At 16:24 28/04/97 yo wrote
> Other than its association with St. Anthony, does
> anyone know of any particular symbolism associated with
> the Tau-staff as an attribute of abbots or bishops,
> especially any explanation of its origin?
It is interesting to note that the iconography of Saint James as a
pilgrim was by no means frequent in his Shrine during the Middle Ages. In
the Portico de la Gloria he is represented twice wearing a Tau-staff as an
Apostle and not a pilgrim. But more remarkable is the fact that the
compostelan archbishops had the same Tau-staff as their symbol of authority
from the end of the 12th c. Berenguel de Landoria (14th c.) adopted it when
he moved from France to Compostela. S. Moralejo -one of the greatest
scholars on The Way of Saint James- explained this in several papers: "se
trata de afirmar la "traditio apostolica" de la sede compostelana": "La
ilustracion del Codice Calixtino de Salamanca y su contenido historico", in
*Guia del peregrino del Calixtino de Salamanca*, pp. 39-51.
Carlos
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