Who we are test

The Société Française des Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle© (Association Loi 1901) was founded in July 1950 by Jean Babelon, Louis Bourbon, Georges Gaillard and Jeanne Vielliard. They were later joined by René de La Coste-Messelière. Historians, art historians and archivists, they all loved Santiago, Compostela and Spain, and many had made the pilgrimage themselves.

Thanks to meticulous work, the association has recreated the traditional pilgrimage routes in France. At the request of pilgrims who had been arrested in Spain as vagabonds, in 1958, in agreement with the authorities of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, it created the credencial or “pilgrim’s passport”.

The association

The Société des Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle brings together associations in France that share its values.

The “Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle” (Friends of Santiago de Compostela) are interested not only in the paths, but in the whole phenomenon of pilgrimage: the pilgrimage, its history, its paths and present-day pilgrims, the apostle Santiago, the shrine in Galicia, the art and literature created around the pilgrimage, the evolution of hospitality and the brotherhoods, the European and even worldwide dimension of ancient and contemporary pilgrimage, etc. The ” Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle” (Friends of Santiago de Compostela) are interested not only in the paths, but also in the whole phenomenon of pilgrimage.
They form a whole at the service of pilgrims, heritage protection and knowledge of the pilgrimage.

The “Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle” (Friends of Santiago de Compostela) are interested not only in the paths, but in the whole phenomenon of pilgrimage: the pilgrimage, its history, its paths and present-day pilgrims, the apostle Santiago, the shrine in Galicia, the art and literature created around the pilgrimage, the evolution of hospitality and the brotherhoods, the European and even worldwide dimension of ancient and contemporary pilgrimage, etc. The ” Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle” (Friends of Santiago de Compostela) are interested not only in the paths, but also in the whole phenomenon of pilgrimage.
They form a whole at the service of pilgrims, heritage protection and knowledge of the pilgrimage.

Through the Société Française des Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, these associations work closely with :

• the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of Galicia, Castilla y León, and the Spanish Basque Country,
• the Pilgrim’s Office at Santiago de Compostela Cathedral,
• the Galician regional government’s Xacobeo,
• ACIR Toulouse, the ICOMOS correspondent for UNESCO World Heritage, as intermediaries between Galicia and the French clergy,
• the Fédération Européenne des Chemins de Saint-Jacques, which aims to “bring together the local authorities of the European continent crossed by the Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago de Compostela”,
• the Comité International des Experts du Chemin de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle and, in this capacity, with the management of the Institut des Itinéraires Culturels.

She represents France on the Comité International des Experts du Chemin de Saint-Jacques.

History

A circular letter dated March 15, 1950 laid the foundations for the Société des Amis De Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle. The letter was signed by Jean Babelon on July 20, 1950. The curator of the Bibliothèque Nationale’s Cabinet des Médailles presented himself as president of the provisional committee, pending a constitutive general meeting.

This letter attached here is accompanied by the composition of this committee: six honorary members and twelve active members, whose titles and functions are in line with the new institution’s ambition to act as a learned society. The preceding paragraph explains these intentions, which the Society’s statutes will take up verbatim in their object.

The first pilgrimage organization of the modern era was born, and the pilgrimage to Compostela was reborn.

Committee membership

Chairman

• Mr Jean BABELON, Curator of the Cabinet des Médailles at the Bibliothèque Nationale

Honorary members

• Mr Marcel AUBERT, Member of the Institute
• Mr Paul GUIGNARD, Director of the French Institute in Madrid
• Mr Maurice LEGENDRE, Director of Casa Velasquez
• Mgr MARTIN, Archbishop of Rouen
• Mr Louis BEAU, Member of the Institute
• Mr Jena VERRIER, General Inspector of Historic Monuments

Active members

• Mr André ARTONNE, Honorary Librarian at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Mr Louis BOURBON, Conservateur des Antiquités et Objets d’art de l’Ardèche
• Mr. Jean BRAUNWALD, President of the Casa Velasquez Association
• Mr Paul DESCHAMPS, Member of the Institute
• Mr Jacques FONTAINE, Professor, Faculty of Letters, Caen
• Mr Georges GAILLARD, Professor, Lille Faculty of Literature
• Mgr JORIT, Professor at the Institut Catholique de Paris
• Mr Elie LAMBERT, Professor at the Sorbonne
• Ms Régine PERNOUD, Curator of the French History Museum at the Archives Nationales
• Mr Charles Pichon, Director of the Saint-Louis and Saint-Ferdinand Association
• Mr Jacques ROEDERER, Architect
• Miss VIELLIARD, Director, Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes

