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The Warrior Saint

"Ay, this is a knight indeed, " cried Don Quixote, "one of those that fought in the squadrons of the Savior of the World, He is called Don Santiago Matamoros, or Don St. James the Moor Slayer, and may be reckoned one of the most valorous saints and champions of chivalry that the earth then enjoyed and Heaven now possesses."

Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote de La Mancha.

Santiago Matamoros, the celebrated Spanish incarnation of the Apostle St. James Major, was a dominant figure in the Christian Reconquest of Spain from the Moslems. His timely appearance in the Heavens as Santiago Matamoros on his white charger was credited with key Spanish victories against the Moor, and also inspired the Spaniards during their conquest of Mexico. His famed shrine at Compostela, in northwestern Spain, became the chief pilgrimage destination in Christendom during the later Middle Ages.

In Mexico the militant saint is most commonly portrayed in popular imagery mounted on a rearing horse with a red victory banner, slashing at his turbanned enemies with lethal strokes of his sword. Santiago is the patron saint of many of the churches and chapels of the meseta purépecha. of western Michoacán. Across Mexico, paradoxically, the militant saint was often adopted by the native peoples as a spiritual counter force to oppressive Spanish rule, and as an upholder of indigenous rights. This seems to have been especially true in Michoacán, where the brutal conquest of the region in the 1500s by Nuño de Guzmán long endured in the folk memory.

After the shock of the Spanish conquest, the Franciscans and others established a network of missions across the meseta purépecha. of western Michoacán. Each village was encouraged to specialize in a particular handcraft, some of which were already found in the community. Many of these skilled crafts, including pottery, woodcrafts and metalworking, still flourish. This ancient and powerful tradition of native art and ingenuity also found expression in the unique painted ceilings of the mission churches and chapels of the region. Several of these colorful galleries of religious folk art, mostly dating to colonial times, still survive to amaze and awe the visitor of today.

The spectacular painted underchoir at San Bartolo Cocucho (above, and detail left) illustrates the most vivid portrayal of the Santiago Matamoros in the region. This extraordinary mural depicts Santiago Matamoros, conventionally astride a white steed with raised sword and banner, smiting Moorish soldiers, who are shown in various stages of dismemberment.

The saint is accompanied on the left by kneeling Spaniards discharging muskets and praying. On the right, soldiers enter a burning building - a reference to the legendary Battle of Clavijo of 844 AD, in which Spanish Christian forces routed a Moorish army with the assistance of St. James, who appeared in the heavens to urge them on to victory.

The Virgin Mary, La Purisima, appears in the clouds above him, clothed in a blue robe with black shoes and surrounded by winged cherubs. She appeals to the Holy Trinity, shown at center right. All the figures, including the fallen Moors are handsomely costumed in 18th century style.

©Carolyn Brown

Santiago Peregrino

However, the saint has a humbler alter ego, the peaceable Santiago Apóstol or Santiago Peregrino, who is customarily portrayed as a barefoot or sandaled pilgrim, with cape, water gourd, traveler's staff and a broad brimmed hat, usually with a scallop shell affixed - the symbol of pilgrimage and baptism that marks the ancient pilgrimage routes in Spain and is also a regional hallmark of architectural ornament on churches across western Michoacán.

This image appears in the painted ceiling of the barrio chapel of Santiago at Charapan >


Numerous other representations, reflecting both sides of the saint's personality, are widely seen in statuary, reliefs, paintings and ceiling murals across the area: at Angahuan, Charapan, Corupo, Tupataro, Naranja, Nurio and Tanaquillo.

©Carolyn Brown