TRAVERSE 92
into the Atlantic, one is overwhelmed by a sense of immensity. According to tradition, the remains of the Apostle arrived here at the end of an arduous journey, and it is here, facing the last known edge of the world, that pilgrims can truly conclude their Camino, shouting ultreia!(“ let us go further!”) towards the sea, to hear it answered with et suseia!(“ and higher still!”).
Today we know that beyond that blue ocean lie other continents, but at the dawn of the first millennium, Columbus and his caravels were still far in the future. Beyond lay only the Unknown— the End of the Earth, perhaps, but certainly not the end of hope.
The Legend of Saint James
On a clear autumn night in the year 813, a star of extraordinary brightness appeared in the sky over Galicia, illuminating the hills not far from the Atlantic coast. According to tradition, that light revealed the place where the relics of Saint James, the Apostle, son of Zebedee, lay hidden, brought back from the East by his disciples after an adventurous journey whose traces had long been lost. The remains were discovered in the very land where the Saint had preached, at a time when Spain was being shaken by the advance of Arab armies from the Maghreb.
The site of the discovery was named Santiago de Compostela, from the Latin campus stellae,“ field of the star.” Alfonso II, known as“ the Chaste,” King of Asturias, travelled there on pilgrimage and ordered the construction of the first sanctuary dedicated to the Apostle. Over the centuries, this shrine would be expanded, destroyed and rebuilt many times. News of the miraculous discovery spread rapidly throughout the Christian world, and Santiago soon became one of its most important pilgrimage destinations, second only to Rome and Jerusalem.
As would later happen with the Crusades, the pilgrimage to Compostela carried meanings that went beyond religion alone. Through the Camino, Christian rulers reaffirmed their claim over territories threatened by Viking raids along the coasts and, above all, by Arab expansion from the south. The uninterrupted flow of pilgrims, armed only with their faith, became a powerful symbol of resistance. This symbolism was further reinforced by the legend of Saint James’ s appearance during the battle of Clavijo in 844, when the Apostle was said to have ridden into combat on a white horse, wielding a flaming sword in support of the Christian armies. From that moment on, Saint James was often depicted as Santiago el Matamoros, the“ slayer of the Moors”, an image that definitively fused faith, myth and the historical identity of the Camino. ES & CZ
TRAVERSE 92