Live from the Rainbow Theater, London England - 1974
"Y recordé aquel viejo chiste, aquel del tipo que va al psiquiatra y le dice: "Doctor, mi hermano está loco, cree que es una gallina". Y el doctor responde: "¿Pues por qué no lo mete en un manicomio?". Y el tipo le dice: "Lo haría, pero necesito los huevos". Pues, eso más o menos es lo que pienso sobre las relaciones humanas, saben, son totalmente irracionales y locas y absurdas, pero que continuamos manteniéndolas porque la mayoría necesitamos los huevos." Woody Allen (Annie Hall)
viernes, 28 de septiembre de 2012
John Adams and the Camino de Santiago
John Adams
“I have
always regretted that We could not find time to make a
Pilgrimage
to Saint Iago de Compostella.”
Those of
you who have read David McCullough’s excellent biography of John
Adams [1]
were perhaps astonished to read the recounting of Adams journey to Paris
December
1779 into January 1780, a
journey that eventually finds Adams and his party
working
their way overland eastward along a major length of the Camino francés. Was
Adams aware
of the pilgrimage route to Santiago? What were the conditions that he
described
along the way, the conditions that would have been experienced by any late
18th-century
pilgrims?
In
October 1779 Adams
was appointed by Congress to return to France as minister with
the
specific charge of negotiating treaties of peace and commerce with Great
Britain.
Although
this was a post that he had neither requested nor particularly desired, he
accepted.
In addition to an official secretary, Adams decided to take with him his two
sons, John
Quincy, aged 12, and Charles, aged 9. Adams had made the trans-Atlantic
crossing in
mid-winter before and he had no illusions about the difficulties and immense
dangers of
this voyage. His wife, Abigail would again remain at home. And so on
November 15, 1779 aboard the frigate Sensible
he was headed eastward across the ocean
Two days
out of Boston, the ship, carrying some 350 people, began to leak seriously.
First one
pump was put into service and then a second and after more than three weeks
of day and
night struggling to keep ahead of the water the captain put in at El Ferrol on
the
northwestern coast of Spain the 8th of December, 1979. The pumps were stopped
on reaching
port and in less than an hour there was seven feet of water in the hold.
Being told
that even if the ship were not condemned, repairs would take at least a
month,
Adams inquired about making the remainder of the journey overland. He
decided to
risk the latter rather than sit in port.
So at dawn
the 15th of December Adams, his two sons, his secretary, servants, and
hired
Spanish guides and muleteers set off, one of the party noting that it was very
much like a
scene from Don Quixote. Adams mentions in his Diary and Autobiography
that that
in the time since putting ashore he had hardly slept a wink, so terrible was
the
plague of
fleas and bedbugs, Spain’s “innumerable Swarms of Ennemies of all repose.”
[2, p. 213]
This would not be the last mention of these tiny pests. Indeed they
“persecuted
me through the whole Kingdom of Spain to such a degree that I sometimes
apprehended
I should never live to see France.” [2, p. 213]
After
spending about 12 days getting to and in O Coruña their route passed through
Betanzos,
Lugo, O Cebreiro, Astorga, Burgos and then northeasterly up to Bilbao.
- No
relation to the author of this article.
The 1801
John Cary map of northern Spain showing Adams’ route (solid line) and
the modern
Camino francés (blue solid and dashed line).
Shortly
after getting underway Adams offers a description of the accommodations they
were afforded.
Imagery like this was repeated numerous times along the route. But let’s
let Adams
tell the story in his own words. From his autobiography he writes:
Monday,
December 27, 1779:
We travelled from Betanzos to Castillano. …The House
in Castillano
where We lodged was of Stone, two Stories in height. We entered into the
Kitchen,
where was no floor but the Ground and no Carpet but Straw trodden into mire
by Men,
Hogs, horses and Mules. In the middle of the Kitchen was a Mound raised a
little
above the Level of the Ground with Stones and Earth, on which was a fire, with
Potts,
Kettles, Skillets &c. of the fashion of the Country, over it, and round
about it.
