Good evening, all!
So, apologies for the delay in yesterday's blog post. Had the parents wondering if I was still alive, and had Lu Ann thinking I had been locked in the cathedral on one of Don José Luis's adventures!
Even though I went to Don José Luis's archive second, I'll introduce him to y'all first. He is in his late 70s (we estimate) and has the sense of adventure of a teenager. José Luis Sales has been the archivero of the Archivo Diocesano de Pamplona for over 30 years. He is a priest attached to the cathedral chapter here in Pamplona. Two years ago, he took Lu Ann, Amanda, Kim, and Eric on an expedition through the cathedral, including the bell tower. Last year, he took us (Lu Ann, Meredith, Hanna, and me) through the underground passage that connects the Archbishop's palace (where the Archive is located) to the cathedral. He didn't take us up into the bell tower, but he did take us to some other high places where we had a great view.
This year, Don José Luis upped the ante again. First off, let me explain how he came to propose this adventure. When I walked into the Archivo Diocesano, Don José Luis gave me an enormous hug and introduced me to two older gentlemen working in the archive as "a North American student who has come thousands of kilometers to see the documents we take for granted and hold in such low esteem," and reassured them that, "even though when you hear 'American' you think of California, no, no, he is from the eastern part, close to the site of the American victory at Yorktown in their Revolution" (this was all in Spanish; Don José Luis, to our knowledge, has little, if any, English). After this awesome introduction (and I mean awesome), we went into his office to talk about what I would be working on.
Almost immediately he noticed my lapel pin: an upside-down scallop shell. Some of you reading this blog will know what the scallop shell means immediately (especially what it would mean to a priest in the middle of northern Spain). But for everyone else, here goes:
When I was a sophomore at W&M, I received my first subject-matter honors society invitation: Alpha Delta Gamma, the national honors society in medieval & Renaissance studies. The symbol of our membership is a lapel pin in the form of a scallop shell, to be worn upside-down.
The upside-down scallop shell is a symbol of pilgrimage, and for the purposes of Alpha Delta Gamma, symbolizes the pilgrimage of all scholars in their quest for knowledge. But the scallop shell is a particularly powerful symbol of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Campostela in Galicia (northwest corner of Spain). The Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) is one of the most popular pilgrimages in the world, along with the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Rome.
The town of Santiago de Compostela is said to be the final resting place of St. James (Santiago in Spanish) the Greater, Christ's Apostle who was the brother of John, son of Zebedee, and witness of the Transfiguration (which I mention since this past Sunday was Transfiguration Sunday in Protestantism). Traditionally, St. James is said to have come to Spain to preach the Gospel. He returned to Jerusalem, possibly for the Council held there, at which time he was put to death by Agrippa I. He was the first apostle to die-- his brother, John, would be the last. Either by the conduct of his disciples or by a completely unmanned boat (versions of the story differ), James' body was returned to the Iberian peninsula, and was entombed in Galicia. The remains were discovered in the year 814, and a Christian altar was built there. For nearly 1200 years, pilgrims have flocked to this town in the northwest corner of Spain to visit the resting place of the first Apostle to die for the faith. They traditionally wear a scallop shell, for various practical and symbolic reasons (practically, it makes a good cup or bowl, and symbolically the lines all moving to one point on the shell symbolize the various pilgrimage routes people can take to Compostela). If you want more details than that, take Dr. George Greenia's class on the Camino de Santiago at William & Mary. He teaches the class in the spring and takes the class to actually do the pilgrimage in the summer. One of those few scheduling regrets I have from my undergrad years is that I never did the Camino class-- maybe someday I'll be able to do the Camino itself, though =D.
ANYWAY, the symbol of the Med-Ren honors society is an upside-down scallop shell lapel pin, and I wore it today on my jacket. Don José Luis immediately noticed it and we got to talking about the pilgrimage. I assured him as best I could that I had not been on the pilgrimage, but that it was a symbol of a "society of honored students in medieval studies at my university." Nevertheless, we stayed on the subject for several minutes. Somehow, he came to mention Roncesvalles, a town in northeastern Spain, about an hour away from Pamplona and maybe five minutes from the French border. Before I knew it, he was suggesting that we drive to Roncesvalles (or that a "young friend" of his would drive us) and I could see "the gateway to the Way of St. James." It took me a while to understand that he was actually suggesting we get in a car and go to Roncesvalles (yes, you Song of Roland fans, the same "Roncevaux" where Charlemagne the Long-Bearded's rear guard was routed by Basques/Moors and Roland died of a cerebral hemorrhage from blowing a horn).
Don José Luis must have seen how wide my eyes were, and he immediately assured me that it was perfectly fine if I would prefer not to, and that he understood that I had only a week in Pamplona and that I had much to do. I think I sufficiently conveyed to him how honored I was that he would consider making such a trip with me, but keeping in mind the reasons he gave me, and my hope to make an afternoon trip to Barásoain, I told him I would postpone that trip until my next visit =D.
After a few more minutes of conversation, and letting him know how other members of the "Pamplona group" were doing, he gestured to the door with a smile, "¡A trabajo!" he said. "To work!"
Since the ADP doesn't open until 10:30, I decided to go to the Royal Archive first. The Archivo Real y General de Navarra is housed in the royal palace of Navarre, the home of the kings and queens of Navarre for centuries, and of the Castillian viceroy after Navarre was absorbed into Castile in 1512. Peio Monteano Sorbet, the head archivist there, is our main contact, and a dear friend.
He assured me that all the Archive's resources were at my disposal, and that if I had any problems or questions, I need only ask him. We talked for a little while about my thesis, and while he sympathized with my curiosity about the subject, he wasn't certain that the AGN would have many helpful documents. He did, however, point me to some good secondary sources in the auxiliary library at the Archive. Peio also gave me his cell number and offered to drive me to Barásoain if the bus didn't work out.
My searches in the AGN were not very fruitful. Fortunately, I had planned for today to be a review day (both at the ADP and the AGN), a day to get more information from the sources I had worked with last year and to reacquaint myself with archival work after a year-long hiatus. I accomplished those goals, and somehow managed to get a paper turned in tonight.
I've had serious trouble sleeping the last two nights, but last night was the worst. I went to bed at 1 and didn't get to sleep until sometime between 2:30 and 3. But, I've finished my paper, I've had a great first day seeing great friends, and I feel like my Spanish is already ten times better than it was two days ago when a frustrated waiter decided it was just easier to talk completely in English. Maybe navarros are more understanding of our efforts than madrileños; with due respect to Madrid folks, I do think people here are a bit nicer =D. Plus, the day's experiences with Peio and Don José Luis have reminded me how blessed I am to have been introduced to such awesome people. I hear all kinds of horror stories in my classes about uncooperative archivists who keep things hidden and won't let professors, let alone students, see what they need to see, and thanks to the "in" I was given last year at these two archives, I've never had to deal with that. Thanks, Lu Ann =D!
Sorry this is such a long post, but I'm convinced that if I just type until my head drops onto the keyboard, I'll actually be able to get to sleep without lying in bed for an hour and a half.
Tomorrow's post will be shorter; I promise =D!
¡Hasta mañana!
-A
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