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There are four roads leading to Santiago, which combine to form a single road. So begins The Pilgrims Guide, the worlds first guidebook. Written early in the twelfth century by Benedictine monks, it served travelers taking part in the great pilgrimage of the Middle Ages, to the tomb of the apostle St. James, the cousin of Christ, at Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. The four roads are all in France: from Paris in the north; from Vzelay in Burgundy; from Le Puy-en-Velay in the Massif Central; and from Arles in Provenceall threading their way across the country before joining as a single road in northern Spain. A step-by-step account of these four journeys through medieval France, the Guides aim was to explain to pilgrims the religious sites they would see on their way to Santiago, but it also offered advice on where to stay, what to eat and drink, and how to avoid dishonest innkeepers and murderous boatmen.