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• 4 mai 2009

  Bernard 64

  SHAVER CRANDELL Annie, GERSON Paula - The pilgrim’s guide to Santiago de Compostela.

  Synopsis

  This text, written in Latin in the 12th-century, is believed to be the first real travel book of the Middle Ages. The guide describes the pilgrim routes through France and Northern Spain to the shrine of St James at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, it gives details of where accommodation, good food and wines were to be found. It also provides descriptions of many buildings and monuments to be encountered along the routes. Moreover, it offers valuable information for the medieval traveller on topography, social customs, and codes of behaviour, as well as on such modern topics as armed robbery and water pollution. "The Pilgrim’s Guide" is a work that can be studied and understood at several levels. This volume is primarily for the modern traveller who wishes to follow the pilgrim routes - a "Gazetteer" for the pilgrim, student or tourist of today. Many more buildings must have been standing in the middle of the 12th century than are mentioned or described in the guide, and these, as well as those mentioned, are listed, described and illustrated in this catalogue of monuments. The new English translation of the guide is given here in full, with concise explanatory notes, and the introductory text deals with the Guide in the context of more general concerns about the pilgrimage phenomenon in the Middle Ages and its literary traditions. There are suggestions for further reading for the non-specialist, a glossary, and well-marked Maps.