The two texts that follow are the initial chapters of The Chronicle of Pseudo-Turpin (c. 1140), the first narrative text to link the Spanish campaign of Charlemagne to Saint James and the Camino de Santiago. Historically, Charlemagne’s incursion into Spain in 778 and his unsuccessful siege of the Muslim city of Zaragoza ended with his retreat. On his return to Francia, Charlemagne destroyed the walls of the Basque city of Pamplona, which in turn led to the retaliatory annihilation of his rearguard as the army passed through Roncesvalles, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the present border between France and Spain.
Contemporary chronicles of these events are not abundant in details, but they do not include any mention of the Camino de Santiago or any role for Saint James in Charlemagne’s campaign. The first written notice in Spain of the Frankish incursion and subsequent defeat appear in a Latin text known as the Nota Emilanense (c. 1060), a brief one-paragraph summary with a specific mention of the death of Roland, prefect of the Breton March and commander of the Frank’s rearguard. Subsequently, Roland emerges as the tragic hero of the more expansive narration of the French epic Chanson de Roland. In these later narratives, the enemies of the Franks are not Basques, but Spanish Muslims, who are slaughtered by the Franks as they avenge the defeat of Charlemagne’s rearguard.
The narrative incorporated into the Pseudo-Turpin purports to have been written by Archbishop Turpin of Rheims, named in the Nota Emilianense as a member of Charlemagne’s entourage who fights alongside the epic Roland in their final battle. This authorship is a fiction easily dismissed by protagonists known to be fictionalized and others from later centuries. No clear identification of the author has been made, but the dating of the text and the association of the tomb cult of Santiago with a divinely guided Charlemagne suggest a source close to the archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, Diego Gelmírez (bishop 1110-1120; archbishop 1120-1149), who spent his ecclesiastical career promoting the shrine of Saint James and the churches along the pilgrim road (referencing Poole xxxvii).
Kevin. R. Poole, Introduction, The Chronicle of Pseudo-Turpin, Italica Press, 2014, pp. xi-xlvi.
Book IV, Liber Santi Jacobi
Chapter 1
About the Apostle’s Apparition to Charlemagne
(folio 164r)
As the other apostles and disciples of the Lord travelled to diverse parts of the world, the glorious apostle of Christ, Saint James, according to what has been said, went to preach in Galicia. After he had died at the hands of King Herod and his body had been taken by sea from Jerusalem to Galicia, his disciples continued to preach in that very same place. However, the Galicians later allowed themselves to be swayed by their sins and with great evil abandoned their faith until the time of Charlemagne, emperor of the Romans, the French, the Germans and of other peoples.
At this time Charlemagne had no desire to embark on new conquests or to engage in new wars but rather to allow himself to rest. He had grown weary from all his painful pursuits and from the sweat of his brow, for in all parts of the world, strengthened by divine help, he had acquired numerous kingdoms through the power of his invincible might – England, Gaul, Germany, Bavaria, Lorraine, Burgundy, Italy, Brittany and other nations, as well as the innumerable cities from sea to sea that he had forced from Saracen hands and submitted to his Christian empire.1The chronicles detailing Charlemagne’s military deeds before his conquest of the Iberian Peninsula were well known in the early twelfth century. Most notable among them are Einhard’s ninth-century Vita Caroli and Notker the Stammerer’s De Carolo Magno, which appeared toward the end of the same century. English translations of both are found in Thorpe, Two Lives.
Suddenly, however, Charlemagne saw a path of stars in the sky, beginning in the Frisian Sea and extending through Germany and Italy, Gaul and Aquitaine, passing directly over Gascony, Vasconia, Navarre and Spain to Galicia, where the body of Saint James lay buried and undiscovered.2Unlike the Milky Way, which forms a relatively straight line across the sky, the path of stars described here would form a reverse L if plotted on a map of the sky covering the geographic regions mentioned. Looking upon this stellar path several times every night, he began to meditate its meaning. A knight of splendid appearance, more handsome than words can describe, appeared to Charlemagne one evening in a vision as he sat in deep meditation.3Note here that Saint James appears to Charlemagne in the form of a knight, denoting the militaristic tone of the chronicle. In other chronicles, as well as in works of visual art, the saint more often appears dressed as a pilgrim. Following the proclamation of the Crusades in 1095, the figure of Saint James appeared in religious iconography not only as a pilgrim but also as the crusading warrior known as the “Moorslayer” (Santiago Matamoros in Spanish). See Domínguez García, Memorias del futuro, 71.
