The Codex Calixtinus is a manuscript that is the main witness for the 12th-century Liber Sancti Jacobi, a pseudepigraph attributed to Pope Calixtus II. The principal author or compiler of the Liber is thus referred to as "Pseudo-Calixtus", but is often identified with the French scholar Aymeric Picaud. Its most likely period of compilation is 1138–1145.
Detail from the Codex Calixtinus Folio 4r, showing Saint James the Great
The opening letter purporting to be from Pope Calixtus II
James the Great was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles to die, and the first to be martyred. Saint James is the patron saint of Spain and, according to tradition, his remains are held in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
St James the Elder (c. 1612–1613) by Peter Paul Rubens
James the Apostle, detail of the mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, 6th century
Shield with symbol of St. James the Great, Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)
Saint James the Elder was painted by Rembrandt in 1661. He is depicted clothed as a pilgrim, with a scallop shell on his shoulder, and his staff and pilgrim's hat beside him.
