by Sharenda Barlar
For anyone who has visited Galicia and Santiago, the clear Celtic connection and lush green landscape invites images of Ireland’s coastline. Indeed, Ireland has multiple accounts of wills made by pilgrims before setting out overseas to Santiago. One pilgrim named David Lombard, “captain of his nation’, living at Blarney Castle, Co. Cork, made his will in 1479 on the eve of his departure for Santiago, a jubilee year. Jubilee years provided a surge in pilgrimage voyages in the middle ages, just as they still do today. We know that a pilgrimage to Santiago, Rome, and Jerusalem was expensive and often resulted in illness or death, so pilgrims made a habit of journeying on jubilee years or years when St. James’ Day falls on 6, 5, 5, and 11 years.
Obstacles that Temporarily Halted the Camino
However, with the approach of the Protestant Reformation, pilgrimage began to be viewed as a threat. Largely because of the practice of indulgences, which once began as a spiritual and transformative motive, pilgrimage shifted into a tainted practice, according to devout Protestants. Martin Luther wrote that “all pilgrimages should be stopped. There is no good in them: no commandment enjoins them, no obedience attached to them. Rather do these pilgrimages give countless occasions to commit sin and to despise God’s commandments” (Webb-Mitchell 2007: 20).
Also, the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries brought conflict between the Spanish and French during the Thirty Year’s War, which made the journey dangerous for devoted pilgrims traveling the French, English, and Primitive Way. Although the Counter-Reformation brought about a brief increase in interest in the Camino, it was not until the twentieth century that the Way of St. James was fully restored as a pilgrimage. With the Spanish Civil War came “a crusade against atheism, communism and freemasonry” (Gonzalez 2013: 13). During his dictatorship from 1939-1975, Francisco Franco reintroduced St. James as the patron saint of Spain. In an effort to promote a Spanish identity with Catholicism, he also instigated several studies to encourage Spanish nationalism along the Camino with church visits and preservation of strong historical ideology. France and Spain also saw the importance of presenting a united front after the devastation of World War II and both countries formed organizations to preserve the culture and history of the Camino Francés.
The Modern-Day Commercial Development of the Camino
In 1965 under Franco, special certificates began to be issued for the first time to pilgrims who had walked at least 300 km. Pilgrims' eligibility to receive pilgrimage certificates was changed to require a minimum of 100km or 200km by bicycle in 1993. Santiago de Compostela was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985. The Camino became the first European Cultural Itinerary in 1987 and the Camino itself became a World Heritage Site in 1993.
In 2018, over 300,000 pilgrims reported to the pilgrim’s office in Santiago even though we can estimate that around an additional 50,000 did not report to the office. Over 40,000 reported at the pilgrim office in May of 2018 alone. The French Camino has become so saturated in the past 20 years that pilgrims longing for solitude and a change of scenery are migrating to the English Camino.
The English Camino
Today, the English Camino in particular is problematic because the minimum a pilgrim can walk to receive their Compostela (pilgrim’s badge) is 100 km. This presents difficulties for pilgrims, because the English Camino is only an average of 70 km. To overcome this obstacle, new pilgrimage networks, like the British Pilgrim’s Trust, have an agreement with the Tourism Office in Santiago to give walking credit in the British Isles if the pilgrim chooses to complete the English Camino.
We are also seeing routes being reestablished in the UK and Anglican/Protestant churches are creating pilgrim passports for those planning to continue the journey in Spain. The Confraternity of St. James has a vibrant chapter in London where a large group of pilgrims completed a short walk on St. James's Day last year. Just last summer, the Church of England dispatched priests in Santiago because they recognized the renewed interest in St. James, especially among millennials. (I’m sure Henry VIII would be thrilled to hear that!)
When he broke with the Catholic church, Henry VIII destroyed many of the British shrines (like Walsingham) where pilgrimage was so prevalent. He parceled the sacred land and sold it to private owners. Organizations like the Norfolk Society and the Confraternity of St. James have encountered challenges as they attempt to restore the pilgrimage walking routes to these sites, because many of them now go through private property.
The CPRE: Combating the Difficulties of Traveling the Celtic Camino
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE Norfolk) locally and in connection with the national CPRE seeks “to protect, shape and enhance a beautiful, thriving countryside for everyone to value and enjoy” (CPRE website). The CPRE Norfolk, considers itself “an independent voice for the landscape” and actively works to protect the fragile environment of one of England’s most rural regions. They address the problems that come with development in a number of different ways.
To further our research and support the work of the CPRE, my colleagues and I finished the Kerry Camino, a 57 km walk from Tralee to St. James church in Dingle, Ireland. We investigated the infrastructure and organization of the Kerry route, which is among the routes known as “The Celtic Camino.” In terms of infrastructure, we checked for clear markers on the route; availability of lodging, food, and emergency facilities; and frequency of use.
Stay tuned to my next post to follow along our journey!
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