The Scholarly Pilgrim Podcast Season 2
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S2 E1 – The Legend of Santiago Matamoros on the Medieval Camino de Santiago
February 2024
This episode discusses how the image of St James transformed into a knight leading Christian military efforts against the Muslims in Spain. It explores the role of Compostela’s cathedral chapter in creating and promoting this new image and discuss how the shrine benefited politically and economically from the association. Finally, it explains how the legend of the so-called Santiago Matamoros became a symbol of Spanish identity and colonizing power.
S2 E2 – Women on the Medieval Camino de Santiago
May 2024
Women now make up just over half of the pilgrims traveling into Santiago de Compostela. But in the Middle Ages, female pilgrims would have been in the minority, and their experiences would have been profoundly different than those traveling along the Camino de Santiago today. This episode explores the moral and social environment of medieval Europe and how it impacted women and their ability to embark on long-distance pilgrimages. It then discusses medieval women who traveled to the shrine of St James in Compostela as well others who became important supporters of the pilgrimage.
S2 E3 – Hospitals on the Medieval Camino de Santiago
July 2024
Pilgrims traveling on the Camino de Santiago today pass by the ruins of medieval hospitals, or reminders of them in historical markers or the names of towns. Hospitals played a key role in the Camino’s devotional infrastructure which helped increase the accessibility and popularity of the pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. This episode will explore the religious and political landscape that contributed to the development of a chain of hospitals along the Camino. It will also discuss groups that patronized hospitals and the types of services pilgrims could have expected to receive.
S2 E4 – Dangers on the Medieval Camino de Santiago
September 2024
This episode explores some of the perils faced by medieval pilgrims, including those related to the natural environment and infectious diseases, as well as encounters with thieves, aggressive toll collectors, and unscrupulous innkeepers. It also describes some of the efforts of monarchs and Church leaders to protect pilgrims on the Camino.
S2 E5 – Medieval Santiago de Compostela’s Rise from the Ashes
December 2024
Santiago de Compostela, home to the shrine of St James, was razed to the ground by a Muslim army at the end of the 10th century. At that time, pilgrim traffic on the Camino de Santiago was starting to grow, and church leaders, monarchs, and locals no doubt wondered whether the community would ever recover. This episode describes key events and people that shaped the rebuilding and growth of Compostela in the 11th and 12th centuries and what pilgrims to the city and shrine might have encountered at that time.
S2 E6 – Monasteries on the Medieval Camino de Santiago
March 2025
Pilgrims traveling on the Camino de Santiago today pass by reminders of medieval monasteries that once played an essential role in the pilgrimage. While some monastic communities operate today on the lands of their medieval ancestors, others have long since been abandoned and only ruins remain, shells of affluent institutions with little hint of the tremendous wealth and sprawling domains that they once controlled. This episode explores the political and spiritual landscape that contributed to the development of monasteries along the Camino. It also discusses some of the most influential monastic orders, their patrons, their way of life, and the services that they offered to passing pilgrims.
Podcast Season 2 People & Places
This section includes descriptions and images related to some of the people and places discussed in the podcast series. It will be updated after the launch of each new podcast episode.
Battle of Clavijo, Santiago Cathedral
This sculpture of St James as a knight at the mythical Battle of Clavijo can be found in the south transept of Santiago Cathedral. It was likely created in the 13th century and is the oldest surviving image of St James portrayed as a warrior. He is shown on horseback wielding a sword in one hand while carrying a banner in the other. During the supposed battle, St James emerged from the clouds and helped the Christians defeat their Muslim subjugators who had been imposing an annual tribute of 100 maidens. The story of the battle was created within Compostela’s cathedral chapter.
Discussed in S2 E1
Expulsion of Adam and Eve, Santiago Cathedral
This sculpture represents God’s expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise after they ate the forbidden fruit. It was likely created in the early 12th century and was originally part of the north portal façade of the cathedral. It was later moved to the south portal façade (the Puerta de las Platerías), where it can be seen today. Medieval pilgrims arriving in Compostela would enter the cathedral through the north portal. Biblical stories about Adam and Eve influenced medieval attitudes about women.
Discussed in S2 E2
Hospital of San Nicolás, Puente Fitero
The pilgrim hospital of San Nicolás of Puente Fitero was constructed in the late 12th century near a bridge over the Pisuerga River, the medieval frontier between the kingdoms of León and Castile. For a time the hospital was run by the Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (the Hospitallers) and it can still lodge a small number of pilgrims today. Puente Fitero is on the Camino Francés, near Itero del Castillo, about 50 kilometers west of Burgos.
Discussed in S2 E3
Santiago Cathedral
This photo shows the western side of Santiago Cathedral from the Plaza del Obradoiro (Square of the Workshop). The Romanesque cathedral started to be built in the late 11th century and it was consecrated in 1211. A Baroque remodel of the western façade was completed in the 18th century although much of the cathedral’s original structure remains. Part of the palace of Diego Gelmírez (12th century) can be seen on the far left side of photo and a section of the cloister (16th century) on the right.
Discussed in S2 E5