There was
no Chimney [so smoke] filled the room and if any of it ascended, it found no
other passage
to the open Air, but through two holes drilled through the Tyles of the
roof, not perpendicularly
over the fire, but at Angles of about forty five degrees. On one
side was a
flew Oven, very large, black, smoaky and sooty. On the opposite Side of the
fire was a Cabbin
filled with Straw where I suppose the Patron del Casa, that is, the
Master of
the House, his Wife and four Chilldren, all lodged and slept together. On the
same floor
or rather on the same level of Ground, with the Kitchen was the Stable.
There was
indeed a Door which might have parted the Kitchen from the Stable: but this was
always open,
and indeed
it would have been impossible to see or breath with it shut: and the floor or
ground of
the Stable, was covered with miry Straw like the Kitchen. …The Smoke
filled every
part of the Kitchen, Stable, and all other parts of the House, and was so
thick that it
was very difficult to see or breath. There was a flight of Steps of Stone
covered
with Mud and Straw, from the Kitchen floor up into a Chamber. On the left
hand as you
ascended the Stairs, was a Stage, built up about half Way from the Kitchen
floor to
the Chamber floor. On this Stage was a bed of Straw and on the Straw lay, a
fatting hog.
Around the
Kitchen fire were arranged the Man and Woman of the House, four
Children,all
the Travellers, Servants, Mulateers &c. Over the Fire was a very large
Kettle,
like a Pot Ash Kettle, full of Turnips and Onions, very large and very fine
boiling for
the Food off all the Family of Men and Beasts inhabiting both the Kitchen and
the Stable, and the Stage. [2, p. 214]
Adams was
apparently well aware of the pilgrimage to Santiago and its significance.
Tuesday,
December 28, 1779:
I have always regretted that We could not find time to
make a
Pilgrimage to Saint Iago de Compostella. We were informed, particularly by
Mr. Lagoanere,
that the Original of this Shrine and Temple of St. Iago was this. A
certain Shepherd
saw a bright Light there in the night. Afterwards it was revealed to an
Archbishop
that St. James was buried there. This laid the Foundation of a Church, and
they have
built an Altar on the Spot where the Shepherd saw the Light. In the time of
the Moors,
the People made a Vow, that if the Moors should be driven from this
Country, they
would give a certain portion of the Income of their Lands to Saint James.
Moors were
defeated and expelled and it was reported and believed, that Saint James
Was in the
Battle and fought with a drawn Sword at the head of the Spanis[h] Troops,
On Horseback.
The People, believing that they owed the Victory to the Saint, very chearfully fulfilled their Vows by paying
the Tribute.… [2, p. 217]
Adams was
always the caustic, acerbic New Englander and he had little use for clergy
generally.
He certainly did not spare Catholic clergy and his narrative is laden with
excoriating
remarks.
Thursday,
December 30, 1779:
We went from Lugo to Galliego and arrived in good
Season,
having made six Leagues and an half✝ from Lugo. …I saw nothing but Signs
of Poverty
and misery among the People: a fertile Country not half cultivated: People
ragged and
dirty: the Houses universally nothing but mire, Smoke, Soot, fleas and Lice:
nothing
appeared rich but the Churches, nobody fat but the Clergy. Many of the Villages
We passed,
were built with Mud filled in between joists, Nine tenths of them
uninhabited
and mouldering to dust. Yet in every one of these Scenes of desolation, you
would see a
splendid Church, and here and there a
rosy faced Priest in his proud
Canonicals rambling
among the rubbish of the Village. [2, p. 218]
The party
passes through O Cebreiro, Villafranca and Rabanal del Camino to Astorga.
Friday,
December 31, 1779:
We rode from Galliego to Sebrero, seven Leagues. Our
journey was
more agreable this day, than usual: the Weather was remarkably fair and
dry, and
the roads not so bad as We had expected. There was the grandest profusion of
wild
irregular Mountains I ever saw: yet laboured and cultivated to their Summits.…
[2,
p. 218]
Saturday,
January 1, 1780: We
arrived, from Sebrero, at Villa Franca, seven Leagues.
…The Houses
had been uniformly the same, through the whole Country hitherto.
