History of the Camino de Santiago del Norte
The origin of the Camino de Santiago del Norte, like all the routes of the Camino de Santiago, is linked to the discovery of the remains of Santiago the Apostle in the 9th century. During the reign of Alfonso II, The Chaste (760-842) in Asturias, there was a discovery that was quickly spread by the Christian population.
At that time, the Asturian monarch decided to make a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, from Oviedo, to contemplate the newly discovered remains of the Apostle James the Elder. In fact, it was the king of Asturias who ordered to build a church in the place where the remains were found. Current location of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
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The Asturian monarch in search of an element that empowered ideologically and morally his Christian kingdom, confined to the northern peninsula against the overwhelming Muslim triumph, transformed the saint into a symbol against the struggle of Islam. The image of Santiago Matamoros was born in this fashion, which spread rapidly among pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago and the Christian community.
Origin of the Camino de Santiago del Norte
The Camino de Santiago del Norte is the most ancient Camino to Santiago according to the chronicles. Indeed, it was during the reign of Alfonso II when the discovery of the tomb of the Apostle James happened. Thereafter, the place became an indispensable centre for all Christendom.
There were some pilgrims who decided to imitate the pilgrimage that said King and other important characters had done before and then opened a more passable and safer route from the Arab attacks along the coast that is the one that at present constitutes the Camino de Santiago del Norte.
The discovery of the Camino de Santiago del Norte
His subjects imitated the pilgrimage of their monarch. With the experience, they realized that the route bordering the Cantabrian coast was less difficult than the path followed by the monarch. Following the Cantabrian route, pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela began increasing.
The Cantabrian coast offered a less difficult path than the one followed by the monarch (known as the Camino Primitivo, at present) and was farther away from the dangerous lands occupied by the Arabs and swarming with the strife of the Reconquista.
This fact led some historians to think that the Camino de Santiago del Norte was more ancient than the Camino Frances.
However, at present, almost all the history scholars of the Camino to Santiago, coincide in pointing out that the Camino de Santiago del Norte is later, and that it was much less frequented than the Camino Frances. The explanation of this fact is attributed to the complexities of the terrain that this route presents.
There is no doubt that while other routes of the Camino to Santiago took years to become well-known, the Camino del Norte is considered one of the primitive roads. The Asturian-Galician paths of the Old Kingdom of Asturias were one of the first to lead pilgrims to Santiago.
Proof of this is that the Cathedral of Santiago, in Bilbao, is the only Cathedral, except that of Compostela, in homage to the apostle. It is believed that the current construction was erected on a former chapel dating from the 11th century.
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More evidence is that the first lodging for pilgrims that is recorded on this route is the Pilgrim’s Hospital in Pola de Siero, in Asturias, which dates from the year 1141.
The passage of foreign pilgrims by the hospitals on this route also demonstrates the existence of a flow of pilgrims that travelled the Camino del Norte, since the beginning of the early Middle Ages.
The competition between the Camino de Santiago del Norte and the Camino Frances
From the 11th century onwards, the monarchs Sancho III The Elder and Sancho Ramírez de Navarra strengthened the Camino Frances and it acquired the nuance of the privileged Jacobean path. However, this fact was not at the expense of the Camino del Norte, since the Camino de San Salvador, a route that runs between León and Oviedo, was not strengthened until almost the 12th century.
The advance of the Reconquista allowed the completion of a route through Burgos and León, which responded to the search for a more accessible itinerary and the urgent need to repopulate the land annexed by the Muslims. These two events led to a sharp decrease in the number of pilgrims travelling the Camino de Santiago del Norte.
However, during the 13th and 14th centuries, the Camino de Santiago del Norte continued to be travelled by pilgrims who opted for the Irun pass to enter Spain, as well as those coming from Northern European countries, disembarking in Bilbao or Bermeo. Many of them travelled part of the Camino de Santiago del Norte to link, later, to the Camino Frances.
The operation of this route during the 13th century is reflected in the pilgrimage of San Francisco de Assisi, in 1214, who walked, according to the tradition of the time, to San Salvador de Oviedo and then continued the route to Compostela.
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According to legend, many of the Franciscan temples found today on the Camino de Santiago del Norte are the result of their journey on the Camino de Santiago.
From the 14th century, there are some pieces of evidence of the passage of pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago del Norte. Some of them are Llanes Pilgrim’s Hospital or San Vicente de Barquera. Or toponymical references, such as the river that crosses Canvia, and Asturias, which is named Romeros.
From the crisis of Faith to the second boom of the Camino de Santiago del Norte
Some authors point out that the Cantabrian route was reborn during the 15th century. However, the Camino del Norte, like the other itineraries of the Camino de Santiago, recorded a decline during the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of the crisis of faith that was experienced throughout Europe.
Dating from this time, the visit of the Armenian Bishop Martyr of Arzendjan, who made the Camino of Santiago from Rome, crossing the Camino de Santiago del Norte. Of this feat, made in 1489, a document was written and constitutes the first guide on the Camino de Santiago del Norte.
Another relevant pilgrim was the Venetian astronomer Bartolomeo Fontana, who began his pilgrimage in February 1538 and ended it in September of the following year. It draws attention that in the midst of a spiritual crisis, and being Rome the nucleus of Catholicism, the Italian pilgrims made their way to Santiago de Compostela.
During the last years of the 20th century, the declaration of the Camino Frances as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, gave a boost to this way, observing a rapid recovery.
According to the statistics of the Camino de Santiago, it is believed that, during the first decade of the present century, approximately 6% of the pilgrims who arrived in Santiago de Compostela, followed the Camino de Santiago del Norte.
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