St. James the Elder

one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus
Person human_biblical_figure Q43999
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St. James the Elder was born in Bethsaida and held citizenship in Ancient Rome . He was the son of Zebedee [1] and Salome [2][3][4][5].

He had a sibling named John the Apostle [2]. St. James the Elder died in Jerusalem in 44 [6].

Key Facts

  • Place of burial: Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela[10]
  • Father: Zebedee[11]
  • Mother: Salome[12]
  • Country of citizenship: Ancient Rome[13]
  • Ethnic group: Jewish people[14]
  • Position held: apostle[15]
  • Student: Athanasius of Caesaraugusta[16]
  • Member of: Boanerges[17]
  • Religion or worldview: Christianity[18], Judaism[19]
  • Sex or gender: male[20]
  • Part of: Twelve Apostles[21]
  • Commons category: Saint James the Greater[22]
  • Canonization status: saint[23]
  • Cause of death: decapitation[24]
  • Given name: Iakovos[25], Yaqob[26]
  • Significant event: vision[27], coming of the Virgin Mary to St. James the Great in Zaragoza[28]
  • Feast day: July 25[29], April 30[30], December 30[31]
  • Topic's main category: Category:Saint James the Greater[32]
  • Student of: Jesus Christ[33]
  • Manner of death: capital punishment[34]
  • Depicted by: Monument to Saint James the Greater[35], Study for the Last Supper (St James the Elder) and Architectural Sketches[36], Saint James[37]
  • Partner in business or sport: John the Evangelist[38]
  • Described by source: Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary[39], Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary[40], Bible Encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nicephorus[41], Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition[42], The Nuttall Encyclopædia[43]
  • Languages spoken, written or signed: Biblical Hebrew[44], Aramaic[45], Koine Greek[46]
  • Present in work: Gospel of Matthew[47], Gospel of Mark[48], Gospel of Luke[49]

Body

Works and Contributions

Things named for St. James the Elder include Way of Saint James[50], a trail system[51], in Spain[52]; Little Saint James[53], an island[54], in United States[55]; Santiago[56], a city in Chile[57], in Chile[58], founded in 1541[59]; St James's Palace[60], a royal palace[61], in United Kingdom[62], founded in 1533[63]; Order of Santiago[64], a religious military order[65], in Spain[66], founded in 1170[67], headquartered in Uclés[68]; Santiago de los Caballeros[69], a municipality of the Dominican Republic[70], in Dominican Republic[71], founded in 1495[72]; Cross of Saint James[73], a crosses in heraldry[74], in Spain[75]; and Military Order of Saint James of the Sword[76].

Why It Matters

St. James the Elder has Wikipedia articles in 29 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[77] He is known by 169 alternative names across languages and contexts.[78]

Entities named for him include Way of Saint James[50], a trail system[51], in Spain[52]; Little Saint James[53], an island[54], in United States[55]; Santiago[56], a city in Chile[57], in Chile[58], founded in 1541[59]; St James's Palace[60], a royal palace[61], in United Kingdom[62], founded in 1533[63]; Order of Santiago[64], a religious military order[65], in Spain[66], founded in 1170[67], headquartered in Uclés[68]; and Santiago de los Caballeros[69], a municipality of the Dominican Republic[70], in Dominican Republic[71], founded in 1495[72].

FAQs

Where was St. James the Elder born?

St. James the Elder's place of birth was Bethsaida[3].

Where did St. James the Elder die?

St. James the Elder passed away in Jerusalem[5].

Who were St. James the Elder's parents?

St. James the Elder's father was Zebedee[11]. St. James the Elder's mother was Salome[12].

What did St. James the Elder do for work?

St. James the Elder worked as a fisher[6], missionary[7], and apostle[8].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [20] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [11] ↑ . Bible Encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nicephorus. wikidata.org.
  5. [12] ↑ . Bible Encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nicephorus. wikidata.org.
  6. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [8] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  11. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [14] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [21] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  16. [22] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  17. [23] ↑ . Catalog of the German National Library. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  18. [17] ↑ . Gospel of Mark. wikidata.org.
  19. [24] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  20. [2] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  21. [4] ↑ . Catalog of the German National Library. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  22. [25] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  23. [26] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  24. [27] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  25. [28] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  26. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  27. [29] ↑ . Calendarium Romanum Generale (1969). wikidata.org.
  28. [30] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  29. [31] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  30. [32] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  31. [33] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  32. [34] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  33. [35] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  34. [36] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  35. [37] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  36. [38] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  37. [39] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  38. [40] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  39. [41] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  40. [42] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  41. [43] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  42. [44] ↑ . Catalog of the German National Library. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  43. [45] ↑ . Catalog of the German National Library. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  44. [46] ↑ . Catalog of the German National Library. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  45. [47] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  46. [48] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  47. [49] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

