The Compostelan Pilgrim’s Disgrace in Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century French Travel Narratives in Spain

Abstract

In the Modern Age, the pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela increasingly lost the traditional they had enjoyed during the Middle Ages. Abuse and misbehaviour on the respect part of the pilgrims, as well as the vagabonds and vagrants disguised as pilgrims had much to do with this loss of prestige. The texts of several French travellers in Spain are a good example of this negative vision during the 17th and 18th centuries. How-ever, they also give testimony of the con-tinuation of the pious journey to Compo-stela, which was by no means disappearing. There were also in the 18th century, authentic French pilgrims who wrote nar-rations of their trip to Galicia. They don’t criticise the cult of Santiago, but their sto-ries allow us to appreciate negative aspects of this religious phenomenon. These two types of texts demonstrate that the deca-dence of the pilgrimage to Compostela is in itself, paradoxically.