinquish his goods in his will and assign them licitly to whomsoever he wishes without any impediment or contradiction. But if he should die intestate, it is permitted to the judges of good descent of that place to dispose of them for the soul. Thus, namely so that before my ears they procure to insinuate and faithfully put into practice, just as they receive them from My Highness, adding that if an attempt is made against the tenor of my constitutions by anyone, it should be amended quickly by the judges of the places or the provinces to whom I gave my power in this matter according to the quantity of the crime and the quality of the criminals. But let the judges of the aforesaid places or provinces know that unless, injury having been inflicted on pilgrims, when they are sought out, they do justice without delay, they must restore double the cost of the injury and they will be able to dread the note of infamy with detriment to their dignity. I order this constitution to be included among my royal constitutions, and I cause it to be published throughout my kingdoms and provinces subject to my dominion.

Given in Burgos, pronounced by the archdeacon Master Fernando, royal notary, on the 6th day of November in the era 1292 [= 1254 CE]. Juan Perez of Cuenca wrote it.

References

Text #1:

López Ferreiro, Antonio. Historia de la Santa A.M. Iglesia de Santiago de Compostela. Vol. 5. Santiago: Imp. y Enc. del Seminario Conciliar Central, 1902. Appendix: Document #15.

Text #2:

López Ferreiro, Antonio. Historia de la Santa A.M. Iglesia de Santiago de Compostela. Vol. 5. Santiago: Imp. y Enc. del Seminario Conciliar Central, 1902. Appendix: Document #14.

Text #3:

González Balasch, María Teresa, ed. Tumbo B de la Catedral de Santiago. Santiago de Compostela: Edicios do Castro, 2004. Document #48, p. 151-52.

Documents on the Sale of Shells to Pilgrims

amelia.kennedy

About the Texts

The first document [Text #1] records an agreement forged in 1200 between Pedro Suárez de Deza, the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, and the townspeople who held licenses to sell scallop shells to pilgrims. It is most likely that the shells discussed here are not natural shells, but rather shell-shaped badges made of lead, tin, or other materials. The text comes down to us in Tumbo C, compiled during the 1320s under the episcopacy of Berengar of Landorra.

The scallop shell is a well-known symbol of the Camino de Santiago, dating back at least to the 12th century. Shells are mentioned in various medieval texts, including the Liber Sancti Jacobi. Pilgrims might buy a shell as a souvenir, and some seem to have believed in their miraculous powers of healing and defense.

The second document translated here [Text #2] represents a sequel of sorts to the first document. Dating to 1230 and promulgated by the Archbishop Bernardo II, it again delineates rules and guidelines for shell vendors, outlining the fees they owed to the Church and discussing how ownership of a license to sell shells could be lawfully transferred. This text is also included in Tumbo C.

What do these documents tell us about the relationships among the archbishop of Santiago, the townspeople, and the flow of pilgrims? What can we learn about the economy of pilgrimage?

Image of a 15th-century pilgrim's badge in the shape of a scallop shell.

This 15th-century pilgrim’s badge is made of lead.

Translation: Text #1

Pedro, by the esteem of God Archbishop of the Holy Church of Compostela, sends greetings in the Lord to my beloved sons in Christ, namely to the citizens who hold the right to sell shells.

I want it to be known that it pleases me and that I have decreed that there should be no more than 100 licenses to sell shells, and that no more than this number should be added, neither by me nor by you. And let me have 25 out of those 100 licenses, in addition to three others which I had there previously. Out of these 28 licenses, let me do as I wish. But you may have 62 licenses, and you should give me as tribute each year one morabetino for each license from the pilgrimage season between Easter and Pentecost, and half a morabetino for the autumnal pilgrimage season from the feast of St. Michael until the feast of St. Martin. For this rent, you may hold them from me for 30 years.

If, however, within this time you wish to raise a question or make a case against me regarding these rights, it should not be an annoyance to me, but the matter should be treated amicably by both parties without scandal and violence or undue contention, and it should be adjudicated by suitable judges who are agreeable to both parties. If, by chance, you win the suit, I shall not require the aforesaid income from your licenses until those 30 years are complete. But if I win against you in this case, nevertheless I will not demand anything from you for those 30 years beyond the morabetino and a half for each license, just as I have said. However, after the end of the aforesaid period of time, I will do with each shell license what I please, without any contradiction from you.

If one of you or your heirs wishes to give up the license(s) which you have within this time frame, I will receive the license(s), thereafter doing with them what I please, and I will not require from you or your heirs anything beyond the aforementioned payment.

Also, it is provided that this period of 30 years should be able to generate no prejudice by reason of time for either party.

Moreover, it is decreed that if within this 30-year span you or your heirs do not raise a question regarding the licenses with me or my successors, so that the case is decided by a legal judgment, afterwards it will not be permitted to you or your heirs, or to me or my successors, to press a legal claim regarding this in any way whatsoever. But I or my successors have free power over all of the shell licenses, apart from any complaint that might be brought to me.

