The Scholarly Pilgrim - History of the Camino de Santiago

Women now make up just over half of the pilgrims traveling into Santiago de Compostela. But in the Middle Ages, female pilgrims would have been in the minority, and their experiences would have been profoundly different than those traveling along the Camino de Santiago today. This episode explores the moral and social environment of medieval Europe and how it impacted women and their ability to embark on long-distance pilgrimages. It then discusses medieval women who traveled to the shrine of St James in Compostela as well as others who became important supporters of the pilgrimage.

This episode discusses how the image of St James was transformed into a knight leading Christian military efforts against the Muslims in Spain. It will explore the role of Compostela's cathedral chapter in creating and promoting this new image and discuss how the shrine benefited politically and economically from the association. It will further show how the legend of the so-called Santiago Matamoros became a symbol of Spanish identity and colonizing power.

This episode provides a recap of the ten episodes in Season 1. It discusses the Camino de Santiago's origins and patrons, pilgrim motivations, events and trends that contributed to its exploding popularity, and its impact on the people who lived along the pilgrim roads in the 12th century, the golden age of the pilgrimage.

This episode discusses the Jews who lived in pilgrim towns along the medieval Camino de Santiago. It will explore the origins of Jewish communities, the role they played in the pilgrimage's devotional infrastructure and the nature of their interactions with neighboring Christians. It will also discuss how Jews were viewed by monarchs and Church elites, and the issues which contributed to their expulsion from Spain.

This episode discusses the burgos of medieval Pamplona as a means to explore the complex state of relations between Franks and native people in pilgrim towns along the Camino de Santiago in Spain. It will also explain how tension between these groups was enflamed by the notion of Frankish cultural superiority which was propagated through stories about Charlemagne and native Spaniards.

This episode will explore the development of influential guilds in Santiago de Compostela that allowed merchants and artisans to significantly advance their economic and spiritual interests. It will also discuss how these guilds helped tradespeople and the shrine of St James to overcome the moral stigma from their association with money while dramatically enhancing the infrastructure and appeal of the Camino de Santiago.

This episode will explore the roles played by the Templars and Hospitallers along the medieval Camino de Santiago. In addition to providing security and hospitality these military orders cared for the spiritual wellbeing of pilgrims and helped facilitate the movement of wealth along the pilgrim roads. Legends and mysteries surrounding the Templars will also be discussed.

This episode attempts to unravel a mystery surrounding a group of minters found on the twelfth-century façade of the church of Santiago in the pilgrim town of Carrión. The complex role of money on the medieval Camino de Santiago will be explored. What message did the sculptures on the façade send to those who handled money along the Camino?

As pilgrim traffic started to boom in the 12th century, merchants and artisans living along the Camino de Santiago became wealthy and sought a greater say in the administration of towns and markets. Simmering tension between townspeople and local lords, including abbots and bishops, sometimes exploded into chaotic and violent rebellions. This episode will discuss events surrounding urban revolts in the pilgrim towns of Sahagún and Santiago de Compostela in the early 12th century.

This episode focuses on the second half of the 11th century, the pivotal period that set the stage for a boom in pilgrim traffic in the 12th century, the golden age of the Camino de Santiago. It will discuss changing power dynamics in Spain which led to an increasing emphasis on the pilgrimage. It will then show how the monarchs developed or repopulated a chain of towns along the Camino that would facilitate the movement of large numbers of foreign pilgrims and merchants.