The promotion of the cult of St. James in Compostela in the 11th and 12th centuries was a means whereby Christian Spain was brought into the northern European sphere, both religiously and politically. The promotion of the cult itself also represents another key aspect in Christian Spain's religious self-definition, in that it would elevate the Spanish Church to a new status, with the metropolitan see established in Compostela.
The relics of St. James were said to be discovered by Bishop Theodimir in Iria Flavia in 813. After the translation of the relics to Compostela, Bishop Diego Pelaez in 1078 ordered the building of the present Romanesque church, and eventually Compostela would replace Iria Flavia as the chief episcopal see in 1095. This corresponds to the manner in which relics were received and promoted in much of Latin Christendom. The finding of a relic, particularly of a martyr and/or apostle, could enhance the prestige of an episcopal see or a church. Being designated as a place of pilgrimage also enhances its prestige, and this is precisely what would contribute to Spain's entrance into the continental orbit, as many French pilgrims would make up a large percentage of the international contingent of the foreign pilgrims. This "continentalization" of the Spanish church would be achieved through a variety of means (in addition to the Santiago pilgrimage): the expansion of the crusading movement into the Iberian Peninsula, the promulgation of the Gregorian reforms in the Spanish church, and the promotion of the Cluniac reforms in Iberian monasteries,
The cult of St. James in Galicia prompted a whole literary tradition that promoted pilgrimage, chief of which the Liber Sancti Jacobi, and the sermon Veneranda Dies, attributed to Pope Calixtus. The manner in which Veneranda Dies promotes pilgrimage to Compostella says much about the range of motives that prompted pilgrims to undertake this discipline. Pope Calixtus represents the pilgrimage as a means whereby the pilgrim can obtain salvific and temporal benefits, such as forgiveness of sins and physical healing. But as an exhortation, Pope Calixtus also enjoins his audience to undertake the pilgrimage through "the most narrow" way, i.e. with no money or provisions, because the pilgrim's way is one of "lack of vices, mortification of the body, restitution of virtues, remission of sins, penitence of the penitent, journey of the just", etc. (Veneranda Dies, pp. 21-23). This represents, perhaps, the most ideal notion of what a pilgrim to Santiago ought to be (as opposed to the sort that the sermon excoriates, namely, those who would take advantage of the event of pilgrimage for personal gain).
The sort of pilgrim idealized by the Veneranda Dies contrasts in some ways with the kind that we find represented in Liber Sancti Jacobi, since the author also takes some time to point out some nice "rest stops" along the way, where one could get good wine and food (Chapt. III). One of the chief purposes for this pilgrim's guide seems to be to provide recommendations of what might be needed for the prospective pilgrim to undertake his journey, thus presenting a slightly different picture of pilgrimage from that of the more ascetic ideal of the Veneranda Dies.
What is most striking of these two pilgrimage narratives is the manner in which it is promoted. The Codex Calixtinus seems to promote the pilgrimage in an effort to enhance the prestige of his kinsman's see, Bishop Diego Gelmirez de Compostella. But it also has a decidedly French thrust, as it rehearses the places that were the chief centers of Gallic and French sanctity (such as St. Martin of Tours) that a pilgrim would come upon on his way to Santiago. This indicates the level in which Spain was coming closer into the continental religious orbit, and the promotion of the cult of St. James in Compostela would be key in this movement.
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