URSULA
227
URSULA
iibsequent revisions of this story there are two an-
ient versions, both originating at Cologne. One of
licse (Fuit tempore ))prvetu,sio) dales from the
»cond half of the ninth eentuiy ("HUt-TO), and was
nly rarely eopied during the ISIiildle Ages. The
ther (Regnante Domino), also compiled in the
iiith century, had a wide circulation, but adds little
f importance to the tirst. The author of the latter,
riiliably in order to win more credence forhisaccount,
lainis to have received it from one who in turnlieard
from the li])S of St. Dunstan of Canterbury, but iie serious anachronisms which he commits in .saying bis place it under suspicion. This legendary aeeounl 1 well known: Ursula, the daughter of a Christian ing of Great Britain, was asked in marriage by tlic an of a great pagan king. Desiring to remain a vir- in, she obtained a delay of three years. At her ?quest she was given as companions ten young romen of noble birth, and she and each of the ten •ere accompanied by a thousand virgins, and the •hole company, embarking in eleven ships, sailed for liree years. When the appointed time was come, nd Ursula's betrothed was about to claim her, a gale f wind carried the eleven thousand virgins far from lie shores of England, and they went first by water 3 Cologne and thence to Basle, then by land from iasle to Rome. They finally returned to Cologne, •here they were slain by the Huns in hatred of the aith.
The literary origin of this romance is not easy to etermine. Apart from the inscription of Clematius, ranscribed in the Passion "Fuit tempore" and para- hrascd in the "Regnante Domino" Passion and the Scrmo innatali", the^\Titers .seem tohavc been aware f atiallic legend of which alate version is found in Geof- -ey of Monmouth: the usurper Maximus (as Geoffrey alls the Emperor Maximian), having conquered Brit- ih Armorica, sent there from Great Britain 100,000 i)lonists and 30,000 soldiers, and committed the gov- rnment of Armorica to his former enemy, now his -lend, the Breton prince, Conanus Meriadocus. The itter decided to bring women from Great Britain to larry them to his subjects, to which end he appealed Dionotus, King of Cornwall, who sent him his aught er Ursul.a, accompanied by 11,000 noble vir- ins and 60,000 other young women. As the fleet •hich carried them sailed towards Armorica, a vio- "nt storm destroyed some of the ships and drove the pst of them to barbarian islands in Germany, where he virgins were slain by the Huns and the Picts. 'he improbabilities, inconsistencies, and anachronisms f Geoffrejs account are obxious, and have often een dealt with in detail: moreover the story of Ursula nd her companions is clothed with a less ideal char- (•t<T than in the Pa-ssions of Cologne. However, this ccount has been regarded by several writers since iaronius as containing a summary of the true history f the holy martyrs. Like the Pa.ssions of Cologne,
- has been subjected to the anti-scientific method,
I'hich consists in setting aside as false the improba- ilities, impossibilities, and manifest fables, and fgarding the rest as authentic history. As a con.se- uence two essential traits remain: the English origin f the saints and their massacre by the Huns; and hen, according ;i.s adherence is given to the "Sermo in atali", Geoffrey of Monmouth, or the Pa.s.sion "Reg- ante Domino", the martyrdom of St. Ursula is placed n the third, fourth, or fifth century. In order to ccount for all the details, two mas.sacres of virgins .t Cologne have been accepted, one in the third cen- ury, the other in the fifth. The different solutions iith their variations suggested by scholars, some- imes with levity, sometimes with con.siderable learn- ng, all share the important defect of being based on elatively late documents, unauthoritative and dis- igiired by manifest fables.
No conclusion can be drawn from these texts.
Nevertheless, the fables they contain are insignificant
in comparison with those which were invented and
))ropagated later. As they are now unhesitatingly
rejected by everyone, it suffices to treat Ihiin biiefiy.
In the twelfth cenlury there were discovend in the
Ager Ursulanus at C'ologne, some distance from the
Church of St. Ursula, skeletons not only of women,
but of little children, and even of men, and with them
inscriptions which it is impossible not to recognize
as gross forgeries. All this gave rise to a number of
Wt. UaauL.^ and her Spouse meeting Pope St. CvniACua
Curpaccio, the Academy, Venice
fantastic legends, which are contained in the accounts of the vision of St. Ehzabeth of Schonau,and of arelig- io.us who has been regarded as identical with Blessed Hermann Joseph of Steinfeld. It may be remarked in passing that visions have played an important jjart in the question of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, as may be seen in those of Clematius and of the nun Helintrude contained in the Passion "Fuit tempore" and the Passion "Regnante Domino". Those of the twelfth century, in combination with the inscriptions of the Agcr Ursulamis, resulted in furnishing the names of a great many of the male and female com- panions of Ursula, in particular — and this will suffice to give an idea of the rest — that of a Pope Cyriacus, a native of Great Britain, said to have received the virgins at the time of their pilgrimage to Rome, to have abdicated the papal chair in order to follow them, and to have been martyred with them at Cokigne. No doubt it was readily acknowledgeil I hat this Pope Cyriacus was unknown in the pontifical records, but this, it was said, was because the car- dinals, di.spleased with his abdication, erased his name from all the books. Although the history of these saints of Cologne is obscure and very short, their cult was very widesjiread, and it would require a volume to relate in detail its many and remarkable manifesta- tions. To mention only two characteristics, since the twelfth century a large number of relics have been sent from Cologne, not only to neighbouring countries but throughout Western Christendom, and even India and China. The legend of the Eleven Thou- sand Virgins has inspired a host of works of art , .sev- eral of them of the highest merit, the mo.st famous being the paintings of the old masters of Cologne, those of Mcmling at Bruges, and of Carpaccio at Venice.
The Order of Ur.sulines, fotmded in 1.5.35 by St. Angela de Merici, and especially devoted to the educa- tion of young girls, has also lielpcd Id spread through- out the world the name and the cult of St. Ursula.
