Article: 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, narrates that Ursula, daughter of the Roman-British king Donaut of Dumnonia , in southwest England, embarked to join her fiancé, the pagan governor Conan Meriadoc of Armorica (Peninsula Brittany) along with 11 virgin handmaidens. However, a miraculous storm diverted them to a port in Gaul, where Ursula declared that before getting married she would like to make a pilgrimage across Europe. She then took the road to Rome with her companions and persuaded the (non-existent) Pope Cyriacus (who had abdicated his papal throne) and the Bishop of Ravenna Sulpicius to join them...
Text by ANTÓNIO MEIRA MARQUES HENRIQUES
Superior Technician of the Museum of São Roque

Source: Cidade Solidária Magazine n.º 26
Edition: SCML, 2010