scruffy1
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Holy Year from Pamplona 2010, SJPP 2011, Lisbon 2012, Le Puy 2013, Vezelay (partial watch this space!) 2014; 2015 Toulouse-Puenta la Reina (Arles)
Spain and Portugal were never very welcoming nor friendly towards one another as the fortresses at Valença and Tui quickly reveal. True they were both Very Catholic countries but why should Portugal adopt the patron saint of her greatest rival? Why should the country and especially the Camino Portugués be peppered with statues of Santiago Matamoros? The issue is resolved in the figure of one Alfonso Henriques, a man, who depending on your point of view, was an oversized bearded Northern bandit or a true braveheart Christian warrior. The warrior who fought to expel the Muslims in Portugal and was later crowned King Alfonso I.
Saint James???
Alfonso Henriques achieved his first major victory over the Muslim forces with an overwhelming victory in the Battle of Ourique, and straight after was unanimously proclaimed King of the Portuguese by his soldiers. And when, which date, did this battle occur? You should have guessed by now, July 25, 1139. Saint James Feast Day. His statue appears in Guimaraes, the ancient capital of Portugal should you wish to see the man.
Father, you were a warrior.
Today the vigil is ours.
Give us your whole example
And the whole of your strength!
Give us, against the hour, when wrongly
When new infidels succeed,
Your blessing as a sword,
Your sword as a blessing!
Fernando Pessoa of course, and no the infidels in his poem are not Muslims.
Saint James???
Alfonso Henriques achieved his first major victory over the Muslim forces with an overwhelming victory in the Battle of Ourique, and straight after was unanimously proclaimed King of the Portuguese by his soldiers. And when, which date, did this battle occur? You should have guessed by now, July 25, 1139. Saint James Feast Day. His statue appears in Guimaraes, the ancient capital of Portugal should you wish to see the man.
Father, you were a warrior.
Today the vigil is ours.
Give us your whole example
And the whole of your strength!
Give us, against the hour, when wrongly
When new infidels succeed,
Your blessing as a sword,
Your sword as a blessing!
Fernando Pessoa of course, and no the infidels in his poem are not Muslims.