Galicia, the Switzerland of SpainMeakin, Annette M. B.
History
Galicia, the Switzerland of Spain
Meakin, Annette M. B.
Galicia (Spain : Region)
St. James’s Road--The legend of St. James--Landing at Padron--Abbot
Ildefred--Alfonso el Casto--The town of Santiago--Diego
Gelmirez--The _Historia Compostelana_--Another famous
manuscript--The Codex of Calistus II.--Basque words--Origin of the
Basques--Molina’s list of pilgrims--In the cathedral--Hymn of the
Flemings--Relics of St. James--The scallop shell--Images of St.
James--Jet workers--Money-changers--St. Bridget--Philip II--William
of Rubruquis--Queen Matilda--An irreparable loss--A book on
Galicia--Why the pilgrims wear a scallop shell--Crowding of
pilgrims to the Mass--Beds in the cathedral--Incense in Christian
worship--The great censer--Early references to the
_botafumeiro_--The censer swings too far--Candlemas--An impressive
ceremony--The _Chirimias_--English pilgrims to Santiago--An English
hospital--The monastery of Sobrado
“The mediæval Spanish roads were the work of the clergy,” wrote Ford,
“and the long-bearded monks, here as elsewhere, were the pioneers of
civilisation.... In other provinces of Spain, the star-paved milky way
in the heavens is called _El Camino de Santiago_ (“the road of St.
James”); but the Galicians, who know what their roads really are,
namely, the worst on earth, call the milky way _El Camino de Jerusalem_
(“the road to Jerusalem”).” And here is a passage that we find among the
poetic writings of Daudet: A shepherdess has asked a young shepherd if
he knows the names of all the stars, and he begins his reply with, “Why,
yes, mistress. Look, straight above our heads. That is St. James’s Road.
It runs from France straight over Spain. It was St. James of Galicia who
traced it there, to show the brave Charlemagne his way when he was
making war upon the Saracens.”
The actual road which brought pilgrims and troubadours from France,
across northern Spain to the town of Santiago in Galicia, was known as
_el camino francés_, or the French Road. Ford says that the Spaniards
made Santiago a centre for their pilgrimages, because, as every one
knows, the Pope had forbidden them to take part in the Crusades as long
as they had infidels on their own soil.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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