Santiago Matamoros (St. James the Moor-Slayer)

Feast of Santiago (James) Matamoros (Moor Slayer)

July 25

Time to Slay the Infidel Muslims!

Jacob the fisherman evolved into the archetypal hero of Western culture. From Sant’ Iago Matamoros (killer of the Moors) to Sant’ Iago Mataindios (killer of Indians) to Sant’ Iago Mataespañois (killer of Spaniards) – everyone wanted him as their hero!

In Mexico City there is a carving from the altarpiece of the Church of Santiago Tlatelolco showing him as Santiago Mataindios - the Indian-slayer.

And although Christianity and the Catholic religion were taken to the Americas by the Spaniards, when Mexico fought to obtain its independence from Spain in 1810, Sant’ Iago was exalted as Santiago Mataespañois - the slayer of Spaniards! 

In Peru, during an indigenous uprising in 19th-century they adopted Santiago as its champion, using the "Matamoros" iconography of “Santiago Mataespañois” that in Peru had come to be associated with a pre-Columbian deity who drove out evil forces.

There is a mid-19thC silver statue of Santiago Mataespañois in the Museum of Pilgrimages in Santiago de Compostela.

http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/spain2005/mataespanoisSantiago.html