Compostela

[dbjordan]

Is there a difference between vertical and horizontal format of completely?
I've seen both.
Thanks

 

[Saint Mike II]

Is there a difference between vertical and horizontal format of completely?
I've seen both.
Thanks

????????????? Not sure what you are referring to!! Care to explain!! Cheers

 

[Vacajoe]

Yes, one is vertical and one horizontal... . Doesnt matter.

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

you might be mixing up the Compostela and the Distance Certificate, the latter is horizontal

 

[trecile]

There are three different certificates - two are "vertical" - the Compostela, which is given to those who walk for religious or spiritual reasons, and the "welcome" certificate for those who do the Camino for cultural or other reasons. The third type is the distance certificate, and it is horizontal.

 

[Vacajoe]

I took the OP question to mean whether to get stamps vertically in succession or horizontally. . I guess we need clarification on what the OP is asking....

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I took the OP question to mean whether to get stamps vertically in succession or horizontally. . I guess we need clarification on what the OP is asking....

No, pretty clear to those of us who've been to Santiago though I guess a little vague if you're a tyro

 

[Saint Mike II]

Ah, now I understand. Yes my Compostela’s are A4=( Portrait/Vertical): the distance certificate is landscape/ horizontal.

 

[Vacajoe]

Okay, what’s a “tyro”?BTW, I’ve been to Santiago....

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Okay, what’s a “tyro”?BTW, I’ve been to Santiago....

Marriam-Webster is your friend . . . a tyro is a novice, a greenhorn if you will, like our new companion the OP making their first, tentative steps into the ways of the Way

 

[SabsP]

Okay, what’s a “tyro”?BTW, I’ve been to Santiago....

@Vacajoe : a Tyro is urban slang for beginner or newbie. Comes originally from the Latin Tiro meaning recruit.

@Jeff Crawley : ha!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

@Vacajoe : a Tyro is urban slang for beginner or newbie. Comes originally from the Latin Tiro meaning recruit.

@Jeff Crawley : ha!

What is this urban slang of which thou speakest fair maid? Why, hast the word not been in our faire tongue since the age of The Great Bard? Indeed, some doth say since centuries afore. 'Tis a word, of that there is no doubt, of grand validity bothe then and henceforth!

 

[t2andreo]

To reinforce what has been intimated above. ALL the various certificates are A4 sized (similar to US letter, but narrower (8.0") and taller (12.0") and vertically oriented, EXCEPT the Certificate of Distance.

The Distance Certificate, the only one that costs anything (€3,00), is A3 sized (US legal - sort of ) and is horizontally aligned. Similar width / height, but slightly longer / wider.

This said, it is possible to use a paper trimmer and reduce the A3 size to A4, but still horizontal, without losing anything but blank edging. I do this to file my various Compostelas and certificates in A4 size plastic paper protectors and an A4 sized binder I purchased in a China store at Santiago.

I save my walls for art and my framed BIG map of the Camino in Spain...

Hope this helps.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

To reinforce what has been intimated above. ALL the various certificates are A4 sized (similar to US letter, but narrower (8.0") and taller (12.0") and vertically oriented, EXCEPT the Certificate of Distance.

The Distance Certificate, the only one that costs anything (€3,00), is A3 sized (US legal - sort of ) and is horizontally aligned. Similar width / height, but slightly longer / wider.

This said, it is possible to use a paper trimmer and reduce the A3 size to A4, but still horizontal, without losing anything but blank edging. I do this to file my various Compostelas and certificates in A4 size plastic paper protectors and an A4 sized binder I purchased in a China store at Santiago.

I save my walls for art and my framed BIG map of the Camino in Spain...

Hope this helps.

I do this to file my various Compostelas and certificates in A4 size plastic paper protectors and an A4 sized binder

Sound thinking! I noticed only last week that the rubber stamped signature on my 2003 certificate has all but faded away. It's completely gone from the 2001 which I ended up scanning as it had faded to a pale mustard yellow colour even though they have never sat in direct sunlight. I might scan the rest and frame those too.

They're getting to look like that photo of Marty McFly in Back to the Future!

 

[nycwalking]

Why does it matter?

 

[t2andreo]

All current certificates have the signature pre-printed on them. Only YOUR name is written in.

 

[SabsP]

All current certificates have the signature pre-printed on them. Only YOUR name is written in.

The only two times I went to collect my Compostela my first name was written differently.
Once just my name, the other time it was Latinised.

