He is also known asJames, son of Zebedee,Saint James the Great,Saint James the Greater,St. James Son of Thunder,St. James the Major,Saint James the Elder, orSaint Jacob, James the Apostle orSantiago.
James was born into a family of Jewish fishermen on theSea of Galilee. His parents wereZebedee andSalome. Salome was a sister of Mary (mother of Jesus) which made James the Great a cousin of Jesus. James is styled "the Greater" to distinguish him from the ApostleJames "the Less," with "greater" meaning older or taller, rather than more important. James the Great was the brother ofJohn the Apostle.[2]
James is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. TheSynoptic Gospels state that James and John were preparing to fish with their father by the seashore when Jesus called them to follow him.[3]
James, along with his brother John, andPeter, formed an informaltriumvirate among theTwelve Apostles. Jesus allowed them to be the only apostles present at three particular occasions during his public ministry, theraising of Jairus' daughter,[4]transfiguration of Jesus[5] andagony in the Garden of Gethsemane.[6] James and John[7] (or, in another tradition,their mother[8]) asked Jesus to grant them seats on his right and left in his glory. Jesus rebuked them, asking if they were ready to drink from the cup he was going to drink from and saying the honor was not even for him to grant. The other apostles were annoyed with them. James and his brother wanted to call down fire on aSamaritan town, but were rebuked by Jesus.[9]
TheActs of the Apostles records that "Herod the king" (usually identified withHerod Agrippa) had James executed by the sword.[1] Nixon suggests that this may have been caused by James' fiery temper,[10] in which he and his brother earned the nicknameBoanerges or "Sons of Thunder".[11]F. F. Bruce contrasts this story to that of theLiberation of Saint Peter, and writes that the proposition that "James should die while Peter should escape" is a "mystery ofdivine providence".[12]
Saint James the Elder was painted byRembrandt in 1661. He is depicted clothed as apilgrim, with ascallop shell on his shoulder, and his staff andpilgrim's hat beside him.
In the Catholic tradition, Saint James is thepatron saint ofSpain and, according to legend, his remains are held inSantiago de Compostela inGalicia. This nameSantiago is the local evolution of the LatingenitiveSancti Iacobi, "(church or sanctuary)of Saint James" (evolved into a personal name in Spanish, and also in Portuguese asTiago which spelled in ancient orthography asThiago and still commonly used as a proper name, with its derivativesDiego/Diogo). The traditionalpilgrimage to the grave of the saint, known as the "Way of St. James", has been the most popular pilgrimage for Western European Catholics from theEarly Middle Ages onwards, although its modern revival and popularity stem fromWalter Starkie's 1957 book,The Road to Santiago. The Pilgrims of St. James.[13] Officially, 327,378 pilgrims registered in 2018 as having completed the final 100 kilometres (62 mi) walk (200 kilometres (120 mi) by bicycle) to Santiago to qualify for aCompostela.[14] When 25 July falls on a Sunday, it is a "Holy Year" (aJacobean holy year) and a special east door is opened for entrance into Santiago Cathedral. Jubilee years follow a 6-5-6-11 pattern (except when the last year of a century is not a leap year, which can yield a gap of 7 or 12 years). In the 2004 Holy Year, 179,944[15] pilgrims were received at Compostela. In the 2010 Holy Year, the number had risen to 272,412.[16] The most recent of such Holy Year was 2021; the next will be 2027.
