Saint James
From Hull AWE
There are two Apostles called Saint James. (The name James is etymologically equivalent to Jacob, the name borne by one of the Patriarchs of the Old Testament.)
Saint James the Greater
- is the brother of John. The two are described as 'the sons of Zebedee', and 'Boanerges' - 'Sons of Thunder'. (This may be a nickname because they were quick-tempered.) This James was one of the inner group of the Twelve Apostles, who witnessed the Agony in the Garden and the Transfiguration. He preached the Gospel, and was martyred in 44 C.E. - the first of the Twelve Apostles to die, and perhaps the second Christian martyr, Saint Stephen being the first. By the seventh century CE, it was being written that James had been buried in Spain; by the ninth, that he had preached the gospel there. The city of Santiago de Compostela in NW Spain, is named after him: the Spanish form of his name is Sant (saint) Iago (James). It became one of the most important sites of pilgrimage in Europe. As James is the patron saint of Spain, the name is common there; the derivative form Santiago has been corrupted into Diego, and further into
dago, an insulting and abusive name for a person speaking Spanish in the United States. It has become a general term for 'foreigner [of whom I do not approve]'. Do not use this word.- Iago is also the name of the villain who causes the downfall of the eponymous hero of Shakespeare's Othello.
- is the brother of John. The two are described as 'the sons of Zebedee', and 'Boanerges' - 'Sons of Thunder'. (This may be a nickname because they were quick-tempered.) This James was one of the inner group of the Twelve Apostles, who witnessed the Agony in the Garden and the Transfiguration. He preached the Gospel, and was martyred in 44 C.E. - the first of the Twelve Apostles to die, and perhaps the second Christian martyr, Saint Stephen being the first. By the seventh century CE, it was being written that James had been buried in Spain; by the ninth, that he had preached the gospel there. The city of Santiago de Compostela in NW Spain, is named after him: the Spanish form of his name is Sant (saint) Iago (James). It became one of the most important sites of pilgrimage in Europe. As James is the patron saint of Spain, the name is common there; the derivative form Santiago has been corrupted into Diego, and further into
- Compostela is said by some to derive from campus stellae (Latin for 'field of the star'), after a legend in which the saint's remains were miraculously shown to a hermit by a star hovering over the site; by others to be from compostum, 'a place', and tella, 'ground': 'earth of placing', or 'place where people, or their ashes, are buried'.
Saint James the Less
- James is described as 'the son of Alphaeus' in Matthew (10: 3), Mark (3:18) and Luke (6: 15). He is traditionally identified with "James the Lord's brother", named in The epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians (1:19). The general epistle of James in the New Testament was traditionally assigned to the Lord's brother, but is likely to be later in date. James the Less was a leader of Christians in Jerusalem (he is often called the first Bishop of Jerusalem), and was martyred there in 62 CE, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, who wrote in Greek and Latin. He is also called James the Just and James the Righteous.
- The Court of Saint James, built on the site of a leper hospital dedicated to Saint James the Less, is the official residence of the head of state of the UK. It is named for Saint James's Palace, on Pall Mall in London, just north of Saint James's Park. Its importance is most marked in diplomatic relations. All ambassadors to the United Kingdom are, in official language, 'accredited to the Court of Saint James's'.
- St James's Church, Piccadilly (commonly St James Piccadilly), dedicated to St James the Less, is a Wren church on Piccadilly in London. It has been one of the churches with a fashionable following.
