About the authors:
We are six students from León, Spain. We study Languages at the University.
This blog is part of a project to let you know a little better our country, Spain .
We are Sofía Martínez, Laura Varas, Nerea Rodríguez, Alexandra Robles, María Jesús Vallejo e Irene Rodríguez. If you want to know more about us, click on our profiles on the right side
In your own country, who is the monster that kidnaps children while they are sleeping?, who gives you money for your teeth? Are there lovers that, literally, die of love?, who are the fairies you call on when you need help with fate issues?, or for example, who is the ghost that protects soldiers in war?
This blog is about all these characters in Spain. There are many fantastic...sometimes freaky stories about them.
Some of these stories come from popular tradition, others from ancient cultures, but all of them express the feeling of people looking for encouragement or for an explanation of what they are not able to understand...magic instead of science.
So, come on in and read the most well-known legends of Spain. And then, share with us the misteries of your countries.
Welcome to Wiki Freak Legends!!
By: María Jesús, Irene, Nerea, Laura, Sofia and Alexandra.
The Apostle James is named Santiago in Spain. He travelled all around the world to preach and convert people to Christianity. He went from the Middle-East to the most north-western part of Spain, called by the Romans "Finis Terrae", end of the world.
After his return to Palestine in 44 a.C., he was imprisoned by Herodes Agrippa and tortured to death. It was forbbiden to bury his corpse, but at night James' disciples stole the body and brought him, in a marble sarcophagus, on board of a small boat. The current of the sea drove it to the Spanish coast, into the port of the Roman province's capital, Iria Flavia (current Santiago de Compostela). There the Apostle was buried at a secret place in a wood.
Hundreds of years later, in 813, a hermit heard music and saw some place in that wood shining. For this fact, the place was called, in Latin, "CampusStellae", field of stars, which gave name to Compostela.
The bishop Teodomiro was told about that story and he started an investigation. In that way, the tomb of the Apostle was discovered. The king of Asturias,AlphonseII, declared Saint James the patron of his kingdom and now Santiago is the patron of Spain. A chapel was built at that place, where currently the famous cathedral of Santiago of Compostela stands.
It was the begginig of the pilgrimage to the grave of the saint,
known as the
"Way of Saint James".
Ways of pilgrimage crossing Europe to Santiago de Compostela
Scholars have never done scientific research to identify the body found, but it is legend accepted all over Spain.
We tell you another astonishing legend about Santiago.There was a battle between Christians and Moors in 844 near Clavijo, in northeastern Spain. It is said that St James appeared on the side of the Christians to Ramiro I of Asturias and helped them to triumph over the Muslims under Abd ar-Rahman II of Córdoba. Then Santiago was called Matamoros or Moorslayer.
Santiago appeared riding his white horse over a cloud and encouraged Ramiro I, who led his troops under the battle cry:
"Santiago y cierra España", "St James and strike for Spain".
Santiago riding his white horse againt the Moors
Spain at this period sorely needed a new champion or focus to inspire Christians against the invading Moors. So the rediscovery of Santiago’s grave came at the most propitious moment.
The legend was written down in the 12th century, by which time the Medieval Crusades led by different Popes against Muslims in the Holy Land were well underway.
Santiago became the Patron Saint and military leader of Spain, as later Miguel Cervantes wrote in Don Quixote:
“St James the Moorslayer, one of the most valiant saints and knights the world ever had ... has been given by God to Spain for its patron and protection”.
The military religious Order of Santiago was created in the 12th century in Spain. Nowadays, in Spain many religions and cultures live in harmony, and we don't need another militar leader.
We live in León, and we are really proud of being a beautiful town in the Way of Saint James.
León in the Way of Saint James
Thousands of pilgrims walk the way every year. If you want to know more about the Way, you can watch the following video.
Also, you can listen to the opinion of some pilgrims.
Now, if you are eager to start walking as a pilgrim, take a look at the blog of some of our fellow students at the University talking about the Way of Saint James: The Way to Santiago
Don't hesitate! It's a life experience you'll never forget!!
Every year on the 23th June at midnight, an event is celebrated in a lot of sited around the world. In Spain, the most superstitious and party lovers make rituals to use the magic energies of this night. However, where does this magic come from? All is related to “San Juan Bautista” and the solstice of the 21th of June. For this reason it is called the night of San Juan.
The night of San Juan is a celebration with a very old origin that is related with some ritual that “it pretends to give more power the sun”, because the light hours lower.
There are different ways of to celebrate it. In Spain, some rituals are to jump the waves or to jump the bonfire. It is thought that this magic night made our wishes. Furthermore the lovers have your own ritual; the guy has to throw a bouquet of flowers when he will be jumping and the girl must catch it in the air, if not fall the lovers will have eternal happiness.
Have you ever heard about the story of "The Lovers of Teruel"? And the saying of "silly her, silly him"??
