History of The Camino Frances
The origin of The Camino Frances is the discovery of the remains of the Apostle James the Elder in the 9th century. According to the traditional narrative, the discovery was made by Bishop Teodomiro, from the Diocese of Iría Flavia, in the year 813.
In the place where the remains of the Apostle Santiago were found, the Asturian monarch Alfonso II (The Chaste) ordered the construction of a church, which was later converted into the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
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From that very moment, many Christians decided to travel on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela to offer their respects to the saint. This devotion prompted people to come from different places, crossing the lands that surrounded the heart of Galicia.
Alfonso II, who needed an element that would give cohesion to his kingdom, transformed the apostle into a symbol against the struggle of Islam. The image of Santiago Matamoros was born, which was spread quickly among the pilgrim community on the route and the Christian community in general.
The Origin of The Camino Frances
The Camino Frances has its origin in the Middle Ages and in the discovery of the tomb of the Apostle Santiago.
However, it also had very important strategic functions to serve as a frontier at the time of the Reconquista between the Muslim and the Christian sides and, at the same time, to promote a trade route that contributed to revitalize the whole area and that in a large part explains the patrimonial richness of all the municipalities on The Camino Frances.
Although at first, it was not very safe (as were all roads and trips in the 10th century) the monarch Sancho III was the one who, by means of the implantation of a mark that separates the Christian territory from the Muslim contributed to its development. The Codex Calixtinus contributed to increasing its popularity by describing its main routes and encouraging not only the popular European classes to travel on this way with the desire to fulfil promises and penances, but also to great characters who were included in all layers of medieval society.
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Nowadays, The Camino Frances to Santiago is the busiest. That increases the chances of meeting people with the same concerns as us. And the popularity that it has responds to the great beauty of the places it crosses, as well as to the great amount of cultural, historical and artistic heritage that exists.
It is, without a doubt, one of the best alternatives to enjoy the experience of the Camino de Santiago.
Codex Calixtinus: The written testimony of The Camino Frances
The Camino Frances is the most documented route. The book V Manuscript of the Codex Calixtinus, which dates from the year 1135, already accurately indicates the four main roads of The Camino Frances.
Three of the roads (Lee Puy-Conques, Vézelay-Limoges and Paris-Tours) enter Spain by St. Jean Pied de Port, a French locality close to Roncesvalles, in Navarre. While the fourth route (Arles-Toulouse) enters by Somport and continues to Jaca, in Aragon. This last route joins the three previous ones in Puente La Reina, in Navarra.
This written testimony also includes the use of expressions by pilgrims to greet each other at that particular time. In the book appears “Ultreia Et Sus Eia! Deus Adjuva nos!” which means “Let’s go further and go higher! God help us! “
“Ultreia” is a greeting among pilgrims who also used to cheer themselves up. Its origin is in the Latin word “ultra”, which means “beyond”, and “EIA”, interjection to “move”.
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It seems that the pilgrims of the time were greeted saying “Ultreia, Suseia, Santiago” which means “Keep going, beyond, further up, is Santiago”. It could also be that when one pilgrim greeted another, he said “Ultreia” (“Go beyond”) and that the other answered, “Et Suseia” (“and we go Higher”).
The time of splendour and its decline
Until the 13th century, the most brilliant stage of the Camino de Santiago unfolded, and which witnessed the passage of all kinds of pilgrims, who came from any Christian region of Europe to Santiago pushed on by various interests, both religious and economic. It was also in that century, in 1211, when the present Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela was inaugurated.
But The Camino de Santiago was not just a pilgrimage route. The development of The Camino Frances also had an important social, cultural and economic impact between the connecting regions.
Thanks to the movement of people between the Iberian Peninsula and Europe, different literary and artistic influences came to Spain, as well as different ways of thinking and behaving. This flow also occurred in reverse and the European countries gained access to Hispanic cultural heritage.
The kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula that were crossed by The Camino Frances suffered a strong impact on an economic and social level. The lively life on the road encouraged the arrival of many groups of merchants and artisans, basically foreigners, who ended up permanently settling in various localities on the way.
The settlements of these foreigners, who were called popularly “francs”, although not all of them came from France, they received the name of “Burgos”. The inhabitants of these new centres received great privileges in the jurisdictions of their cities. Thus the bourgeoisie was born, and The Camino Frances witnessed numerous anti-state riots.
On an artistic level, the Camino de Santiago had a very important role. Through the route, the international art movement entered Spain. The Romanesque, mainly its French version, was materialized prominently in places such as Santiago, León, Frómista or Jaca.
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In parallel, Muslim elements came to Europe that were transmitted through The Camino Frances. During the 13th century, the Camino de Santiago was the gateway to Gothic art.
From the 14th century onwards, the flow of pilgrims visiting Santiago de Compostela suffered a setback. The schism of the Christian world in 1378, the frequent wars, the proliferation of the Black Plague, among other reasons, considerably reduced pilgrimages to Santiago.
The Camino Frances today
At present, The Camino Frances is, in all ways, not only the most popular but also the one that enjoys the greatest recognition, both at national and international level. However, although its fame goes back in centuries of history, it is not until 1993, that The Camino Frances becomes an important tourist attraction.
The Holy Year of 1993, supported by the declaration of the French Road as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and of the first European itinerary of Cultural interest by the Council of Europe, triggered a very important boom in this itinerary.
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In 2004, it received the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord for being qualified as an example of co-existence between people and cultures; And for their role in the development of the European origins of Christianity. Every year, travelling on The Camino Frances, almost 300,000 pilgrims arrive in Santiago de Compostela.
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