The beginning of the succession of bishops of Basel is shrouded in legend. The first, St. Pantalus, eludes historical documentation. He is supposed to have been
martyred
A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloquial ...
at
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
with
Saint Ursula
Ursula (Latin for 'little she-bear') was a Romano-British virgin and martyr possibly of royal origin. She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion. Her feast day in the pre-1970 G ...
, who is herself difficult to locate historically.
[Scott B. Montgomery, ''St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins of Cologne: Relics, Reliquaries and the Visual Culture of Group Sanctity in Late Medieval Europe'' (Peter Lang, 2010) ''passim''.]
Early history
Prince-bishops
Modern diocese
See also
*
Timeline of Basel
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Basel (or ''Basle'', in the once-preferred English spelling).
Established in the 4th century, the city rose to importance in the medieval period as a bishop's seat. In the 15th century it ...
References
{{Reflist
Bishops of Basel