The site of martyrdom is located within theArmenian Apostolic Cathedral of St. James in theArmenian Quarter ofJerusalem. The Chapel of Saint James the Great, located to the left of the sanctuary, is the traditional place where he was martyred when King Agrippa ordered him to be beheaded (Acts 12:1–2). His head is believed to be buried under the altar, marked by a piece of red marble and surrounded by six votive lamps.[19]
The 12th centuryHistoria Compostelana commissioned byDiego Gelmírez provides a summary of the legend of St. James, as it was believed at Compostela at that time. Two propositions are central to the legend: first, that James preached the gospel inHispania as well as in theHoly Land; second, that after hismartyrdom at the hands ofHerod Agrippa, his followers carried his body by sea to Hispania, where they landed atPadrón on the coast ofGalicia, then carried it over land for burial atSantiago de Compostela.[20]
Thetranslation of his relics fromJudaea to Galicia in the northwest of Hispania was, in legend, accomplished by a series of miraculous events: his decapitated body was taken up by angels and sailed in a rudderless, unattended boat toIria Flavia in Hispania, where a massive rock closed around his body.[20]Tradition has it that when the disciples of James, Theodore and Athanasius, arrived inIria Flavia, they approachedQueen Lupa about giving them a place to bury his body.[24] Lupa appears in theCodex Calixtinus which further relates that she decides to trick the disciples and sends them to the governor ofDuio with the intent of having them killed. Sensing a trap, they escape the governor and return to the queen. Once again Lupa tries to deceive them and sends them toPico Sacro (the Sacred Peak) to collect two of her oxen to carry the necessary material to build the tomb. She does not tell them that the mountain has a cave which is the entrance tohell and is guarded by a dragon. However, the presence of theholy cross protects the disciples from harm and tames the bulls.[25][26] Upon witnessing the miraculous events, Lupa converts toChristianity and helps build the apostle's tomb inLibredon.[27]
The tradition at Compostela placed the discovery of the relics of the saint in the 9th century, byPelayo in theLibredon forest in the time ofBishop Theodemir and kingAlfonso II.[28] These traditions were the basis for the pilgrimage route that began to be established in the 9th century, and the shrine dedicated to James atSantiago de Compostela became a famous pilgrimage site within the Christian world. TheWay of St. James is a network of routes that cross Western Europe and arrive at Santiago de Compostela through northern Spain.[29]
An even later tradition states that he miraculously appeared to fight for the Christian army during the legendarybattle of Clavijo, and was henceforth calledSantiago Matamoros (Saint James theMoor-slayer).¡Santiago, y cierra, España! ("St. James and strike for Spain") was the traditionalbattle cry of medieval Spanish (Christian) armies.Miguel de Cervantes hasDon Quixote explaining that "the great knight of the russet cross was given by God to Spain as patron and protector".[30]
James' emblem was thescallop shell (or "cockle shell"), and pilgrims to his shrine often wore that symbol on their hats or clothes. The French term for a scallop iscoquille St. Jacques, which means "cockle (or mollusc) of [St.] Jacob". The German word for a scallop isJakobsmuschel, which means "Jacob's mussel (or clam)"; theDutch word isJacobsschelp, meaning "Jacob's shell". InDanish and with the same meaning as in Dutch, the word isIbskal –Ib being a Danish version of the name "Jakob" andskal meaning "shell".[citation needed]
The militaryOrder of Santiago, named after Saint Tiago or Saint James, was founded in Spain in the 12th century to fight theMoors. Later, as in otherorders of chivalry, the membership became a mark of honor.[31]
According to the teaching, this occurred sometime after May 15, 1829, whenJohn the Baptist similarly appeared to Smith and Cowdery and conferred upon them theAaronic, or lesser, priesthood, stating that he was doing so under the direction of James, Peter and John.[33]
^Rodríguez, Eladio, "Boi",Diccionario enciclopédico gallego-castellano,Rodríguez attributes to this legend the origin of the popular saying "Boi bravo, vente ó carro, que o manda o Señor Santiago" (English Brave ox, come to the cart, sent by Lord Santiago)
^Noegel & Wheeler 2003, p. 86:Muslim exegesis identifies the disciples of Jesus as Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Thomas, Philip, John, James, Bartholomew, and Simon
Starkie, Walter (1958).El camino de Santiago: las peregrinaciones al sepulcro del Apóstol (in Spanish). Translated by Amando Lázaro Ros. Madrid: Aguilar.OCLC432856567.
Starkie, Walter (1965).The Road to Santiago. The Pilgrims of St. James. Univ. of California Press.OCLC477436336.
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