St. James was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus. He and his brother John were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee and were among the first disciples to be called. As a member of the inner circle of disciples, he witnessed major events in the ministry of Jesus, including the Transfiguration and the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was beheaded in AD 44 by order of Herod Agrippa. By tradition, his body was taken to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, where his shrine has long been a place of pilgrimage.