Aproximación a la topografía espiritual de Santiago en la Baja Edad Media: antiguas y nuevas devociones

In a survey of the documents of the late medieval Compostela a generalized devotion to the Virgin was displayed, thus making Santiago a Marian devoted city. Its peculiar piety combined tradition and renewal, emphasizing the veneration of Saint Mary in her various dedications: Santa María da O (St. Mary of Advent or Ante Nadal), Santa Maria das Neves, Santa Maria da Candelaria, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The city of Santiago presented also an intense devotion directed towards saints particularly rooted in Galicia (e.g. St. Martin, and St. Anton). Albeit mendicant patron saints were scarcely invoked there was a revival of popular devotions like St. Catherine of Alexandria or St. Lawrence. These devotions provoked different socioreligious responses amongst the believers. We focus our interest on an area hitherto seldom studied: light and its administrators. Medieval documents allow us to reconstruct this service: persons in charge, funding sources, materials, and management. These references enable a first approach for bring to light the devotional topography of Compostela at the ending of the Middle Ages