Queen Lupa

She is mentioned in both the Codex Calixtinus and the Golden Legend involving the translation of the body of the Apostle James by his disciples.

Her name alludes to her cunning, and she is written as being a roadblock to the disciples of the Apostle James, Theodore and Athanasius, as they search for a place to entomb his body.

Her story is integral to the translation of the relics of the apostle, and her home is along the route of the Portuguese Way to Santiago de Compostela.

Galician tradition holds that Lupa, a widowed noblewoman,[1] lived in Castro Lupario,[2] along what is now called the Portuguese Way.

[3] She appears in Book III (Liber de translatione corporis sancti Jacobi ad Compostellam) of the 12th-century Codex Calixtinus, which contains a story regarding what was done with the body of the Apostle James after his martyrdom.

[6] Then according to the Golden Legend, Lupa tried deceiving them and sent them to Mount Ilicino (now known as "Pico Sacro") to collect some of her oxen to carry the necessary material to build the tomb.

[7][8] Upon witnessing the miraculous events, Lupa converted to Christianity and helps build the apostle's tomb in Libredon.

"[11] Her name, "Lupa," recalls the Spanish word "lupino" (meaning "characteristic of or relating to wolves"), which in turn is derived from Latin lupus.

One version of the story of James's body being brought to Galicia from Jerusalem tells of the ship as it approached land.

[19] A number of pieces of art feature her, among them the Traslado del cuerpo de Santiago el Mayor ante el palacio de la reina Lupa by Martín Bernat is on display in the Museo del Prado.