The nucleus of this tale appears in various versions, although this one by a Valencian medical doctor is rare in that the innkeeper is explicitly a woman. An important early version is found in the Codex Calixtinus, a mid-twelfth-century manuscript compiled of materials relating to Saint James. The codex contains a pilgrim's guidebook to Compostela written around 1130, presumably by a French monk called Aymeric Picaud. Apart from being an invaluable source of information about medieval pilgrimages, it is the first European travel guide to Compostela. In a sermon in Book I, a preacher warns pilgrims about the scams practiced on innocent pilgrims by "evil innkeepers" and tells a version of this tale of the lone pilgrim. From there, the story passes into the Golden Legend (thirteenth century), an extremely popular collection of saints lives by Jacob of...