Our values

The Société Française des Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle remains faithful to the objectives set by its founders:

• help and advice to current pilgrims in preparing for a pilgrimage
• the study of artistic, historical, literary and religious movements triggered by devotion to Saint James the Greater
• development of international projects through a network of associative and institutional partners

Honorary members

The following have agreed to become honorary members of the Société Française des Amis de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle:

• Cardinal Paul Poupard
• Archbishop JuliánBarrioBarrio, Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela
• Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris
• Mgr Luc Crépy, Bishop of Le Puy-en-Velay
• Mr José María Ballester, former Director of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage at the Council of Europe (1979-2003)
• Mr Juan Vicente Herrera Campo, President of the Junta de Castilla y León

Prominent personalities

Jean Babelon

Jean Babelon, born in Paris on January 19, 1889 and died in Paris on April 20, 1978, was a French librarian, historian and numismatist.
He studied at the École nationale des chartes, graduating in 1910 as an archivist and paleographer. On graduating from the École nationale des chartes, he was appointed to the Institut des hautes études hispaniques in Madrid.

Read more

René de la Coste-Messelière

René de La Coste-Messelière, a pioneer on the Way, was one of the personalities who, since 1950, inspired the Société Française des Amis de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle and gave it its reputation. He left his mark on the renaissance of pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. With his authorization, we reproduce here the article written by Gérard Jugnot, former president of the Society, in April 1998 in the magazine “Pays Cathare”.

Read more

Jeanne Vieillard

Jeanne Vieillard, passionate about the Hispanic Middle Ages

The only woman in the founding trio, Jeanne Vielliard bridged the gap between knowledge and the simple pilgrim. In 1938, she translated the first “Guide du Pèlerin de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle” (Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela), a 12th-century Latin text, into French from the Compostelle and Ripoll manuscripts, and had it published. Jeanne Vielliard was born in Paris on May 26, 1894 and died in Maisons-Laffitte on November 3, 1979.

Read more

Jacques Fontaine

A former student at the École normale supérieure, agrégé de grammaire (1943) and member of the Casa de Velázquez (1943-1946), he taught classics at Caen’s Lycée Malherbe (1949-1954). Lecturer in Latin philology (1954-1957), then professor of Latin language and literature at the University of Caen-Normandie (1958-1959), he was awarded a doctorate in literature in 1957, then professor of Latin language and literature at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne from 1959 to 1988.

Read more

Jeannine Warcollier

Among the founders and personalities who contributed to the influence of the Société Française des Amis de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, Jeannine Warcollier defended the values of the Chemins de Saint-Jacques in France and Europe throughout her life. She was General Secretary of the Société des Amis de Saint-Jacques in Paris from 1958 until her death in April 2016. She passed away at the age of 92, having remained active in the Société Française des Amis de Saint-Jacques right up to the end. In Santiago de Compostela, a room at the Bureau d’accueil des pèlerins francophones bears her name.

Read more

Adeline Rucquoi

Adeline Rucquoi, Doctor of History from the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne, Director of Research Emeritus at the C.N.R.S., is a specialist in the medieval history of the Iberian Peninsula and a member of the Comité International des Experts du Chemin de Saint-Jacques, correspondent of the Spanish, Portuguese and Mexican Academies of History, co-director of the “Chemins de Saint-Jacques et pèlerinages” chair at Compostelle, and author of numerous articles on the Compostelan pilgrimage.

The Chairmen

In chronological order :

• Jean Babelon (1950)
• René La Coste-Messelière (1972)
• Gérard Jugnot (1996)
• Jacques Fontaine (1997)
• André Vauchez (2004)
• Adeline Rucquoi (2006)
• Patrice Bernard (2016)

Members and Volunteers

The Société Française des Amis de Saint Jacques de Compostelle is an Association governed by the French Law of 1901.
It relies solely on donations and subscriptions from its members and the voluntary work of its volunteers.

A few words to honor those who have made and continue to make our association a success. Offering one’s time and abilities to help others, or to enable the association to function perfectly, is a generous idea that honors those in a position to do so. Volunteers are valuable people who deserve a great deal of gratitude. They are people who, in addition to looking after themselves, have decided to devote part of their time to others, to try to make their lives a little brighter. How much we owe them in gratitude, consideration and respect! Volunteering is a true gift of self, voluntary and complete. Volunteers generously offer their ideas, time and know-how to a worthy cause in which they believe.

It would not be possible to meet the demands of our mission without the help of the volunteers who provide help and support on a daily basis. We need to co-opt new talents, new skills, to meet the many challenges we face.