medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (21. October) is the feast day of:
Ursula and a whole lot of companions (4th cent.?) At the heart of this
legend is a Cologne inscription from c. 400 recording the restoration of a
ruined church in honor of some local virgin-martyrs---Ursula and
companions. The legend got more and more interesting over time---by the
ninth century they were of British origin and there were "very many" in the
group. In the tenth century the number became fixed at 11,000 virgins,
probably because somebody misread XI MV (undecim martyrs virgines) as
"undecim millia virgines." The full legend reports that Ursula was the
daughter of a British Christian king. She was betrothed to a non-Christian
prince, but got a three-year delay in the wedding. She spent her grace
period cruising around in a ship with ten noble companions---each in a ship
with a thousand virgins. They reached Cologne, went on pilgrimage to Rome,
and then returned to Cologne. There they were martyred by the Huns when
Ursula refused to marry their chief. In 1155 a large collection of bones
was found at Cologne---*clearly* those of Ursula and co. (actually, some of
the bones were those of men and children).
Hilarion (d. c. 371) According to Jerome, Hilarion was the son of
non-Christian parents from Gaza. He studied at Alexandria and became a
Christian there. After that, Hilarion visited Antony, but returned to
Palestine. On reaching home, however, H. discovered that his parents were
dead, so he gave all his goods to his brothers and the poor and became a
hermit. His austerities and miracles attracted both disciples and
sight-seers, to the point that he relocated several times to avoid them
(getting as far as Egypt, Sicily, Dalmatia, and Cyprus.
Malchus (d. c. 390) Malchus was born at Nisibis (Mesopotamia), the only
son of wealthy peasants. He ran away to join some Syrian hermits in the
desert. But when he went home to comfort his mother after his father's
death, his caravan was attacked by Bedouin who carried Malchus off to
slavery beyond the Euphrates. His master married Malchus off to a fellow
prisoner, but they lived together chastely. Finally the two decided to
escape. The master and companions caught up with them, but were killed by
a lioness before they could harm the Christians. Malchus rejoined his
hermits; the woman never found her husband, so she settled down to live
near Malchus.
Fintan Munnu (d. 635) Fintan was an Irishman of the Ui Neill clan, who
trained as a monk and eventually decided to settle at Iona. This caused
problems, however, since Columcille had jsut died and his successor refused
to receive Fintan. So Fintan went home and founded the monastery of
Taghmon.
Tuda (d. 664) Tuda was educated in Ireland and became bishop of
Northumbria just after the synod of Whitby to replace Colman of
Lindisfarne. Bede praises his good and devout life (and his adherence to
Roman practices). He died in the plague of 664.
Dr. Phyllis G. Jestice
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