 

[t2andreo]

This is one of my pet peeves and one of the reasons I want them to laser print the certificates before the Holy Year comes.

My point has always been that, if they selected a name from a computer table, and typed in the family name, then had the printer do it, the result would be a perfect calligraphic font with the accurate version of the chosen name.

I know, most of you lot bridle at this. I understand your angst. I share it in part. But for the great majority of pilgrims this would be an BIG improvement. It would also save a lot of time. Thirty seconds saved for every pilgrim is a LOT of time saved over a long queue.

After my first Camino (2013), the fellow writing my Compostela wrote my given name as "Thomasam." Those of you in the know, know that this is the FEMININE form of the name "Thomas." My mother was NOT pleased. She knew it was wrong as soon as she saw it...

On my second Camino the next year, a different person wrote my given name correctly as "Thomasum." Mom was more pleased. My friends offered to change the original Compostela from 2013, but I kept it for the comedic value...hmmm transgendered without all the hoopla... NOT!

Seriously, I have since come to learn that ALL Latin given names for women end in "...am." ALL Latin given names for men end with "...um." I think it's either an honorific like sir or madam, or just a style thing.

And they wonder why Latin is a dead language... LOL!

The other issue is legibility. Unlike in medieval times, the Cathedral does not employ a tranche of monks using quill pens to perfect inscribe your name on a Compostela using a beautiful calligraphic style. Pilgrims are at the mercy of the penmanship, or lack of, among the staff and volunteers. Simply put, it is a crap shoot...a roll of the dice...

I have received barely legible Compostelas, and masterly scripted writing worthy of a calligraphy expert. However, this is always the luck of the draw.

Also, the only times they are supposed to use your actual given name, and not the 'official' Latin version are:

1. When there is no Latin equivalent. One year, we had an American named "Todd" one year. It was not short for Thaddeus, Theodore, or anything logically related to "Todd." He stated that his name at christening / baptism and on that certificate was "Todd." So be it. His Compostela said "Todd (last name)."
2. When the pilgrim insists, really insists. One year, we had a German woman with a given name that had a Latin variant but which she hated and never used. Her passport and ID card had the name she did not like and never used, except for legal purposes. For daily use and as all her friends and family called her, was a pet or nickname. She was aggressively adamant that we not write her legal name. Voila! She got the Compostela with the nickname.

The point here is that at the end of the day, we like to send pilgrims away with smiles and happy tears, not angry with complaints. True we have rules. But this is the Catholic Church. I have come to learn that for every dogmatic rule, there is usually a workaround...

Hope this helps.

 

[Barbara]

The A formats are carefully designed so that if you cut them in half you get the same proportions in the half sheets. A3 cut in half top to bottom from the landscape position gives you two A4 sheets. Cut those in half you get two A5 sheets from each.
There is a derivation from that for envelopes. If you want to put an A5 in without folding it you buy a C5 envelope. Etc.
Here is a link for francophones

Comprendre les différents formats d’impression (A4, A3, B5…) – Blog Avenue-Informatique.fr

No relation to other formats such as letter, quarto, etc which are based on how many sheets of parchment you can cut from a normal sheepskin or calfskin.
This link is for anglophones

The History Of Paper - Overview

Paper was originally developed in China and spread from the east through to Europe in the middle ages, where it superseded parchment as the standard material for writing on.

www.papersizes.org

Sometimes standardisation is useful.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

The A formats are carefully designed so that if you cut them in half you get the same proportions in the half sheets. A3 cut in half top to bottom from the landscape position gives you two A4 sheets. Cut those in half you get two A5 sheets from each.
There is a derivation from that for envelopes. If you want to put an A5 in without folding it you buy a C5 envelope. Etc.
Here is a link for francophones

Comprendre les différents formats d’impression (A4, A3, B5…) – Blog Avenue-Informatique.fr

No relation to other formats such as letter, quarto, etc which are based on how many sheets of parchment you can cut from a normal sheepskin or calfskin.
This link is for anglophones

The History Of Paper - Overview

Paper was originally developed in China and spread from the east through to Europe in the middle ages, where it superseded parchment as the standard material for writing on.

www.papersizes.org

Sometimes standardisation is useful.

Which is why the fact that they don't print the Compostellas on A4 paper always puzzled me. Perhaps they use some antiquated paper size?

 

[Kathor1]

After my first Camino (2013), the fellow writing my Compostela wrote my given name as "Thomasam." Those of you in the know, know that this is the FEMININE form of the name "Thomas." My mother was NOT pleased. She knew it was wrong as soon as she saw it...