  1. [50] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [53] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [56] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [60] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  5. [64] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  6. [69] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  7. [73] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  8. [76] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [51] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [52] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [54] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [55] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  5. [57] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  6. [58] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  7. [59] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  8. [61] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  9. [62] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  10. [63] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  11. [65] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  12. [66] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  13. [67] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  14. [68] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  15. [70] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  16. [71] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  17. [72] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  18. [74] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  19. [75] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [9] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [77] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [78] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

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Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). St. James the Elder. Retrieved October 10, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/st-james-the-elder
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BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_st-james-the-elder_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{St. James the Elder}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/st-james-the-elder}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-10}}
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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 6d ago · Printstream · 2026-10-06 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Sitelink count → 98
    P14483 → s/santiago-apostol
    Wikipedia languages → ['als', 'an', 'ar', 'arc', 'arz', 'ast', 'bar', 'be', 'be_x_old', 'bg', 'bn', 'b
    Claims rich → —
    "/* wbeditentity-update-languages-short:0||de */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/57891|batch #57891]]: Import missing aliases from dewiki 1/5"
  2. 17d ago · Mrwdat3 · 2026-09-25 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14483 → s/santiago-apostol
    "/* wbremoveclaims-remove:1| */ P14483: s/san-santiago-el-mayor, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/275195|batch #275195]]"
  3. 6w ago · Dodro · 2026-08-31 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Library of the university of santiago de compostela authority id → 981013900549607712
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Library of the university of santiago de compostela authority id: 981013900549607712"
  4. 7w ago · Mahirtwofivesix · 2026-08-19 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Babelnet id → 00047920n
    Part of → Twelve Apostles
    Member of → Boanerges
    Arabic ontology lexical concept id → 151060207
    "/* wbeditentity-statements-multiple-properties-update:0||4 */ added/modified IDs mapped to WordNet 3.1"
  5. 11w ago · Pierrotrgr · 2026-07-22 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Biblissima authority id → Allison Janney
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Biblissima authority id: Q229487, Import ID Biblissima V2 ([[:toollabs:editgroups/b/OR/74d891b831c|details]])"
  6. 14w ago · Printstream · 2026-07-04 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14608 → 118556800
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14608: 118556800, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1783130387391"
  7. 14w ago · Bargioni · 2026-07-01 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Parsifal cluster id → 728381
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/39443|batch #39443]]: sync P12458"
  8. 14w ago · Printstream · 2026-07-01 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14578 → 339
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14578: 339, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1782902181175"
  9. 15w ago · Daieuxetdailleurs · 2026-06-27 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Francearchives agent id → 131448958
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Francearchives agent id: 131448958, ajout id FranceArchives Agent d'après données en open data ([[:toollabs:editgroups/b/OR/9d83b95faed|details]])"
  10. 15w ago · Printstream · 2026-06-26 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14536 → 375501
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14536: 375501, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1782462304762"
  11. 15w ago · Putnik · 2026-06-24 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija id → jokubas-2
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija id: jokubas-2"
  12. 17w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-06-14 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Parsifal cluster id → 728381
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:1||1 */ Parsifal cluster id: 728381, Matched to [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/entry/161595419|Iacobus Maior Apostolus (#161595419)]] in [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/catalog/6216|Parsifal"
  13. 17w ago · Jindřich Rubeš · 2026-06-11 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Svkkl authority id → 0228728-Jakub-Vetsi-asi-44
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ Svkkl authority id: 0228728-Jakub-Vetsi-asi-44, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/259496|batch #259496]]"
  14. 19w ago · RVA2869 · 2026-05-29 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Described by source → Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Bible Encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nicephorus +2
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/33786|batch #33786]]: Remove redundant described by source (P1343) - ID P14483 is present."
  15. 19w ago · XeNivalys · 2026-05-27 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14483 → s/santiago-apostol
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14483: s/san-santiago-el-mayor, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1779859433286"
  16. 20w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-20 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Occupation → fisher, missionary, apostle
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/32086|batch #32086]]: import P21 and P106 from GND (28)"
  17. 22w ago · Hannolans · 2026-05-08 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Partner in business or sport → John the Evangelist
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Partner in business or sport: John the Evangelist, Add person works together with based on a partnership"
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