Teresa -
My understanding is that the islands were named after the 11,000 Virgins of
Cologne in honor of their status as patrons of seafarers. (see the Legend
for the story of their travles). My sources indicate that COlombus
referred to a group of islands as the islands of "Santa y las once mil
virgines." In addition, Fernando Magellen, arriving at the southern tip of
South America on October 21, 1520 called it the "cabo de las 11,000
virgenes." In both cases the appellation stems from their role as patrons
of seafarers (though the date of Magellan's arrival certainly gave him
additional motivation for the name). It is noteworthy that this is further
evidence that the cult was understood in its corporate nature throughout
the Medieval period (ie. the 11,000 virgins, and not so much St. Ursula).
sources to check here are:
Veronika Hopmann, "Die Geschichte der Ursulaverehrung: in: Joseph
Solzbacher and Veronika Hopmann, Die Legende der hl. Ursula, Cologne:
Wienand Verlag, 1964, 49-83. esp. p.61 here.
Scott B. Montgomery, The Use and Perception of Reliquary Busts in the Late
Middle Ages, (Ph.D. dissertation, Rutgers University, 1996), chapter 7
(pages 307-362) on the cult of the 11,000 virgins. see esp. p. 321 in this
context. (I am currently working on a larger study of this cult)
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Scott B. Montgomery
>I recently read that Columbus named the Virgin Islands after the 11,000
>Virgins (i.e., not after the Virgin Mary). Does anyone know why he might
>have done this? As far as I could tell, the discovery was not on the
>feast day.
>
>Teresa Rupp
>Department of History
>Mount Saint Mary's College
>Emmitsburg, MD 21727
>
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