On my second Camino the next year, a different person wrote my given name correctly as "Thomasum." Mom was more pleased. My friends offered to change the original Compostela from 2013, but I kept it for the comedic value...hmmm transgendered without all the hoopla... NOT!

I don't know whether I should tell you this. The correct form is actually Thomam. We weren't taught that at school, despite 7 years of Latin. Apparently it's irregular: Thomas, Thome, Thome, Thoman for declension 1 to 4. Have a look at your first Compostela, is it Thomasam or perhaps the correct form Thomam after all?

Random quote from the Latin Vulgate bible, Luke 6:15: Matthaeum, et Thomam, Jacobum Alphaei, et Simonem, qui vocatur Zelotes - Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot

I've always been curious so maybe someone can answer this: when you look up the names in the database, are they already displayed in the accusative form (basically, for many male names, do they end in us or um in the computer database?)

 

[Barbara]

Which is why the fact that they don't print the Compostellas on A4 paper always puzzled me. Perhaps they use some antiquated paper size?

Possibly quarto?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I've seen pictures on the internet of compostelas issued prior to the current version. I believe at least one was in landscape format.

 

[Kathor1]

I have since come to learn that ALL Latin given names for women end in "...am." ALL Latin given names for men end with "...um." I think it's either an honorific like sir or madam, or just a style thing.

Nope. See earlier example. It's a grammar thing. Given names in Latin often end in -us and -a but depending on the context of a sentence they may end in -um and -am or something else altogether. Not obvious if you don't know the lingo and if your own language doesn't do that kind of thing.

I wish they would change the text of the Compostela so that these Latinized names appear in their normal form, ending in -us and -a instead of -um and -am. Should be easy to do. It's not as if the current text of the Compostela has been used for centuries!

The grammatically correct Latin form of Daniel on a Compostela is Danielem. Sheen/Estevez wisely decided to do away with the -em and the word you see in the movie on the Compostela is Daniel.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I don't know whether I should tell you this. The correct form is actually Thomam. We weren't taught that at school, despite 7 years of Latin. Apparently it's irregular: Thomas, Thome, Thome, Thoman for declension 1 to 4. Have a look at your first Compostela, is it Thomasam or perhaps the correct form Thomam after all?

Random quote from the Latin Vulgate bible, Luke 6:15: Matthaeum, et Thomam, Jacobum Alphaei, et Simonem, qui vocatur Zelotes - Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot

I've always been curious so maybe someone can answer this: when you look up the names in the database, are they already displayed in the accusative form (basically, for many male names, do they end in us or um in the computer database?)

I have 4 Compostelas that refer to me as Godefridum Thomam, one as Godefridum Thomasiam and one as plain Godefridum (I didn't fill my credential in correctly - shame on me!)

When you look up the name you can either type in or scroll down to the right section. Sometimes there are variations. Never considered which declension they are - I'd assume nominative but I dropped (was dropped from) Latin after two years. Quite honestly you don't have the luxury of pondering Latin grammar while processing - I had enough problems initially with Latin date on Compostela, Spanish date on Distancia!

 

[Kathor1]

I have 4 Compostelas that refer to me as Godefridum Thomam, one as Godefridum Thomasiam and one as plain Godefridum (I didn't fill my credential in correctly - shame on me!)

Both the traditional Thomam and a new fangled Thomasium would find my approval but Thomasiam ??? Someone presumably didn't put their glasses on.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Possibly quarto?

My curiosity was piqued so I opened two frames (one Compostela had slipped anyway).
The current, multi-coloured ones are 21 x 29cms - so just under A4 in height.
My older ones (2001 - 2012) are the mono-print style and these are even more bizarre 21.3cm wide and 28.2cm tall. Probably the length of a medieval monk's foot by the width of his hand span . . . . 🖐

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Both the traditional Thomam and a new fangled Thomasium would find my approval but Thomasiam ??? Someone presumably didn't put their glasses on.

Bald, overweight, 66 yo male - they'd have to be awfully short sighted

 

[Barbara]

My curiosity was piqued so I opened two frames (one Compostela had slipped anyway).
The current, multi-coloured ones are 21 x 29cms - so just under A4 in height.
My older ones (2001 - 2012) are the mono-print style and these are even more bizarre 21.3cm wide and 28.2cm tall. Probably the length of a medieval monk's foot by the width of his hand span . . . . 🖐

So not quarto which is 229 mm by 279, or easier 9 by 11 inches which is at least a sensible round number
Barbaram