To Compostela And Beyond

Susana Porras's journey over the Camino de Santiago with her seventy-three-year-old father was a life-changing journey filled with awe-inspiring scenery, spiritual awakening, and lots of cafe con leche. Come with them as they travel physically, spiritually, and historically along this five-hundred-mile Camino. Take in the scenery, learn about its thousand-year history of clerics and kings, and of course, don't forget to stop and savor the tortillas.

Susana Porras’s journey over the Camino de Santiago with her seventy-three-year-old father was a life-changing journey filled with awe-inspiring scenery, spiritual awakening, and lots of café con leche. Come with them as they travel physically, spiritually, and historically along this five-hundred-mile Camino. Take in the scenery, learn about its thousand-year history of clerics and kings, and of course, don’t forget to stop and savor the tortillas.

Kevin A. Codd's previous book, To the Field of Stars, has been hailed as a contemporary classic of pilgrim literature and introduced a fresh voice to the world of both travel and spiritual writing. In Beyond Even the Stars, the reader is invited to join this peripatetic American priest as he takes up the Way to Compostela, this time in Leuven, Belgium, and follows it south through much of France. His vivid descriptions of the natural world and the people he meets along the way are delightful, just as his profound reflections on life and death, love and faith, God and grace, are inspiring.

"I am about to share here a story about stars that dance. . . . If the very thought of seeing stars dance piques your curiosity at some deep level of your soul, then pay attention to what follows, for the walk to the Field of Stars, to Santiago de Compostela, is a journey that has the power to change lives forever." -- from the introduction "Pilgrimage" is a strange notion to our modern, practical minds. How many of us have walked to a distant holy place in order to draw nearer to God? Yet the pilgrimage experience is growing these days in various parts of the world. Seeking to take stock of his life, Kevin Codd set out in July 2003 on a pilgrimage that would profoundly change his life. To the Field of Stars tells the fascinating story of his unusual spiritual and physical journey on foot across Spain to Santiago de Compostela, the traditional burial place of the apostle James the Greater. Each brief chapter chronicling Codd's thirty-five-day trek is dedicated to one or two days on the road. Codd shares tales of other pilgrims, his own changes of perspective, and his challenges and triumphs along the way -- all told with a disarming candor. Seen through the eyes of a Catholic priest who honors the religious worldview that originally gave rise to these medieval odysseys, "pilgrimage" comes to life and takes on new meaning in these pages.

Nine new studies address the phenomenon of the medieval pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, the legendary burying place of St. James.

Brian Spencer, former Keeper of the Museum of London, was a major scholar of medieval popular culture. He almost single-handedly established the study of pilgrim souvenirs and secular badges. He defined what these objects were and ascertained their function, manufacture, style, and iconography with a careful use of primary documents and intricate stylistic analysis. He identified every major souvenir and badge discovered in Great Britain during the last few decades. He also made prominent contributions to the field of seal matrices, gaming pieces, and horse paraphernalia. What bound all of these interests together was his understanding that the study of these artefacts could shed light on the beliefs and practices of a large number of people. This is reflected in the frequency with which his work is cited. This volume is a collection of essays written by those who worked with Brian directly and those with whom he corresponded.

This book analyses collaborative activities across the visual arts to show the power of non-verbal rhetoric in the Middle Ages.

Beyond the Reconquista: New Directions in the History of Medieval Iberia (711-1085) offers an exciting series of essays by leading scholars in Hispanic Studies. This volume subjects the reality and ideal of Reconquest to a decisive and timely re-examination.