ABSTRACT
In the ninth century came the inventio, discovery, of the tomb of the apostle, then a little later, the story of histranslatio from Jerusalem to Galicia began to spread in ecclesiastical circles without generating the mass movements some claim. In addition St James venerated in sanctuaries other than Compostela in places that often housed some of his relics. It was only from the mid-twelfth century, with dissemination of the so-called Pseudo-Turpin, that laypeople started to dream of Compostela. Some noblewomen wanted to accompany them and female commoners sometimes followed in their footsteps. These modest estimates of men en route to Compostela imply an even more modest number of women. The few portraits that we can draw make them all the more valuable. There were few women on the main pilgrimage routes and a fortiori few noblewomen, perhaps because of the unhappy memories left by the Crusade of 1147 by Louis VII, accompanied by Queen Eleanor.
