Saint Ursula
Christian martyr
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Saint Ursula, (flourished 4th century, Rome; feast day October 21), legendary leader of 11 or 11,000 virgins reputedly martyred at Cologne, now in Germany, by the Huns, 4th-century nomadic invaders of southeastern Europe. The story is based on a 4th- or 5th-century inscription from St. Ursula’s Church, Cologne, stating that an ancient basilica had been restored on the site where some holy virgins were killed. Mentioned again in an 8th- or 9th-century sermon, the number of maidens increased to several thousand, reportedly martyred under the Roman emperor Maximian. In Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda Aurea (1265–66; Golden Legend) Ursula is a British princess who went to Rome accompanied by 11,000 virgins and was killed with them by the Huns on the return from the pilgrimage. The discovery at Cologne in 1155 of an ancient Roman burial ground believed to contain these martyrs’ relics inspired additional legends. Ursula is the patron of the Order of St. Ursula (Ursulines), a congregation of nuns dedicated to educating girls. In the 1969 reform of the Roman Catholic church calendar her feast day was reduced to observances in certain localities.
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Ursuline
…themselves under the protection of St. Ursula, a legendary 4th-century martyr whose cult was popular in medieval Europe, and thus the Company of St. Ursula was born. Angela drew up her rule in 1536, which provided for the Christian education of girls in order to restore the family and, through…
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flag of United States Virgin Islands
…in 1493, naming them for St. Ursula, the legendary 4th-century leader of 11 (or 11,000) virgins who reputedly were martyred at Cologne (Germany) by the Huns. The first flags specific to what was to become the U.S. Virgin Islands were those utilized by the Danes roughly from the late 17th…
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flag of British Virgin Islands
…named the Virgin Islands for St. Ursula, the legendary 4th-century leader of 11 (or 11,000) virgins who reputedly were martyred at Cologne (Germany) by the Huns. The BVI, a part of the Leeward Islands colony until July 1, 1956, did not acquire symbols of its own until 1960, when, by…
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Saint Ursula
Quick Facts
flourished c. 301 – c. 400
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