The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago de Compostela [Paperback]

William Melczer (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2008

"The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago de Compostela" presents the first complete English translation of Book Five of the Liber Sancti Jacobi or Codex Calixtinus. This twelfth-century guidebook traces the route from southern France to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. The medieval Christian world knew three major pilgrimage sites - Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela. Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries Santiago de Compostela was by far the most popular. Pilgrimage to Compostela was a once-in-a-lifetime human adventure. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims came year after year through France and across the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela near the Atlantic shores of Galicia. In his study of the road to Santiago, Professor William Melczer discusses Relics and Pilgrimage The Origin of the Cult of St. James Myth and Historical Reality The Iter Sancti Jacobi The Liber Sancti Jacobi Pilgrimage without Ideology The Iconography of St. James. This book also includes extensive commentaries and notes that highlight historical, geographical, art-historical, hagiographic, and general cultural matters along the route traced by the Guide. Illustrated, introduction, gazetteer, hagiographical register, bibliography, index.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I heartily recommend this book as a first step with which to begin one's personal journey to Santiago de Compostela. It is chock full of useful information on the Camino, and, like a journey itself, it offers the traveler the opportunity to follow many interesting by-ways (whether geographical or bibliographical) along the way." -- Bryn Mawr Medieval Review, 95.5.7

"In some senses, the whole history of Iberian Catholicism can be recounted from the vantage point of this classical journey, as can much of European spirituality, iconography, and religious architecture. This English volume will be an important contribution to the rich library of Santiago literature." -- Cistercian Studies Quarterly, vol 32, no. 3, 1997

"Melczer's achievement here is to bring experience that is remote from and even alien to the modern temper vividly to life. it is a very pleasant surprise that will involve, instruct, intrigue and, perhaps, inspire." -- Small Press, Winter 1994

"William Melczer's book offers the first complete English translation of Book V of the famous Liber Sancti Jacobi. A very readable translation. is accompanied by a wealth of explanatory information: no fewer than 609 notesoffer the most thorough commentary the Pilgrim's Guide has ever been given. The particular emphasis given to the cult of the saints connected with the road to St. James, which has never been studied so thoroughly before, makes it a valuable addition to the existing literature on the cult of, and the pilgrimage to, St. James." -- Medium Aevum, vol. 64, 1995

From the Publisher

The medieval Christian world knew three major pilgrimage sites - Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela. Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries Compostela was by far the most popular.

The pilgrimage to Compostela was a once-in-a-lifetime human adventure. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims came year after year through France and across the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela near the Atlantic shores of Galicia in far western Spain. Through the EC designation of the pilgrimage route as a European Cultural Itinerary, it has once again become a major route for cultural and religious pilgrims and travelers.

A related title is "The Miracles of St. James."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Italica Press (September 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0934977259
• ISBN-13: 978-0934977258
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Holidays

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A readable translation with copious notes and background., December 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago de Compostela (Paperback)

Melczer offers an academic work that is a very readable translation of the twelfth century Book Five of the Codex Calixtinus, together with substantial backgound notes and explanatory material. This, in spite of its academic overtones, is not a difficult read. I found it to be a very useful starting point and historical information base for our proposed pilgrimage.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book available about Santiago De Compostela, July 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago de Compostela (Paperback)

Melczer's book is a masterpiece. Anyone with an interest in Spain, the Middle Ages, or Santiago De Compostela simply must read this book! It is lively and highly readable, but it is underpinned by impeccable scholarship. It opens numerous windows on a forgotten world, and deserves the widest possible readership.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book by an Excellent Scholar, March 14, 2002

By 

Thomas V. Millington "Book Junkie" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago de Compostela (Paperback)

I personally knew Mr. Melczer both as my instructor and later as a friend and I simply cannot say enough about this man. Studying in Spain with Mr. Melczer in 1990 I can say he truly opened my eyes to history, art and culture. I took copious notes, but I realized I could never fully "absorb" the knowledge that this man imparted to his students. He inspired me to enter the field I am in now.
This book is an excellent presentation of one of the most remarkable journeys traversed by so many people throughout history. The research is excellent and the reading is very clear. This book is a must for any person interested in Spanish history