Looking for book on the history of pilgrimage

[bowmanrich]

Hello everyone,

I am doing some research on the general topic of the history of pilgrimage and am looking for a good illustrated book possibly with specific information about the history of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage. I am not looking for a guidebook.

The book can be in French or English. I have seen one in French that looks interesting. Its called: Les pèlerins de Compostelle - mille ans d’histoire by Patrick Huchet. From the title, it seems pretty close to what I'm looking for.

Any recommendations you might have would be welcome.

PS: sorry if the subject has already been dealt with but a forum search on the subject "history" didn't turn up anything relevant to my inquiry.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[mspath]

Hello,

Here are some basic Camino history books which you might find useful:

Starkie, Walter, The Road to Santiago, London, John Murray, 1957;
Barret, Pierre, et Jean-Noel Gurgand, Priez Pour Nous a Compostelle, Paris, Hachette, 1978;
Gicquel, Bernard, La Legende de Compostelle, Paris, Tallandier, s.d.;
Pericard-Mea, Denise, Compostelle et Cultes de Saint Jacques au Moyen Age, Paris, PUF, 2000;
Rucquoi, Adeline et al., Saint Jacques et la France, Paris, Editions du Cerf, 2003.

Happy reading !

 

[oursonpolaire]

Nancy Frey's "Pilgrim stories: on and off the road to Santiago" gives a good potted history of the pilgrimage along with an interesting perspective on the contemporary pilgrim's experience and motivations. It might stand a bit of updating, but is a very good read, not your typical academic work.

 

[Nandy61]

One of the books that I read several years ago that was an inspiration to walk the Camino was Rosemary Mahoney's "The Singular Pilgrim". It is a personal account of various pilgrimages that she undertook, not just to Santiago. Anyway, I thought that she had some kind of bibliography printed in it. Sure enough, I just checked on Amazon, and saw (with their "look inside" feature) listed in her introduction a bibliography. Some of those books look like they may be helpful to you.
Good luck!

 

[sillydoll]

The BEST, bestest, best by far illustrated book in English is "Being a Pilgrim - Art and Ritual on the Medieval Routes to Santiago" by Prof Kathleen Ashley and Prof Marilyn Deegan, both medievalists. It has stunning photographs and excellent supporting text. I would love to hire a car and drive all four routes in France and the Camino Frances and Aragones in Spain, using this book as a guide to the architecture and history of the roads.

The best book on the Camino Frances and Aragones Routes in Spain (not illustrated) covering the history, art, architecture, geology, folklore, saint's lives, flora and faua is "The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago - the complete cultural handbook" by David M Gitlitz and Linda Davidson.
This is my camino 'bible' and I refer to it over and over again.

Good luck with your research,

 

[bowmanrich]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your very informative answers. I will look into the recommendations you have made and am sure I will come up with what I'm looking for.

This truly is an excellent forum!

Rich

 

[Peter Robins]

assuming you mean pilgrimage in W Europe, a good recent overview is Diana Webb's 2002 'Medieval European Pilgrimage' (the same author has also written 'Pilgrimage in Medieval England'). More discursive is Jonathan Sumption's 'Pilgrimage' (1975, recently reprinted).

There are scads of books specifically on Santiago, but hardly any of these have anything very informative to say on the history. If you read French, I'd agree with mspath's recommendations. See also http://www.saint-jacques.info/ where Denise Pericard-Mea acts as editor in chief; she deliberately goes back to original sources, and ignores the many myths and half-truths that have grown up since Santiago became so trendy.

 

[William Marques]

Two other books for your list
Pilgrimage to Rome in the Middle Ages: Continuity and Change (Studies in the History of Medieval Religion) by Debra J. Birch
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - get a modern English edition (if I am not mistaken he and his wife also made it to Santiago)

 

[sillydoll]

looking for a good illustrated book possibly with specific information about the history of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage.

There aren't many illustrated books around - and none to beat "Being a Pilgrim", published in 2009.

You could also try "The Archaeology of Pilgrimage on the Camino De Santiago De Compostela: A Landscape Perspective" (British Archaeological Reports International Series) by Julie Candy (2009)

Santiago De Compostela in the Age of Great Pilgrimages (The Centers of civilization series) by Marilyn Stokstad (1979)

 

[Priscillian]

At the risk of plugging my own book, there is a lot of information in Pilgrimage to Heresy: Don´t Believe Everything they Tell You, and likely a lot that you most certainly WON'T find in the guidebooks! Don´t forget: those who run the pilgrim machinery have their own agenda - and always have had. Though a novel, the book is based on historical fact.
Also, since last June 2009 I have been investigating the story of the origins of the cathedral, the Cult of St. James, and the use of the (pre-Jacobeo, Medieval, and to the present day) pilgrim route as part of the background to Compostela, my next book in the five volume Camino Chronicles. I shall be continuing this in October as a historical exercise in my ongoing research.
Good hunting!
Tracy Saunders
http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.com
http://www.pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com

P.S. "Mille ans" only just skims the surface...

 

[Debinq]

hi bowmanrich

just saw this thread - no one appears to mention the 'sympathetic study' by Rev James S Stone (1927, New York) I found it on Google's Digital Library - it goes back to an earlier period - with chapters on prominent earlier pilgrims throughout several centuries - there are also interesting asides and anecdotes on early pilgrims and their pilgrimages and references to scholars' views - e.g Erasmus -and discussions in re pilgrimages.

The Cult of Santiago; traditions, myths and pilgrimages (Longmans Green & Co, New York 1927)

happy reading to all 'antiquaries' of the 'Cult' - those of you who 'gaze on sacred things with curiosity, in (your) hand a pencil (nowadays a camera or a blog!!) rather than a crucifix, and stroll hither and thither through hallowed precincts heedless of solemn servive or ancient association'


Peter

 

[sillydoll]

You asked for books so I forgot to mention a little gem CD by the University of York.
Pilgrims and Pilgrimage - Journey, Spirituality and Daily Life through the Centuries
It is an interactive CD that explores pilgrimage through literature, history, art and architecture, anthropology, classical religion, the bible and Christians, major world religions etc. You can spend hours connecting to the different subjects through links on each section.
Available from the CSJ bookshop.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The Cult of Santiago; traditions, myths and pilgrimages (Longmans Green & Co, New York 1927)

Read the digital version. A hard copy will cost about $400!!

 

[Debinq]

If you're an antiquarian book collector $400 will be a good investment .... but for pilgrims not so arcanely inclined, Stone's book can be found in the Internet Archive

http://www.archive.org/details/MN5051ucmf_0

happy reading

Peter

 

[movinmaggie]

I would be interested in knowing more about the Pagan times on the Camino and their customs and rituals. Yes, I could Google it, but I know there are some historians in our midst....

 

[evanlow]

Pilgrimage.

It covers a few other pilgrimages so could be a general reference too. Available in Kindle too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/057121293X/?tag=casaivar-21