Cordula of Cologne, also known as Saint Cordula, is an

apocryphal Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

saint. She was venerated in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a companion of

St. 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 ...

and her

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

was on 22 October, but she has not been listed in the ''

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provid ...

'' since 1969 due to doubts about her historicity.

Biography

According to medieval folklore, she was one of the companions of St. Ursula who is said to have come from Brittany to Cologne in the fourth century. There, Ursula and with her eleven thousand virgins were killed by Hunnic invaders. Cordula hid away to escape the fate of her companions, but stung by her conscience, she emerged the day after the massacre and was also killed.

Veneration

Around the middle of the twelfth century, the nun Helentrudis from the convent of Heerse claimed that she had been visited in her dream by a young woman who informed her that she was a companion of St. Ursula and that her name was Cordula. Since that time, Cordula started to be venerated as a saint. Her alleged body was found in 1278 in the vineyard of the commandery of the St. Johan

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

of the

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

when one of their knights also had a nightly visitation by Cordula. Her remains where then translated (possibly by

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus ( 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great, Albert of Swabia, Albert von Bollstadt, or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop, considered one of the great ...

himself) to the chapel of the commandery where they were interred. In overcoming her fears and joining her companions in martyrdom, she served as a model for addressing and conquering human hesitation. The veneration of St. Cordula, St. Ursula and her companions spread soon beyond the borders of Cologne to Osnabrück,

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

Marchiennes Marchiennes () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It was fictionally portrayed in Émile Zola's Germinal. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 647 communes ...

and

Tortosa Tortosa (, ) is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the hi ...

. This was facilitated primarily via monastic communities and in the thirteenth century the

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

promoted their cult not only through material relics but also by

hagiographic A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an wiktionary:adulatory, adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religi ...

productions which were often sung during

Matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning (between midnight and dawn). The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which w ...

in the refectory. Her cult was especially strong among female orders and convents.

Wienhausen Abbey Wienhausen Abbey or Convent () near Celle in Lower Saxony, Germany, is a community of Evangelical Lutheran women, which until the Reformation was a Cistercian Catholic nunnery. The abbey owns significant artworks and artifacts, including a colle ...

received at some point a relic of St. Cordula from Cologne, possibly together with those of St. Ursula,

St. Maurice Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, Maurits, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favourite and most widely venerated saints of that martyred group. He is t ...

and St. Gregory, showing the close ties the abbey had with the metropolitan see of Cologne. The Cammin Casket of the Cathedral of Saint John in Cammin contained another part of the body of St. Cordula. Her veneration spread as far as the Convent of Jesus in

Aveiro, Portugal Aveiro () is a city and a List of municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Portugal. In 2021, the population was 80,880, in an area of : it is the second most populous city in the Centro Region, Portugal, Centro Region of Portugal (after Coimbr ...

, where a statue of her can be found in the chapel of Our Lady of Conception and it is possible that a relic of Cordula was also present. Special songs and devotion dedicated to St. Cordula and the other Cologne virgins show the special place the cult took in the female convent. While she was still listed in the

Martyrologium Romanum The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provide ...

of 1961, she is not recorded in the Martyrologium Romanum as of 2004. The official stance of the Catholic Church is that the story of St. Ursula and her eleven thousand companions "is entirely fabulous: nothing, not even their names, is known about the virgin saints who were killed at Cologne at some uncertain time". As of 2004, the Martyrologium Romanum entry for 21 October mentions only St. Ursula and her companions without numbering them at eleven thousand or mentioning Cordula specifically.

In popular culture

The story of Cordula was also depicted in art, such as in the late fifteenth century panel of the ''Martyrdom of St. Cordula before the City of Cologne''. Cordula appeared as St. Ursula's confidant in the opera ''La regina Sant'Orsola'' by

Andrea Salvadori Andrea Salvadori (1591 – buried 25 August 1634) was an Italian poet and libretto, librettist. He was born in Florence and educated at the Collegio Romano in Rome. From 1616 until his death in Florence at the age of 43, he was the principal court ...

. As such, she was the secondary female role in the opera, a role first filled by

Francesca Caccini Francesca Caccini (; 18 September 1587 – most likely between 1641 and 1645) was an Italian composer, singer, lutenist, poet, and music teacher of the early Baroque era. She was also known by the nickname La Cecchina , given to her by the Floren ...

. Czech Pop singer

Aneta Langerová Aneta Langerová (born 26 November 1986) is a Czech people, Czech pop singer. Born in Benešov, Czech Republic and grew up in Říčany, she first rose to fame at age 17 as the first winner of ''SuperStar Search Czechia, Česko hledá SuperStar' ...

has on her fourth album Na Radosti a song named after Cordula, ''Svatá Kordula''.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{cite book , title=Martirologio Romano , date=2004 , publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana, url=https://vidaeremitica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/MARTIROLOGIO-ROMANO.pdf , access-date=8 March 2024, ref={{harvid, Martirologio, 2004 Virgin martyrs European people whose existence is disputed Ancient Christian female saints 4th-century Christian saints Christianity in Cologne