Also, you are held by oath that you should faithfully exercise the ministry of the shells in a manner useful to me and my Church by serving pilgrims honestly. And if there is anything to be corrected or emended, it will be up to the discretion of my procurators to whom I have committed this ministry. It should be emended competently and efficiently according to the conventions and agreements which you have placed with my vicar. And all these things, just as they have been determined above, should be observed faithfully between myself or my successors and you and your successors without change. And if either party tries to act contrary to this, with reckless abandon, that party should pay 3000 morabetinos to the other party. Nevertheless, this writing should stand by its own strength.

Done in Compostela, 12th Kalends of March.

In era 1238 [= 1200 CE].

I, Pedro, Archbishop of Compostela, confirm.
I, Martin, the Dean, confirm.
I, Adam, Archdeacon of Compostela, confirm.
Don Raymond, at that time Justice of Compostela, confirms.
Miguel Díaz, at that time Majordomo of Compostela, confirms.
Pedro Fernández confirms.
Don Viviano Bernadez confirms.
Don Gayo confirms.
Juan Gascón confirms.
Pedro Martínez de Civitate confirms.
Don Martín Pérez de Campo confirms.
I, Lope Arias, notary of Compostela [drew up this document].

Translation: Text #2

Since life is brief and memory is fragile, and the deeds of past or present are not allowed to be perpetuated, thus deeds are committed to the life of letters, so that they live in a certain way an eternal life. Therefore, let it be known both to the present parties, as well as to posterity, that these agreements and statutes made between Bernardo, Archbishop of the Church of Compostela on one side, and the citizens of Compostela who have licenses to sell shells on the other, are to be observed without violation in perpetuity.

There should not be more than 100 licenses to sell shells, of which the archbishop has 28 licenses, and he may do with them as he wishes. But the citizens have 62 licenses from which they must give the archbishop as rent, in recognition of his lordship, each year from each license 14 and a half solidi in the money current at that time in the city of Compostela. And ten solidi should be paid from the pilgrimage between Easter and Pentecost, and the other four solidi and a half should be paid from the pilgrimage between the feast of St. Michael and the feast of St. Martin. But the aforesaid citizens have and hold the aforesaid 62 licenses from the hand and grant of the archbishop of Compostela.

Nevertheless, by law, they have the right to hand them down to their heirs in perpetuity, or to give them away or sell them. However, it is not permitted to the aforesaid citizens or their successors in perpetuity that they–regardless of the title or manner in which they obtained them–sell or give any of the 62 licenses to any cleric except those of the Church of Compostela. And if they wish to give alms from any of the licenses, in part or in whole, or provide for an anniversary [i.e. pay for mass to be said on the anniversary of a person’s death], they or their successors may only do so in the Church of Compostela. But the sale or donation which is not for alms can be made within the Church of Compostela so long as in no way or manner any of these licenses or any right in them is transferred to any cleric except the Church of Compostela.

And if anyone causes a transference of ownership to be done against this comprehensive statute, then this transference is ipso iure and ipso facto null. And if, by chance…[The edited text leaves off here; this is possibly meant as a reference to the sentence beginning “If, by chance” in Text #1 above.]

And if anyone acts against this statute, he should pay 1000 morabetinos, with this statute nevertheless remaining valid. The document was made 8th Kalends of February in the archbishop’s palace, era 1268 [= 1230 CE]. Those present were the following:

I, Bernardo, by the mercy of God Archbishop of Compostela, confirm.
I, Juan, Dean of Compostela, confirm.
I, B., cantor of Compostela, confirm.
I, Juan Raimundez, Archdeacon of Compostela, confirm.
I, Martín Pérez, Canon and Cardinal-Elect, confirm.
I, Juan Cresconio, Archdeacon of Nendos, confirm.
I, Sancho Pérez, Judge of Compostela, confirm.
I, Domingo Díaz, Cardinal, confirm.
Martín Pérez of Tudela and Pelayo García, Justices.
Juan Martínez Xarpa.
Julian Yañez.
Abril Sebastianez.
Fernando Pectavinus.
Pedro Martínez de Campo.
Guillermo Yañez.
Juan Díaz de Moneta Nona.
Juan Fernandez Rapatus.
Arias Pérez Pauquitinus.
Fernando Pelaez de Arenis.
Pedro Raimundez.
Bernaldo Romanez, godfather of Martín.
Juan Pérez Curutana.
Domingo Martínez.
Pelayo de Valouta.
Juan de Saon.
Pedro Arias the Shell-Vendor.
I, Martín Yañez, sworn notary of the Council of Compostela, wrote this document.

References

López Ferreiro, Antonio. Historia de la Santa A.M. Iglesia de Santiago de Compostela. Vol. 5. Santiago: Imp. y Enc. del Seminario Conciliar Central, 1902. Appendix: Documents #5 and #17.

Diego Gelmírez (c. 1065-1140)

amelia.kennedy

Diego Gelmírez was the first archbishop of Santiago de Compostela and played a major role in the development of the town during the twelfth century.

Timeline

c. 1065: Birth of Gelmírez.

1094-1095: Accompanied Raymond of Burgundy, the ruler of Galicia, on his campaign against Lisbon.

