Ursula was the daughter of a Christian king who had determined that she would marry a pagan king, in order to form an alliance. Ursula did not contest the marriage but instead asked to postpone the wedding long enough for her to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Her father agreed and Ursula, along with 11,000 virgins, made the pilgrimage to Rome (Catholic Online). On return from their pilgrimage, the women stopped in Cologne where they were attacked and held hostage by a pagan Huns. (There are several different stories concerning why they were held hostage). In the end, all 11,000 virgins along with Ursula were massacred (Catholic Online).
Named both a martyr and a saint, images of Ursula are plentiful within Europe. Many of the images depict Saint Ursula being shot with an arrow or shielding a host of virgins within her cloak. Also, there are several churches around Cologne that claim to have bones of the massacred virgins.
In relation to the story of Christina of Markyate, we have read how Christina wanted to maintain her chastity that she literally ran away from her betrothed and suffered for years in order to remain hidden from her family. Ursula accepted the fact that she was to be married but she wanted to make this pilgrimage first. Is pilgrimage seen as an act of purity that only those pure in body and soul can attend? Or is it that the act of pilgrimage brings one closer to Christ (or their specific religion) that it is best to be pure?
While researching Saint Ursula I often have the question, would she have been declared a saint if she had gone on pilgrimage after her marriage? Is the fact that she was a 'virgin' martyr that justified her reason to be named a saint? In relation to Christina, I wonder if Christina had given in to desire and lost her virginity would her spirituality still have had as great of a role in her life?
Below are a few images of Saint Ursula:
Works Cited
"St. Ursula." Catholic Online. Last updated 2013.https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=325.
2 comments:
Beth, you presented an interesting historical figure and it was intriguing to see how the pilgrimage played into her sainthood and your questions of that. I just had a few questions too; I simply wondered what time period Saint Ursula is from? Also was it the tragedy of the pilgrimage that cemented her sainthood or was she also responsible for recruiting the 11000 virgins for the pilgrimage? Overall, I see the connection to Christina, as Saint Ursula used agency to postpone her marriage and both women’s status as a virgin did seem to play an important part in their prestige.
Beth/Sadie, Ursula is an automatic saint by nature of her martyrdom, so never canonized in that official way. Many of the histories/legends were shaped in the Middle Ages. Beth, Elizabeth of Schonau wrote quite a bit on Ursula, you might want to check that out for your research project. Lots of married women went on pilgrimage--a major activity, so not enough to secure a pilgrimage.
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