The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago de Compostela (review)

Reviews 307 the importance of his wide-ranging knowledge. Charles Burnett, in particular, looks in detail at Michael's career as a translator, and offers an introductory analysis of the relationship between the Liber introductorius and similar works by a contemporary writer, Bartholomew of Parma. While it is less than a comprehensive study of either the court of Frederick II or the sciences in the thirteenth century, this collection of papers has much of interest and importance for the student of thirteenthcentury scientific knowledge in the West. It is rounded off by an index (in Italian) of names and topics, a short lexical index of Latin (and a few Arabic) words, and an index of manuscriptsreferred'toin the text. Toby Burrows Scholars' Centre The University of Western Australia Library Shaver-C rand ell, Annie and Paula Gerson, The Pilgrim's Guide to Santiago de Compostela, London, Harvey Miller Publishers, 1995; cloth; pp. 424; 580 illustrations; R R P AU$75.00. During the Middle Ages one of the three most important ptigrimage routes was the Camino de Santiago, stretching from as far north as Paris to the city of Santiago de Compostela in northwest Galicia. By the eleventh century, the route had become a feature of both cultural and economic importance to France and northern Spain. Annie Shaver-Crandell and Paula Gerson have tried to capture the impact of this famous pilgrimage route with a work which incorporates an English translation of the Pilgrim's Guide for the Camino, followed by an extensive and lavishly illustrated gazetteer of the various routes which compose it This gazetteer is an outgrowth of a critical study of the twelve copies of the Codex Calixtinus or Liber Sancti Jacobi, which has been published separately as a two-volume work. The Pilgrim's Guide itself is only one of five books in the Liber Sancti Jacobi and is presented in its English translation without the accompanying Latin and annotations. Before presenting the unannotated translation, the authors present a commentary on its literary background, as well as observations on the pdgrimage tradition, the various routes composing the Camino, the text of the Guide and its potential authorship. In reviewing the tradition of what are known as itineraria, Shaver-Crandell and Gerson argue that the Guide marks a distinct break with classical and early medieval works in that it is not simply a dry 308 Reviews itinerary listing stations along a route or important holy places, but includes information about the various peoples a pilgrim is likely to encounter and their customs, as well as comments on which rivers or areas to avoid. The authors attribute part of this unusual style to the apparent lack of exposure of the Guide's author to earlier works of antiquity. Treatment of the Guide's literary background is followed by a discussion of the importance of pilgrimages in medieval life, using portions of the translated text to illustrate various points the authors wish to emphasise. While much of this discussion m a y not hold any major revelations for the medieval scholar, the use of examples from the text does permit the reader to obtain insights into the flavour of travel along this pilgrimage way. This is particularly true of the numerous comments and curses the Guide's author levels at what Shaver-Crandell and Gerson have termed 'the inventiveness of the hospitality industry of the Middle Ages' (p. 23). What becomes clear from thetextis that the author of the Guide had actually travelled the Camino and was not simply reproducing second-hand information and hearsay, which by itself makes the work of particular interest. The translation and the accompanying commentary comprise only one hundred pages, whilst the extensive gazetteer represents the bulk of the work. A s is made clear in the introduction, the authors are primarily interested in the art and architecture along the Camino. However, the organisation of the gazetteer demonstrates a certain amount of indecision on the part of both them and the publisher. As previously noted, this cloth-bound book is lavishly illustrated, heavily footnoted, and printed on quality glossy paper. The authors have also provided bibliographic references for each location they discuss and have...