Villalón de Campos

Lupus, 'wolf', was one of the most frequent Roman and early medieval anthroponyms of the northwestern peninsular quadrant, generally attributed to men characterised by ferocity or valour in combat. Toponyms in Villalob-, Villaluen-, Villalob-os document the frequency of the pattern. The Romance augmentative suffix -ón, added to anthroponyms to reinforce the expressive value, gives Lubón > Lón with loss of the intervocalic consonant. The hamlet of Villalón is documented from the 12th century in charters of the Sahagún monastery. The historical identity of the place comes from the market: from the late 15th century, Villalón was the head of one of the principal Castilian livestock markets, specialised in mules and transhumant cattle. The annual fair of San Mateo (21st of September), instituted by Charles V in 1542, came to gather in its peak days more than twenty thousand head of livestock and a thousand muleteers. The fair is still celebrated, with reduced dimensions and five centuries of continuity. The Villalón cheese —⁠curd of churra sheep milk pressed in rush moulds⁠— is the oldest documented cheese of Castile, cited in 13th-century council ordinances.