The Lives of the Saints through 100 Masterpieces

Ursula

The Lives of the Saints 210 Ursula October 21 The University of Paris has all but forgotten its patroness Saint Ursula, leaving it to Cologne—where her relics are kept—and the surrounding Rhineland to perpetuate the enthusiastic devotion that she inspired throughout the Middle Ages. Her adventures make her the female, Christianized heir to Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. Her fantastic story, as a preacher might have recounted it, drawing details from The Golden Legend, must have fascinated the faithful. Thedaughter of a British king, Ursula agreed to wed a pagan prince under two conditions: that he would convert, which he did forthwith, and that he would grant her three years to go to Rome on pilgrimage. And so she departed to the Eternal City with a retinue proper to her royal rank: 1,000 servants for herself and 1,000 for each of her ten ladies-in-waiting. Thus a whole fleet set sail for the continent, bearing 11,000 virgins. And this was only a portion of the passengers on the expedition, for numerous bishops accompanied Ursula in addition to Babilla, Juliana, Victoria, and Aurea, the four daughters of Saint Gerasina, queen of Sicily. They reached Gaul and continued to Cologne, where an angel warned Ursula of her future martyrdom; then onto Basel, from which they proceeded to Rome on foot. In the Eternal City, the reigning pontiff, Pope Cyriacus, decided to resign his papacy in order to join the expedition; then all departed to return to Cologne. There, Attila, king of the Huns, awaited the arrival of fresh meat, having been forewarned of the approach of the pilgrims. However, stunned by Ursula’s beauty, he wished to marry her, and to give the 11,000 virgins in marriage to his soldiers. At her flat refusal, there followed a massacre, and the predicted martyrdom was thus accomplished. The Master of Saint Severin (active 1485–1515) Apparition of an Angel to Saint Ursula Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne ...