Mansilla de las Mulas

Camino Francés

LeónCastilla y León

From the Latin mansionella, diminutive of mansio 'inn, road stop': 'little inn'. The qualifier de las Mulas commemorates the historic mule market held here uninterruptedly from the 13th to the 20th century.

The first element preserves Latin mansio, a technical noun of Roman road administration designating official stops of the cursus publicus —⁠the imperial post⁠—⁠. On the road from Astorga to Bordeaux via León, several mansiones are documented, and the diminutive mansionella indicated a smaller, secondary stop. The second element, de las Mulas, attested from the 13th century in the charters of King Alfonso IX, commemorates the mule fair held here each spring, one of the most important of the Kingdom of León. The town preserves, almost intact, its medieval walled enclosure —⁠one of the few complete on the Camino⁠—⁠.

Evolution of the name

  1. mansionella late Latin 6th — 9th century
  2. Mansiella / Mansilla Romance Leonese 10th — 12th century
  3. Mansilla de las Mulas Castilian / Leonese from the 13th century

Reflections, to the letter

The name is a two-line receipt. Mansilla comes from Latin mansionella, "little inn": a Roman mansio stood here on the Via XXVII from Asturica to Caesaraugusta, and as you pass through the town gate you still tread the line of the Via Trajana⁠—⁠the very rest-stop infrastructure that named the place. De las Mulas recalls the mule fairs held from the 13th to the 20th century in the Plaza del Grano, still arcaded: the mule market that made the town famous was set up right under those porticoes.

Languages of origin

Themes

Origin status

confirmed

Glossary

Attested
A form or word documented in writing in historical sources; opposed to "reconstructed" (forms proposed by comparative inference but not actually documented).
Diminutive
A derived form indicating smaller size or affection, formed with suffixes such as -illo, -ito, -uelo, -ete. Substantivised plural diminutives abound in toponymy: Hornillos, Boadilla, Calzadilla, Comillas, Pradillos.
Fuero
A medieval legal privilege granted by a king to a town, conferring special rights and freedoms.
Mansio
A staging post on the Roman road network, located every 20-30 km along the main roads (Via Aquitana, Via Augusta). Worked as a hostel, horse-changing station and administrative point. Tardajos (Otorigium), Los Arcos (Curnonium) and Castro Urdiales (Flaviobriga) are former Roman mansiones.
Roman road
A stone-paved Roman highway, part of the imperial communications network (Via Aquitana, Via Augusta, Iter ab Asturica); many such roads became medieval routes and, later, stretches of the Camino de Santiago.

Sources

  • Menéndez Pidal, R. — Orígenes del español
  • Roldán Hervás, J.M. — Itineraria Hispana (Salamanca: Universidad, 1975)

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Camino Francés

  1. ··· toward Santiago
  2. San Martín del Camino
  3. Villadangos del Páramo
  4. Virgen del Camino
  5. León
  6. Puente Villarente
  7. Reliegos
  8. Mansilla de las Mulas
  9. El Burgo Ranero
  10. Bercianos del Real Camino
  11. Calzada del Coto
  12. Sahagún
  13. San Nicolás del Real Camino
  14. Moratinos
  15. ··· toward the start