Aimery Picaud

Aimery Picaud is a Moine poitevin of Parthenay-the-Old man having lived at the 12th century. He is the author of the Guide of the Pilgrim , first work dedicated to the Pèlerinage of Saint-Jacques-of-Compostelle.

Presentation

Aimery Picaud carries out the pilgrimage of Jacques Saint to horse and visit on this occasion a great number of Sanctuaire S of Christendom. It is the first to have the idea to replace competition between the various sanctuaries by a complementarity: to go to Compostelle, the pilgrim visits in the passing - with the need at the price for a turning - all the sanctuaries which are on its road. There exists a great number of possible routes, but the four principal ones are called roads compostellanes and are indexed in the guide under the name of “ways of Saint-Jacob”.

The Guide of the Pilgrim

The Guide of the Pilgrim (Iter pro peregrinis AD Compostellam) , ancestor of the tourist Guide and originally written in Latin, constitutes Ve and the last delivers Liber Sancti Jacobi or Codex Calixtinus , together of texts made up of liturgical parts and written towards 1140. The four ways of Saint-Jacob which it describes are (north in the south):

It there details the stages, the relics to be venerated, the sanctuaries to be visited before arriving at the raised cathedral to the glory of saint Jacques but gives also information on the areas crossed and its appreciation, picturesque but sometimes subjective, on their population. Its work was used as reference during the centuries which followed.

Chapters

This book includes/understands XI chapters:

Ier Chapter: Ways of Saint-Jacob
Chapter II: Stages of the way of Saint-Jacob
Chapter III: Names of the cities and boroughs on this way
Chapter IV: Three good residences of this world
Chapter V: Names of the truck drivers of Saint Jacques
Chapter VI: Bad and good water on the way
Chapter VII: Characteristics of the countries and people on this road
Chapter VIII: Holy bodies to visit on the road and passion of saint Eutrope
Chapter IX: Characteristics of the city and the church of Saint-Jacob
Chapter X: Attribution of the offerings of the furnace bridge of Saint-Jacob
Chapter XI: Warm welcome to be made the pilgrims of Saint-Jacob

Four ways

Ier Chapter: Ways of Saint-Jacob

“There are four roads which, driving with Saint Jacques, meet into only one with Puente Reina, in Spanish territory. One passes by Saint Gilles of Gard, Montpellier, Toulouse and the Somport. The road which passes by Sainte Foy de Conques, that which crosses Saint Léonard to the Limousin and that which passes through Saint Martin de Tours join together near Ostabat, and after having crossed the collar of Cize it join in Puente Reina that which crosses Somport. From there, only one way led to Saint Jacques. ”

Relics

“First of all those which go to Saint-Jacob by the road of Saint-Gilles, must return visit to Arles, the body of happy Trophime, confessor, his festival celebrates the December 29th, (...), the body of happy Césaire, bishop and Martyr, his festival celebrates on November 1st, (...), and in the cemetery of the same city, the Relique S of the holy bishop Honorat, his solemn office celebrates the January 16th, the body of very holy the Martyr Genoa. It is also necessary to return visit with regards very attentive with the worthy body of saint Gilles, pious confessor and abbot, (...) (in Saint-Gilles-of-Gard).

They must return visit to the body of the happy confessor Guillaume, the very holy color-bearer (...) of the king Charlemagne, (...), in the valley of Gellone (Saint-Guilhem-the-Desert), its festival celebrates the May 28th.

On the same road, it is necessary to return visit to the bodies of the happy martyrs Tibère, Modeste and Florence, (...) (in Saint-Thybèri); they are celebrated the November 10th.

One also needs, on the same road, outward journey to venerate the very holy body of quite happy Sernin, bishop and martyr (...) of the town of Toulouse; (...); its festival celebrates the November 29th. ”

Areas

Aimery Picaud describes without kindness the test which awaits the pilgrim in the crossing of certain areas. Its writings can sometimes seem rejecting and discouraging. The Landes of Gascogne are thus described there like the worst of the confrontations with an enemy nature: “by stagnation in the sea sands, in the middle of a desert and in exhausting harassing of the clouds of horseflies which continue you. ”

Populations

The description of the populations is it also without concession but sometimes borrows prejudices and of a certain subjectivity. The author, French, speak about “our gallica people”. It does not dry up praises on the country poitevin in which it is originating, “fertile, excellent and full with all happiness”, nor on its inhabitants, “people vigorous, (...) good warriors, skilful with the handling of the arcs, the arrows and the lances to the war, courageous on the face of battle, very rapids with the race, elegant in their way of dressing itself, beautiful of face, spiritual, very generous, broad in hospitality. ”

On the other hand, the peasants of certain regions see affubler defects and defects. Thus he speaks about the people of Navarre:

“It is barbarian people different from all the people and by its habits and its race, full with spite, black of color, ugly of face, discharged, perverse, perfidious, unfair, corrupted, voluptuous, addicted to drink, expert in all violences, wild and wild, dishonest person and forgery, irreligious person and hard, cruel and quarreller, inapt for very finer feelings, drawn up with all the defects and iniquities. ”

Another picturesque aspect, the author addresses to the “Bourguignons” and to the “Teutons” (and more generally to the pilgrims come from the East) in its paragraph devoted to via Podiensis.

Practical advices

“In a place known as Lorca, towards the east, runs a river called the salted brook. There, takes care well to approach your mouth it or not to water your horse there, because this river gives death. On its edges, while we went to Saint-Jacob, we found two Navarreses sitting, sharpening their knives: they are accustomed to removing the skin of mountings of the pilgrims who drink this water and die about it. With our question they answered in an untrue way, saying that this water was good and drinkable; we thus gave some to drinking with our horses and at once two of them died, that these people skinned at once. ”

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