Common
habitations for Men and Beasts. The same smoaky, filthy Dens. Not one
decent
house had I seen, since I left Corunna. [2, p. 219]
Monday,
January 3, 1780: We
rode to Astorga. We passed through the Town and
Country of
the Marragattoes. The Town is small and stands on a brook in a great Plain.
As We went
into Astorga, We met Coaches and genteel People. [2, p. 220]
The party
arrives in Astorga and Adams makes perhaps his first positive remarks about
the journey
and the towns and villages they were passing through.
Tuesday,
January 4, 1780: At
Astorga, We found clean Beds and no fleas for the first
time since
We had been in Spain. Walked twice round the Walls of the City, which are
very
ancient. We saw the Road to Leon and Bayonne and the road to Madrid. There is a
pleasant
Prospect of the Country from the Walls. Saw the Market of Vegetables. The
Onions and
Turnips were the largest and finest I ever saw. The Cabbages, Carrots &c.
appeared
very good. Saw the Markett of Fuel, which consisted of Wood, Coal, Turf and
Brush.
-1 league =
3 statute miles or about 4.8
km
We went to
see the Cathedral Church which is the most magnificent I had yet seen in
Spain. [2,
p. 220]
Wednesday,
January 5, 1780: We
rode from Astorga to Leon, Eight Leagues. This was
one great
Plain, and the road through it was very fine. We saw large Herds of Cattle and
immense
flocks of Sheep. The Sheep were of an handsome Size, and their fleeces of
Wool thick,
long and extreamly fine. The Soil appeared to be rather thin and barren. We
passed
several small Villages, the vast range of Asturias Mountains all covered with
Snow on our
left hand. …Leon, which We entered in the night, had the Appearance of a
large City.
[2, p. 221]
Adams
attends Mass in León and attracts the attention of the Bishop, not favorably.
Thursday,
January 6, 1780: We
went to see the Cathedral Church at Leon which though
magnificent,
is not equal to that at Astorga, if it is to that at Lugo. It was the day of
the
Feast of
the King and We happened to be at the celebration of High Mass. We saw the
Procession
of the Bishop and of all the Canons, in rich habits of Silk, Velvet, Silver and
gold. The
Bishop as he turned the Corners of the Church spred out his hand to the
People, in
token of his Apostolical Benediction; and those, in token of their profound
gratitude
for the heavenly Blessing prostrated themselves on their Knees as he passed.
Our Guide
told Us We must do the same. But I contented myself with a Bow. The Eagle
Eye of the
Bishop did not fail to observe an Upright figure amidst the Crowd of prostrate
Adorers:
but no doubt perceiving in my Countenance and Air, but especially in my
dress something
that was not Spanish, he concluded I was some travelling Heretick and
did not
think it worth while to exert his Authority to bend my stiff Knees. His Eyes
followed me
so long that I thought I saw in his Countenance a reproof like this "You
are
not only a Heretick
but you are not a Gentleman, for a Gentleman would have respected
the Religion
of the Country and its Usages so far as to have conformed externally to a
Ceremony
that cost so little." [2, p. 221]
Friday,
January 7, 1780:
From Mansillas We rode to San Juan Segun. [2, p. 224]
The party
passes over the meseta.
Saturday,
January 8, 1780: We rode from San Juan Segun to Paredise de Nava. …The
Villages
all appear going to decay and crumbling to dust. Can this be the ancient
Kingdom of
Leon? Nevertheless every Village has Churches and Convents enough in it,
to ruin it,
and the whole Country round about it; even if they had nothing to pay to the
King, or
the Landlords. But all three together Church, State and Nobility exhaust the
Labour and
Spirits of the People to such a degree, that I had no Idea of the Possibility
of
deeper
Wretchedness. …There were in this little Village four Parish Churches and two
Convents
one of Monks and one of Nuns, both of the order of St. Francis. [2, p. 224]
From
Astorga to this place Paredise de Nava, the Face of the Country was a great
plain,
and a
striking Contrast to all the rest of the Country We had passed from Ferrol. But
there was
little Appearance [of] Improvement, Industry or Cultivation. Scarcely any
Trees. No
Forrest, Timber or fruit Trees. No Fences except a few Mud Walls for Sheep
folds. This
night We reached Sellada el Camino. [2, p. 225]
The party
arrives in Burgos and Adams is led to make further biting remarks about the
Church and
the clergy.
