His pilgrimage site in Santiago de Compostela enjoys unbroken popularity thanks to the ongoing pilgrimage trend – and the self-confident James would probably not have minded. He was the son of the fisherman Zebedee and, together with his younger brother John, was one of the first called disciples (cf. Mt 4:21f). James and John are said to have been very impetuous (cf. Lk 9:54f) and received the nickname “sons of thunder” (Mk 3:17) from Jesus for this. The brothers already had a special position among the disciples and were allowed to witness special events such as the transfiguration (cf. 17:1), but their ambitious mother Salome had further plans and asked Jesus: “Promise that my two sons may sit next to you on your right and left in your kingdom!” (Mt 20:21) – much to the displeasure of the other disciples. After Easter, James is said to have been the first of the apostles to die for his faith (cf. Acts 12:1f). According to legend, James appeared to a Spanish hermit in the 9th century and showed him the forgotten tomb of the apostles in Compostela. Various traditions exist to explain how the relics of the Galilean fisherman came to the Iberian Peninsula. What is certain is that St. James became Spain’s national saint and the Way of St. James even surpassed the Roman tomb of St. Peter in popularity in the Middle Ages.