“What are you doing, my son?” the knight asked. To which the king responded, “Who are you, sir?”
“I am Saint James the Apostle, disciple of Christ, son of Zebedee, brother of John the Evangelist; I am he whom our Lord chose at the shores of the Sea of Galilee, through his ineffable grace, to preach to the nations; whom Herod executed with a sword, and whose body lies forgotten in Galicia, a place still shamefully oppressed by the Saracens. I am deeply disturbed by the fact that you, who have conquered so many cities and nations, have not liberated my lands from the Saracens. So I have come to tell you that, just as the Lord has made you the most powerful of the kings of the earth, he has chosen you from among them all to prepare my path and to liberate my lands from the hands of the Muslims.4The original says manibus Moabitarom, the “hands of the Moabites.” In chapter 9, however, the author differentiates between Saracens and Moabites, though he typically refers to the former as the enemy occupants of Iberia. In so doing, you will receive a crown of immeasurable glory. The path of stars that you have contemplated in the sky is the sign indicating that you must take a great army from here to Galicia to do battle with those perfidious pagans, to free my path and my lands and to visit my basilica and my tomb. After you, all peoples from sea to sea will walk there as pilgrims, begging forgiveness for their sins and proclaiming the greatness of the Lord, his virtues and the marvels that he has performed, from your own time until the end of the present age. So, now, go as quickly as you can, and I shall aid you in every way. For your labors I shall obtain a crown for you from our Lord in heaven, and your name will be praised until the end of time!”
The apostle appeared to Charlemagne three times in this same way. Having heard his message and trusting in the apostolic promise, Charlemagne gathered together many armies and went to Spain to battle the infidels.
Chapter 2
About the Walls of Pamplona, Which Collapsed upon Themselves
(folio 165r)
The first city that Charlemagne attacked was Pamplona. Although he laid siege to it for three months, he was unable to take control of it due to its heavily fortified, impenetrable walls. Then, raising his claims to the Lord, Charlemagne said, “Lord Jesus Christ, for whose faith I have come to do battle in this land of infidels, grant that I might conquer this city for the glory of your name. !Oh, Saint James! If it is true that you appeared to me, grant that I might conquer it!” Almost immediately, by God’s concession and through the prayers of Saint James, the walls fell as their foundations crumbled.5This is an obvious reference to the Old Testament battle recounted in Joshua 6, in which the Israelites, in their conquest of Canaan, march the perimeter of the city of Jericho, blowing their horns, until the city walls crumble. Those Saracens who wished to be baptized were allowed to live; those who did not died by the sword. As the news of this miracle spread, Saracens everywhere surrendered to Charlemagne, sent him tribute and turned their cities over to him. All those lands were given to him as tribute. The Saracens marveled at the men from Gaul, whom they considered truly splendid, well dressed and of great elegance. After laying down their weapons, they were received peacefully and with great honor.
After visiting the tomb of Saint James, Charlemagne traveled on, uninhibited, to Padrón, where he rammed a lance into the sea, gave thanks to God and to Saint James for having brought him there and proclaimed that he could go no farther.6The modern town of Padrón is not on the sea, though a river does run through it. Charlemagne could have gone farther if, in fact, geography were his only limitation. The Galicians, who had reverted to their former pagan ways after hearing the preaching of Saint James and his disciples, were regenerated through the grace of baptism by the hands of Archbishop Turpin – that is, those who wished to convert to the faith and who had not previously received baptism. Those who did not wish to accept the faith either died by the sword or were enslaved by the Christians. Following these acts Charlemagne traversed all of Spain from sea to sea.
Chapters from The Chronicle of Pseudo-Turpin, Book IV of the Liber Sancti Jacobi, edited and translated by Kevin R. Poole, Italica Press, 2014.