The earliest known human remains in Europe, dating from 900,000 years ago have been fund at Atapuerca directly on the Camino and in the late Palaeolithic Period (about 10,000 B.C) humans settled in North Western Spain. Megalithic monuments dotted along the coast of western Europe dating from about 4,000 B.C. are aligned with solar events such as solstices and equinoxes and suggest that perhaps the origin of a route to Finisterre dates from this period? Certainly by the time the Roman General Brutus fought his way to the end of the Earth or finis terrae, the area had a strong spiritual significance for the Celtic tribe the Lusitani who lived in the area, as a place of Druidic activity.
The legends and myths surrounding the development of a Christianised Camino say that the Apostle James brother of John came as a missionary to Galicia after Jesus' crucifixion and preached the gospel before returning to Jerusalem where according to Acts 12:2 he was "put to death with the sword" by Herod. There is no biblical or other historical evidence whatsoever for James having visited Galicia, but as early church tradition suggests that the apostle Thomas went to India and Paul himself may have preached in Spain after his missionary journies recorded in Acts, it is not entirely impossible. Supposedly James' disciples brought his body back to Galicia and buried him near finis terrae.
The legend gained potency however in the Middle Ages as the result of seismic events on the Iberian Peninsula. In A.D. 711, only 80 years after the death of Muhammad, Arab and Berber warriors (called Moors) led by Tariq of Tangiers landed at Gibraltar, defeated the Visigothic King Roderic in 712 and except for a thin mountainous strip of Northern Spain, quickly overran the whole peninsula and established the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba. Jews and Christians (Mozarabs) were allowed to live under Muslim rule and there was a flowering of arts and sciences. Later the Caliphate fragmented into several Muslim Taifas.
Meanwhile in the surviving non-muslim northern strip, the Christians tentatively began the fight back and the legend of St James or Santiago became a useful religious and political standard to rally around. In A.D. 813 Pelayo claimed he had a vision of a bright light or star (stella) in a field (compos) which revealed the forgotten burial place of St James or Sant Iago - hence Santiago de Compostela. The Bishop of Iria Flavia confirmed the story and at the Battle of Clavijo in 844 and at subsequent battles against the Moslems, St James (Matamoros - Moor Slayer) was supposed to have appeared at the critical moment and turned the tide of the battle decisively.
As the Iberian Kingdoms of Navarre and Castille developed, their monarchs were canny enough to see the political and economic potential of developing and sponsoring the Camino de Santiago. Apart from the religious banner of St James under which they could muster their subjects in the fight against the Muslims, they were quick to capitalise on the influx of pilgrims (many with trades and skills) into their domains, who they encouraged to settle in the new towns they developed along the route of the Camino such as Estella. Such towns and settlers were given special privileges and exemptions by royal charter and were divided into different districts depending on nationality so that there might be a Frankish quarter and a German quarter and so on.
As pilgrim routes to Jerusalem in the east collapsed due to Muslim conquest, the Camino de Santiago grew in ever increasing importance, becoming more important even than the route to Rome during 12th - 14th centuries! It is estimated in this period that in any one year a fifth of the population of Europe would be on pilgrimage - an astonishing figure!
As the Camino developed many religious and chivalric orders such as the Knights Templar became associated with developing the Camino and guarding pilgrims. However when the Knights Templar were abolished in 1307 after threatening Papal and royal power, many of the of their properties were given to the Knights of St John, who are still associated with the Camino - notably at Cizur Menor outside Pamplona.
Various influences, especially the Reformation and the subsequent decline in the popularity of pilgrimage but also the Peninsula War in Napoleonic times and Franco regime in the 20th Century all played their part in the decline of the Camino after the 1500's. However from the 1970's onwards the numbers walking the Camino have started to soar again with over 250,000 people walking the entire route from St Jean Pied de Port in 2010. The reasons why people from so many walks of life and different nationalities walk or cycle the route are diverse - some for religious and spiritual reasons, but many for sport or cultural reasons, but most agree that they find it a life changing experience.
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