Libredón was a forest, sometimes also described as a mountain, near

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

that according to legend, is where the body of Saint James was laid to rest. There is a belief that the forest was located at the , a hill in Santiago de Compostela that is part of the Parque da Alameda de Santiago de Compostela.

Background

The legend surrounding the life of the apostle says that Saint James preached the gospel in

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

as well as in the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

; after returning to Israel he was

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

ed at the orders of

Herod Agrippa Herod Agrippa I ( Roman name: Marcus Julius Agrippa; ), also simply known as Herod Agrippa, Agrippa I, () or Agrippa the Great, was the last king of Judea. He was a grandson of Herod the Great and the father of Herod Agrippa II, the last known k ...

. His disciples carried his body by sea to Hispania, where they landed at

Padrón Padrón () is a ''concello'' ( Galician for municipality) in the Province of A Coruña, in Galicia (Spain) within the comarca of O Sar. It covers an area of , is from A Coruña and from Santiago de Compostela. , the town had population of 8,9 ...

on the coast of Galicia. In 1139, in ''Book III: Transfer of the body to Santiago'' in the

Codex Calixtinus The (or ''Codex Compostellus'') is a manuscript that is the main witness for the 12th-century ('Book of Saint James'), a pseudepigraph attributed to Pope Calixtus II. The principal author or compiler of the ''Liber'' is thus referred to as "Ps ...

, describes the journey of Theodore and Athanasius, the disciples of Saint James, as they moved his body from

in a cart pulled by oxen to the Libredón forest (previously Liberum Donum), where he was buried. The journey is also described in stories involving

Queen Lupa Queen Lupa (also known as Raíña Lupa, Raíña Lopa, Raíña Luparia, Raíña Luca and Raíña Loba) is a character from Galician mythology. She is mentioned in both the ''Codex Calixtinus'' and the ''Golden Legend'' involving the translation of ...

. The place was forgotten until, in the 9th century,

Pelagius the Hermit Pelagius (Spanish: Pelayo, Paio or Pelagio) was a hermit or anchorite who lived in Solovio in the Libredón forest in 813 AD. Narrative According to some sources, Solovio was an ancient Celtic fort, but other sources take it to be a necropoli ...

saw some lights that illuminated the forest. He advised

Theodemir Theodemir, Theodemar, Theudemer or Theudimer was a Germanic name common among the various Germanic peoples of early medieval Europe. According to Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel (9th century), the form ''Theudemar'' is Frankish and ''Theudemir'' is ...

, bishop of Iria Flavia. They found a small chapel with an altar and a crypt (the ) in which there were three tombs, that of Santiago and that of his two disciples. He informed the king of Galicia, Alfonso the Chaste, who traveled from

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

along what is called the

Camino Primitivo The Primitive Way (also called Original Way, ) is one of the paths of the Camino de Santiago. It begins in the old Asturian capital of Oviedo and runs west to Lugo and then south to Santiago de Compostela joining the more popular French Way in ...

, to verify that the bones corresponded to those of the apostle. King Alfonso II ordered the construction of a chapel on the site. Traditionally, it is believed that the location of the forest is where the is located, a hill in Santiago de Compostela that is part of the , between and ..

References

External links

* '
Pilgrimage to the Stars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Libredon Christian mythology Camino de Santiago Medieval Galicia (Spain) Santiago de Compostela

Background

See also

References

External links