LA ARTICULACION POLITICA DEL CAMINO FRANCES: UN RECORRIDO CONCEPTUAL A TRAVÉS DEL CODEX CALIXTINUS

Abstract

An analysis is made of the main political points of the Codex Calixtinus, parting from the historical circumstances of its very creation. In this way, the author accepts the hypothesis the the consolidation of the route known as the «French Route» was also the result of factors which the spiritual nature that the pilgrims aspired to had to dilute in very diverse ways. Thus, neither Compostela at its height, nor its expressions of power (including those which served to legitimise this power) can be explained without taking into account factors like relations between the Empire and the Pontificate in the period of the «Investitures», and more specifically the role of the order of Cluny, with its particular articulation of the French element. In short, the author offers a comparative exercise between a document generally taken as a collection of liturgical practices, devotions and curiosities, and a political project defined by its universal character.