The Road to Compostela
rue Nationale, Amboise.
Is This The Way To Compostela?
Not now, but it was. Amboise was on what the Spanish called the The French Road because the first pilgrims to Santiago (Saint James) de Compostela were French.
Canny entrepreneurs settled in towns such as Amboise which helped make them prosperous.
Pilgrims on their way to Spain were under the protection of the King of France. Given hospitality (the original meaning of hospital) along the way, in Amboise they probably bedded down for the night in the Convent in la rue des Minims, now rue de la Concorde.
St Denis, Amboise.
Then it was along rue Nationale leading to the magnificent Church of St Denis, up hill along rue Bléré, now rue Bretonneau, to avenue Emile Gounin, boulevard Saint-Denis Hors, St Martin le Beau heading south for Poitiers and on to Spain.
Embedded in the road of rue Nationale are what look like metal studs. They represent cockle shells, the symbol of Saint James, the first Apostle to be martyred (Herod ordered his death in 44 AD). Mourners took his corpse to Spain to be buried but the ship was wrecked during a storm. When the body was washed ashore some time later it was encrusted with shells.
The Archbishop of Compostella needed pilgrims to fund his new cathedral. To promote the pilgrimage he decided to publish a Guide Book showing the various routes from France. As the majority of pilgrims were French who better to compile it but a Frenchman? He chose Aymeric Picaud, a Benedictine monk, the Pope’s personal secretary.
Picaud recorded his journey in the first person. The itineraries are extremely detailed with all kinds of advice for the pilgrim, where to stay, where to eat. He lists the shelters, hospices, towns, services to be found there, local customs, the dangers and the shrines he visited. The ancient paths via Turonensis (the way from Tours) are now busy major roads.
Published in 1140 with beautiful illuminations the book was deposited in the Cathedral archives. The first copy was made in 1173 by a monk in Catalonia. More copies were made and presented to cathedrals in Cluny, Rome and Jerusalem.
The seven hundred year old old guide book was forgotten about until 1886 when the Cathedral archivist launched a campaign to restore it. The first full transcription was published in 1944 in Madrid.
In 2011 the priceless book went missing from the Cathedral. Dubbed the theft of the century by Spanish media, the police assumed it had been stolen by art thieves at the request of a private collector. An article in the local press said the most visited Cathedral in Spain had only one security guard.
It was found a year later in good condition in a garage in Santiago. It was wrapped in a bin liner hidden beneath a pile of junk.
The former electrician at the Cathedral confessed to stealing it along with over a million euros in cash and other priceless books from the Cathedral archive. He said he had been treated badly by Cathedral officials and wanted his own back. He worked for the Cathedral for over twenty-five years but was let go in favour of a private electricity company.
The publicity made the World’s First Guide Book world famous. Today, copies are in all the major museums.
Post by Pamela, photography by Mark.
