ABSTRACT

The worship of Saint James in early medieval north-western Iberia was born from a political decision; it did not arise from a previous popular cult, as in most known cases up to this point and afterwards. The discovery of the relics of the apostle was from all points of view an inventio, which is how the early Latin sources described it, in its double meaning of finding and invention. The possession of the remains of the apostle, his personal protection and his inspiration were the foundations of the king's power and of the very survival of the kingdom, and also the main link between Galicia and the monarchy all through the Early Middle Ages and beyond. In the aftermath of the Islamic invasion, the ancient concept of the old Roman and Germanic Gallaecia died forever. Towards the middle of the tenth century, the news about the Cult of Saint James began to attract the interest of Europeans beyond the Pyrenees.