St James/Iago/Jago/Jacob
The body of St James was found in 808, ratified to 813 by the Archbishop of Santaigo in 1898. The place where St James was buried was Iria Flavia, near a Benedictine Monastery formed 798 by King Alfonso. The body was entrusted to them in 831. Alfonso III had a new church built in 862-893. Iria Flavia became known as El Padron. Pilgrimages came from across Spain, visited even by Moors who wrote of ‘St Yakob of Jalikijah [St James of Galicia]. Then came a young Caliph of Cordoba (Ibn Abu Amir later named Al Manzor al Allah) who was jealous of Compostela, with his army and destroyed the town on the 10th August 997. Having found the town empty of all, he was surprised to discover one man who had not fled, a monk at his devotions at the tomb. Al Manzor spared him and set a guard over the tomb to protect it and the monk. Following this after a glorious vision of St James, the Knights of Santiago de Espada came into being. The town was changing. Diego Pelaez, bishop of Iria 1070, rebuilt Compostela. A new church was begun in 1082, designed by Master Bernard the Marvellous, using Cluny based designs. The curch was completed in 1138 and consecrated in 1211. Then comes Don Diego Gelmirez, in 1100 he was ordained subdeacon at Rome, he proceeded to energetically build the cathedral of Sant Iago and many other buildings. Because of the association with Cluny, pilgrims were now coming from France, from as far as Mont St Michele. Gelmirez fought hard to get Rome to accept the status of St James in Spain. He fought hard physically to protect the city from the Moors in 1115, but in 1117 the cathedral was put to the torch by rebellious Galicians, with little damage. To protect the relics of St James the marble coffin and body were placed in a vault under the altar in 1135 and they remained so until verified by Cardinal Miguel Paya y Rico archbishop of Santiago in 1884. Pilgrims came from Western Europe seeking healing. In 1059 Wido, archbishop of Milan, journeyed to the shrine, whereupon Compostela became a ‘a most favoured devotional resort. Including for those in England. This was a land pilgrimage, save for the crossing to northern France. In 1478 Pope Sextus IV proclaimed Compostela to be on the same level of a pilgrimage to Rome or Jerusalem. From England it was through, Paris, Tours, Vezelay and Arles, crossing the Pyrenees. As is usual with human nature money was to be made by the sale of guides and maps for the route. In 1535 one could be bought for two pence. Pilgrims also fell foul of opportunists and thieves. Sleeping draughts were known in 1370, for example, and administered secretly. Whilst they slept they were stripped of all. Some English pilgrims on ship landed at Bordeaux. Th eships were operated under a King’s licence; for the Keeper of the Tower of London was to be paid six pence by each pilgim – a Law unrepealed.
Pilgrimage from England by sea to Galicia began c1430; issued licences were from Edward II and Henry VI. For an idea, at the peak of the pilgrimage, between 1446 and 1456 arrivals of 13 ships per year each carrying 800 pilgrims. That is not counting those that came by land, they only suffered the walk, those on board ship had other hardships to face as a part of their pennance. To give an idea of numbers of English pilgrimage, in 1434 Henry VI granted permission to 2,433 of his subjects to go to Compostela. In 1428 916 licences issued, and in 1434 2,460 licences. That is a lot of vessels carrying around 100 pilgrims in each, having to pay their way and cook for themselves on the journey. They made choices to sleep below in the cramped smelly area or on deck and get swamped with seas and beaten by winds.
Here is one of the very first licences
1394 ‘Know you that we have given licence to Oto Chambernoun, William Gilbert, and Richard Gilbert, to receive and embark in the harbour of Dartmouth a hundred pilgrims in a certain ship belonging to the same Oto, William, and Richard, called la Charite de Paynton, of which Peter Cok is captain’.
These are all the Licences given to Cornish Masters.
1) Peter July, master of the Trinity of Falmouth
2) John Rede of the Trinity of Falmouth
3) Phillip Mayowe of the Barry of Fowey, 2nd May 1432
4) Ralph Wrythall of the Mary of Fowey,
5) Thomas Jaundrell of the Mary of Landulph
6) Roger Raffe of the Gabriel of Penzance
7) Thomas Tregryn and John Blaunchen of the Mary of Fowey 3rd March 1456
8) Thomas Gerard of the Julien of Fowey
9) John Kydeston of the Bartholemew of Landelph
10) John Nicholl of the Michael of Penzance Feb 1434
11) John Nicholl of the barque Katherine of Penzance 8th May 1425
12) John Nicholl of the Katherine of Penzance 25th May 1440
13) John Russel of Fowey 3rd July 1414
14) John Slugg of Saltash 14th March 1428
15) John Slugg of the Thomas of Saltash 14th Jan 1434
That is around 1500 pilgrims from Cornwall in 24 years. Four sailings from Penzance.
So, for a Jago to have sourced from Spain before 1430, it would have been through a long pilgrimage to Plymouth or Portsmouth, or even Dover, to cross the Channel to Avranches or Rouen and then on to Compostela; perhaps only by report. Alternatively the Spanish could have brought the name with them on a sailing mission when trading or fishing.