Do not?? It is very popular in Spain....we will tell you the story....
Isabel Segura and Diego Marcilla grew up in the Spanish city of Teruel (near Valencia) at the beginning of the 13th Century. They were both from noble families and they were in love.
Isabel's family were very wealthy and didn't want her to marry Diego because his family although nobles were not rich. So the young Diego pledged that he within five years would return a rich man and marry his beloved Isabel.
Unfortunately Isabel's family did not wait and began to organise her marriage to a rich nobleman. After the five years Diego returned to Teruel. However, he heard about Isabel's wedding. So when he arrived in Teruel, he climbed to the balcony of the house where the two newly-weds were sleeping. Isabel awoke and told Diego what had happened.
Diego said her: “kiss me or I will die” but she refused becasuse she was married now. Suddenly Diego died of a mixture of remorse and exhaustion.
The young woman began to think about how much Diego had loved her and all he had done for her and that he had died because she would not kiss him. She decided to go to the funeral and kiss him before he was buried so she went to the San Pedro Church to find him. When Isabel bent down to kiss her dead sweetheart on the lips, she fell still and it was evident that she too had died of a broken heart. After that, the families decided to bury them together in the same grave.
The history of the Teruel Lovers has been a source of inspiration for all the arts:
In literature: "Comedia de los Amantes" by Tirso de Molina, the play "Los Amantes de Teruel" by Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch, which provided the basis for the libretto used by Tomás Bretón to compose his opera about the Lovers.
In terms of painting, Los Amantes de Teruel by the Valencian artist Muñoz Degraín (Picasso’s teacher) is especially important.
Muñoz Degrain
"The new Love" of Jorge Gay
In sculpture, the Mausoleum of the Lovers by Juan de Ávalos is of particular note. In 1555 Lovers mummies were discovered in a chapel within San Pedro Church and they were there for a long time where people could see them. After that, they were hidden in other side. In 1956 the mummies were rediscovered.
There is a special festivity in Teruel that commemorates the tragic love of Isabel and Diego. Since 1997, people celebrate one of the most important festivities in Teruel, it is called "The marriages of Isabel de Segura". This has become in a tradiction in Teruel, where a lot of people relive the medieval atmosphere of the 13th Century. They participate in the acts celebrated on the streets, such as medieval market, theathers, music, dance...especially the story of "The lovers of teruel" that is played by all the citizens in the days in which the celebration is.
In addition to this, this legend is honored in other arts like music. There is a rock version of Dark Moor band.
In Spain there is a saying relationated with the lovers of Teruel, it is "her silly, silly him".
Why do we use this expression?
Nowadays it is used ironically because of excess of affection and love between two persons that had just met. In the legend, both characters behave in an illogical way due to their passionate love.
The tragic story of the lovers is similar to others stories like "Romeo and Juliet". So this kind of love had a lot of repercussion in the society and some writers. However in the 20th Century it was replaced by material love.
Have you ever heard of characters that scare or take away children who don’t want to sleep?
In Spain we have "El Coco". The "Coco" is a scary character which adults use to frighten children.
It is also known in Portugal and some countries of Latin America.
It is thought that it is invent of adult but his history is longer. In Portugal and Galicia it is an ancient tradition (from the Celts) to empty pumpkins and slashes in the shell eyes nose and mouths. It has nothing to do with American customs imported later.
For the name of this character many possibilities have been suggested. According to some etymologists, in 1498, the men of the portuguese admiral Vasco de Gama called the fruit of the coconut palm (“cocotero”), "coconut" ("coco"), because of the resemblance of the shell and three holes with a head with eyes and mouth, like a "Coco" or Bogeyman.
In Spain we colloquially call "coco" (coconut) to the head, and there are expressions like «comer el coco» ("eat the coconut") or «tener mucho coco» ("have much coconut").
The Coco also appears in nanas or nursery rhymes
The best known version is:
"Duérmete niño, / duérmete ya, / que viene el coco / y te comerá."
"Go to sleep boy / go to sleep now, / coconut will come / and will eat you."
In the late eighteenth century (in 1799), the famous spanish painter Francisco de Goya made an engraving, in the series "Los Caprichos", of this popular character named "Que viene el coco" ("Here comes the bogeyman"). Currently on the Museum of Prado (Madrid)
"Que viene el coco" ("Here comes the bogeyman").Goya
Interpretation of Goya engraving:
Goya and the Enlightenment considered a mistake to educate children scaring them with ghosts and unreal characters. They believed that it was necessary to remove ignorance and superstition. According to anecdotes of the time, some mothers used this strategy with their children saying: The Coco is coming!, when in fact it was her lover. Thus it is manifested in several manuscripts and the own engraving of Goya where you can see the excited expression on the face of the mother for receiving the Coco, a person of her choice but that she didn’t want her children to see.
In your country, are there some characters like "The Coco"?