21 April 1101: Consecrated Bishop of Santiago.

1102: Brought the bodies of Saints Susana and Fructuoso from Braga to Santiago.

1113 and 1133: Issued decrees for the protection of the Galician coast from Almoravid pirates.

1120: Became Archbishop of Santiago.

1121: Briefly imprisoned by Queen Urraca.

Late 1139 or early 1140: Death of Gelmírez.

Biography

Gelmírez was probably born in the mid-1060s. His father was a nobleman who managed church lands. In 1069, when Gelmírez was probably still a child, noble relatives killed the then bishop of Santiago de Compostela. Much later, King Alfonso VI deposed Bishop Diego Peláez. The precise role of Gelmírez’s father in these affairs is not known, but these events likely affected Gelmírez. According to the Historia Compostelana, Gelmírez avoided staying in palaces in Iria built by Bishop Peláez because they brought to mind Peláez’s bad fortune.

Gelmírez received his education at a cathedral school. By 1093, he was a church official in Santiago and also an official in the court of Raymond of Burgundy, the ruler of Galicia. In the following two years, he accompanied Raymond on a military expedition against Muslim-ruled Lisbon.

In 1095, Pope Urban II issued a bull transferring the seat of the diocese from Iria to Santiago, under the leadership of the bishop Dalmatius. After Dalmatius’ death later that year, there was a delay in naming a new bishop. Gelmírez was finally consecrated as bishop on 21 April 1101. He then traveled to Toledo to see King Alfonso, and to Braga, apparently with the intention of visiting churches that were part of his diocese. He did more than visit, as he brought a large number of relics from Braga back to Santiago as booty. His return to Santiago was rapid: Among the relics were the remains of Saints Susana and Fructuoso, which the inhabitants of Braga believed had been robbed.

Pope Calixtus II raised Gelmírez and his see to archiepiscopal rank in 1120.

As bishop and archbishop, Gelmírez played a major role in public affairs.  Within the diocese, he dictated rules, collected taxes, administered justice, and led the army. To defend the coast against Almoravid pirates, he armed ships piloted by experts brought from Arles, Genoa, and Pisa. He insistently requested and finally obtained the privilege of minting coins.

Gelmírez’s activities were not without opposition. Rebellions broke out in Santiago in 1116 and 1136. At one point, Queen Urraca imprisoned Gelmírez, though according to one source, Gelmírez had enough support that he was only in prison for days. When the queen died, Gelmírez went to meet Alfonso VII, the new king. Relations with Alfonso, however, were cold and tense. Gelmírez saw himself obliged to provide the king with significant amounts of money.  Maintaining–and expanding–the privileges of the diocese required sacrifice.

We know little more about Gelmírez’s death than about his birth. In 1139, he was invited to attend the Second Lateran Council and confirmed diplomas until June of that year. By a year later–in June of 1140–a new archbishop had been elected.

References & Further Reading

Primary Sources

Falque, Emma, ed. and trans. Historia Compostelana. Madrid: Ediciones Akal, 1994.

Secondary Works

Fletcher, Richard. St. James’s Catapult: The Life and Times of Diego Gelmírez of Santiago de Compostela. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984.

Portela Silva, Ermelindo. “Diego de Gelmírez.” Real Academia de la Historia.

Liber Sancti Jacobi

amelia.kennedy

About the Text

Written in the twelfth century, the Liber Sancti Jacobi (Book of St. James) compiles information, advice, sermons, miracle stories, and more that would be of interest to a pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago. It is divided into five parts:

  • Book 1: The Sermons and Liturgy of Saint James: This lengthy book includes multiple sermons, accounts of the martyrdom of St. James, and liturgical texts.
  • Book 2: The Miracles of St. James: This book contains accounts of miracles that were attributed to St. James. Many of these miracles concern pilgrims.
  • Book 3: The Translatio of St. James: This relatively short book narrates the translation of St. James’ body from Jerusalem, where he died, to his final resting place in Galicia. It also mentions pilgrims collecting shells from the Galician coast.
  • Book 4: The Chronicle of Pseudo-Turpin: Written by an unknown twelfth-century writer, this chronicle was attributed to Archbishop Turpin of Reims. It describes Charlemagne’s arrival in Spain, the death of Roland, and St. James’ appearance to Charlemagne in a dream.
  • Book 5: Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela: Arguably one of the earliest tourist guides, this book tells pilgrims what to expect along the Camino, recommends places to visit, and warns against common problems.

The most famous manuscript containing the Liber Sancti Jacobi is the Codex Calixtinus.

English Translations of the Text

Gerson, Paula, Alison Stones, Jeanne Krochalis, and Annie Shaver-Crandell, ed. and trans. The Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela: A Critical Edition. 2 vols. London: Harvey Miller, 1998.

Italica Press’s Compostela Project, underway since 1993, has published English translations of Books 1-5. The sermon Veneranda Dies (which is in the first book of the Liber) has been translated and is included with the materials for Book 2.

There is also an English translation of Book 5 (“Pilgrim’s Guide”) available online.