Making pilgrimages to holy shrines is a common practice in many religions. Medieval Christians of all social classes made pilgrimages, often to shrines understood to contain the body of a saint. The shrine of Santiago de Compostela (Saint James at Compostela) in the kingdom of Galicia in the Iberian Peninsula, said to contain the bones of the biblical Saint James, was one of the most popular. In the twelfth century an unknown French author gathered many of the pilgrims’ experiences and put these together in a sort of guidebook.

The church, however, was begun in the year 1116 of the Spanish era [1078 C.E.]…. From the time when it was begun up to the present day, this church is renewed by the light of the miracles of the blessed James. In it, indeed, health is given to the sick, sight restored to the blind, the tongue of the mute is loosened, hearing is given to the deaf, soundness of limb is granted to cripples, the possessed are delivered, and what is more, the prayers of the faithful are heard, their vows are accepted, the bonds of sin are broken, heaven is opened to those who knock, consolation is given to the grieving, and all the people of foreign nations, flocking from all parts of the world, come together here in crowds bearing with them gifts of praise to the Lord….

The land of Navarre … abounds in bread and wine, milk and cattle…. The Navarrese wear short black garments extending just down to the knee, like the Scots, and they wear sandals which they call lavarcas made of raw hide with the hair on and are bound around the foot with thongs, covering only the soles of the feet and leaving the upper foot bare. In truth, they wear black woollen hooded and fringed capes, reaching to their elbows, which they call saias. These people, in truth, are repulsively dressed, and they eat and drink repulsively. For in fact all those who dwell in the household of a Navarrese, servant as well as master, maid as well as mistress, are accustomed to eat all their food mixed together from one pot, not with spoons but with their own hands, and they drink with one cup. If you saw them eat you would think them dogs or pigs. If you heard them speak, you would be reminded of the barking of dogs. For their speech is utterly barbarous….

Then comes Galicia [guh-LIH-shee-uh] … this is wooded and has rivers and is well-provided with meadows and excellent orchards, with equally good fruits and very clear springs; there are few cities, towns or cornfields. It is short of wheaten bread and wine, bountiful in rye bread and cider, well-stocked with cattle and horses, milk and honey, ocean fish both gigantic and small, and wealthy in gold, silver, fabrics, and furs of forest animals and other riches, as well as Saracen [Muslim] treasures. The Galicians, in truth, more than all the other uncultivated Spanish peoples, are those who most closely resemble our French race by their manners, but they are alleged to be irascible and very litigious.

Source: The Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela, critical edition and annotated translation by Paula Gerson, Jeanne Krochalis, Annie Shaver-Crandell, and Alison Stones. Copyright © 1997. Reprinted by permission of the authors.

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