Tuesday,
January 11, 1780:
We arrived at Burgos, from Sellada el Caminos, four
Leagues. We
had fog, rain, and Snow all the Way, very chilly and raw. …We went out
to see the
Cathedral which was ancient and very large. The whole Building was
supported by
four grand Pillars the largest I ever had seen. [2, p. 225]
For more
than twenty Years I had been almost continually engaged in Journeys and
Voyages and
had often undergone severe Tryals, as I thought; great hardships, cold,
rain, Snow,
heat, fatigue, bad rest, indifferent nourishment, want of Sleep &c. &c.
&c.
But I had
never experienced any Thing like this journey. If it were now left to my
Choice to perform
my first Voyage to Europe with all its horrors, or this journey
through
Spain, I should prefer the former. …In my whole Life my Patience was never so
near being
totally
exhausted. [2, p. 225]
There were
some few Trades and a little Appearance of Business here; but the principal
occupation
was Religion. Upon my expressing some Curiosity to [know] the Number
of Religious
Houses in Burgos, which appeared to me to be enough to devour a whole
Country for
an hundred miles round, our Guide went out and procured me the following
Information.
[Adams then lists 33 monasteries, convents and churches.] …what an
Army of
Ecclesiasticks is this for so small a Town as Burgos. [2, p. 226]
The next
day Adams’ party left the present-day Camino francés route heading northeast
then north,
arriving in Bilbao on Saturday, January 15, 1780. They continued on to Paris
arriving on
February 9th after a journey of two months. In his first letter to Congress
upon
arriving in Paris he reported that they were all “in tollerable health, after a
journey
of near
four hundred Leagues in the dead of Winter, through bad roads and worse
Accommodations
of every kind. We lost no time more than was indispensable to restore
our health,
which was several times much affected and in great danger: yet We were
more than
twice as long in making the journey by Land, as We had been in crossing the
Atlantic
Ocean.” [2, p. 240]
So the
Camino was in 1790 certainly alive enough that John Adams was aware of its
existence.
In fact about Santiago he remarks: “…there are great numbers of Pilgrims,
who visit
it, every Year, from France, Spain, Italy and other parts of Europe, many of
them on
foot.” [2, p. 217] And he was aware enough of its importance to have remarked
“I have
always regretted that We could not find time to make a Pilgrimage to Saint Iago
de
Compostella.” [2, p. 217] Also scattered throughout his account are descriptions
of
conditions
along the route at that time, conditions that can only be described as
horrific.
Adams’ New
England cynicism about clergy, Catholic clergy in particular, is more than
evident in
his account. Indeed while he places the blame for the conditions that he
encounters
— poverty, misery, hopelessness — on the collective shoulders of the
“Church,
State and Nobility" [2, p. 224] he singles out the clergy for special
condemnation
and excoriation. “People ragged and dirty: the Houses universally
nothing but
mire, Smoke, Soot, fleas and Lice: nothing appeared rich but the Churches,
nobody fat
but the Clergy. … in every one of these Scenes of desolation, you would see
a splendid
Church, and here and there a rosy faced Priest in his proud Canonicals
rambling
among the rubbish of the Village.” [2, p. 218]
For those
of you with an attachment to Rabanal del Camino, you should take note that
Adams and
his party passed through that village on Monday, January 3, 1780. It is
amusing to
create a mental image of his entourage—a goodly number of mules, a
wagon,
three calashes (a light, small-wheeled four-passenger carriage with a folding
top)—rattling
down the cobblestone street of Rabanal past the 12th-century church of
Santa María
de la Asunción,
probably past numerous ruins of buildings and on down
the hill to
head off eastward on the road toward Astorga.
In the 18th
century the Hospital de San Gregorio was the pilgrim refuge in Rabanal as it
had been
for many centuries. There are records of its existence in the 1720s and again
in the
early 1800s. Records in 1804 and in 1832 indicate a fair number of pilgrims on
the road.
[3, p. 280] This would imply that Adams would have surely encountered
numerous
pilgrims during his 12 or 13 days on the route between O Cebreiro and
Burgos.
