Reading-spots, part 5

In May of this year, I was in Santiago de Compostela for the first time. While the primary aim of the trip was to visit a dear friend, the journey was also marked by my increased fascination with the cult of Saint James the Elder, known as Santiago, one of the most famous cults of the Latin Middle Ages. The cult was responsible for a phenomenal output of architectural and textual artefacts, such as Compostela's cathedral - now mostly Baroque but with some Romanesque features retained - and the Codex Calixtinus, a manuscript containing five books that collectively are known as The Book of Saint James (Liber Sancti Jacobi). All five parts of this book have now been translated to English, and for the trip to Compostela I had brought with me translation of the first book, which is a collection of liturgical texts and sermons. The translation is by Thomas F. Coffey and Maryjane Dunn, and was published by Italica Press in 2021.  

While in Compostela, I focussed on reading the liturgy, and the book was a steadfast companion on my various excursions throughout the city. One of the most memorable reading-spots, however, was when I visited the cathedral itself, and sat down on a bench in the nave, reading through some of the texts that have been performed in this space throughout centuries. It was an awe-inspiring sensation, a feeling that heightened the experience of reading the book and also of sitting in the cathedral where the ostentatious gold and silver stand in marked contrast with the more humble witnesses to the history of the cult's lived religion, namely the various mason's marks that can still be seen on several of the pillars in the nave.