The cult of the eleven thousand virgins in the church of São Roque

Digital

The romantic legend of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, which became popular in Europe since the High Middle Ages, tells that Ursula, daughter of the Roman-British king Donaut of Dumnonia, in the southwest of England, set sail to join her fiancé, the pagan governor Conan Meriadoc of Armorica (Brittany peninsula), along with 11 virgin handmaidens. However, a miraculous storm diverted them to a port in Gaul, where Ursula declared that before marrying, she would like to make a pilgrimage throughout Europe. She then took the road to Rome with her companions and persuaded the (nonexistent) Pope Cyriacus (who had abdicated his papal throne) and the Bishop of Ravenna, Sulpicius, to join them...
Text by ANTÓNIO MEIRA MARQUES HENRIQUES
Senior Technician at the Museum of São Roque

Source: Solidarity City Magazine no. 26
Edition: SCML, 2010