If this
causes you to want to read more of Adams’ account or perhaps even his entire
diary and
autobiography, fascinating reading, they are available on the Website of the
Massachusetts
Historical Society. Father John also required that 12-year old John
Quincy keep
a diary which is also available on this site. Please see the section “Further
Reading”
below.
_____________________________________________________________________
References:
1.
McCullough, David (2001). John Adams. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81363-7.
2. Adams, John (1961). Diary and
autobiography. Vol. 4. Autobiography, 1777-1780.
L.H.
Butterfield, editor. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
3. Gitlitz,
David & Linda K. Davidson (2000). The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The
Complete
Cultural Handbook. St. Martin's Press. ISBN: 0-31225416-4.
Further
Reading:
The Massachusetts Historical Society. John
Adams’ autobiography:
www.masshist.org/digitaladams/aea/autobio
The
Massachusetts Historical Society. John Quincy Adams’ diary:
www.masshist.org/jqadiaries
The
Massachusetts Historical Society:
www.masshist.org
—Gene McCullough, November 2009
John Adams and the Camino de
Santiago
viernes, 14 de septiembre de 2012
Carlos María Ydígoras
AMÉRICA CONTRA AMÉRICA.
El hermano yanki
Dedicatoria:
A San Francisco de Asís, quien ahora estaría
junto a los hombres que, en América, luchan
por la libertad, la paz y la justicia.
En cruz ante las "Bandas de Multinacionales" que enlutan el mundo.
En memoria de los 50 millones de seres - 17 de ellos niños - que anualmente mueren de hambre.
En recuerdo de los 900 millones que, rumiando sus propias miserias, les ven morir.
Algunos no hemos muerto
"En la guerra ves lo peor y lo mejor del hombre", decía a EPS. "Si casi dan ganas de decir que la guerra es bonita, si no fuera tan jodida (...)
Allí en Rusia aprendí a fumar, no había fumado en la vida; aprendí a beber, no había bebido en la vida, y aprendí a joder, no había jodido en la vida.
Esas iniciaciones te dejan marcado de por vida".
Confesaba además la pérdida de su fe religiosa: "Resultó que me dejé a Dios en la estepa. Después de ver tantas barbaridades, tantas muertes, miré para arriba y dije: 'Coño, ¿infinitamente bueno?... Eso no puede ser, aquí hay un error".
http://elpais.com/diario/2010/07/19/necrologicas/1279490402_850215.html
"No me arrepiento de nada", dice, refiriéndose a su pasado político. "Yo vengo de la derecha, y de una derecha combativa, y creo que entonces hice lo que tenía que hacer. Las biografías son respetables.
Pero salí de España y vi la enorme injusticia que se cometía, muchas veces en nombre de Cristo, así que no podía seguir por ahí".
http://elpais.com/diario/1982/05/28/cultura/391384812_850215.html
EL PAIS - Artículos
http://elpais.com/buscador/
martes, 11 de septiembre de 2012
"Cher papa"
Marcel Borensztajn, 10 ans, écrit à son père depuis Pithiviers. Il sera déporté depuis cette commune du Loiret vers Auschwitz dans le convoi 24, le 26 août 1942. Soit 7 jours après ce billet. Ce document historique se termine par ces quelques mots, terribles. "Je n'ai aucune nouvelle de maman et, se (sic) samedi il doit y avoir un départ d'enfants et je crois que je partirai. Je termine ma lettre en t'embrassant bien fort. Ton fils : Marcel."
© Mémorial de la Shoah / CDJC
http://www.linternaute.com/actualite/histoire/les-enfants-dans-la-shoah/lettre-d-enfant.shtml
SHOA/ HOLOCAUSTO. EL VELODROMO DE PARIS
http://adelaperezdelviso.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/shoa-holocausto-el-velodromo-de-paris.html?showComment=1345672079097#c7776251763677165696
HOLOCAUSTO/ SHOA. LOS NIÑOS ESCONDIDOS EN FRANCIA
http://adelaperezdelviso.blogspot.com.es/2012/09/holocausto-shoa-los-ninos-escondidos-en.html
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