Atall building in London is shapedlike a gherkin and is commonly

called “the Gherkin” (Figure 1), but whatis its connection with St Ursula?There are coins which help us answer

this question, but let’s start at the begin-ning. In about 400 AD a Latin inscriptioncarved on a stone in a church at Cologne

recorded that a man named Clematiusrestored a ruined church in honour ofsome holy virgins who were martyredthere. No names or details were given,but in a 9th century calendar the name,Ursula, appears among a group of elevenmartyrs. In the 10th century the numberhad increased to 11,000 virgins. DavidFarmer, the author of The Oxford Dic-tionary of Saints, considers that thisincrease probably occurred because of amisreading of an abbreviated Latin text.In the text, XI M V, was thought to mean“11 millia virgines” (11,000 virgins)instead of “11 martyres virgines” (11virgin-martyrs). With this boost in numbers the legend

of St Ursula and the virgins becamevery popular. The original church, nowknown as St Ursula’s Church, became adestination for pilgrims. (Figure 2) Var-ious writers added details to the storyso that in 1265 when James of Voraginewrote a collection of saints’ lives calledThe Golden LegendUrsula’s story madeexciting reading. It was widely known,

and Christopher Columbus named theVirgin Islands in the Caribbean afterUrsula and the virgins when he arrivedthere in 1493. (Figure 3) The actualname that he gave the islands wasSanta Ursula y las Once Mil Virgenes. According to James of Voragine, Ursula

was the pious daughter of a BritishChristian king who wanted her to marrya pagan prince. To avoid this fate shesought a delay of three years duringwhich she sailed in a ship accompaniedby ten noble ladies who each had a shipwith a thousand companions on board.Blown by the wind into the mouth of theRhine they sailed up the river to Cologneand from there they went to Basel (Basle)and onwards as pilgrims to Rome. Whenthey returned to Cologne the Huns wereinvading the region. They were a maraud-ing horde of barbarians (Figure 4) andwhen Ursula and the virgins said theywere Christians, and Ursula refused tomarry their king, they killed them. Thiswould have occurred in about 383 AD.Ursula was killed by an arrow, and she

Figure 1 – The Gherkin. It is an office buildingin central London. (Wikimedia Commons.Photo by C E photo, Uwe Aranas)

Figure 2 – Bronze medallion by Theodor Heiermann, 1973. 101 mms. Obverse: St Ursula’s Churchin Cologne. Reverse: a reliquary in the church. (Leipziger Münzhandlung und Auktion HeidrumHöln, Auction 1, Lot 395)

Figure 3 – Virgin Islands at sunset. (Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Ryansmith714)

is usually portrayed holding an arrowor arrows. (Figure 5) The 11,000 virginshad their heads chopped off with an axe.There are gold coins minted at Cologne

in 1516, which illustrate the legend ofSt Ursula. On the obverse of the coin inFigure 6 we see the three kings whobrought gifts to the baby Jesus at Beth-lehem. They are wearing crowns, but theywere probably not kings but magi, wisemen from the east. They are holding theirgifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.They appear on this coin of Colognebecause in 1164, during the period of theCrusades, Rainald of Cologne broughtwhat he thought were the bones of themagi in a golden casket from the east toCologne. The casket can still be seen inCologne Cathedral. (Figure 7) On thegold coin, in the shield below the three

kings we see their three crowns, butbelow them are many drops of blood. Theysymbolize the martyrdom of Ursula andthe 11,000 virgins. On the reverse of the gold coin, we see

Ursula and her companions in a medievalship known as a cog. It was a type ofvessel that first appeared in the 10th

century. They were large ships usuallywith castle-like structures at either endfor defence, and they had one mast witha square sail. In 1962 a cog that waswrecked in 1380 was discovered atBremen in Germany and a replica of itwas made and given the name Rolandvon Bremen after a legendary hero.(Figure 8) On the coin, the flag on theleft has three leopards, signifying Eng-land, while the flag on the right hastiny female figures on it, presumably

signifying the coming martyrdom of thevirgins. Behind Ursula stands the popewearing his triple crown. His appearancehere accords with another version ofthe legend in which the pope actuallyaccompanies Ursula on her pilgrimageto Rome. On silver coins minted at Cologne in

about 1620 we see the same images ason the gold coins. The silver coin in Fig-ure 9 is equivalent to 2 talers and inFigure 10 to 1 taler. They differ fromthe gold coins in having fewer drops ofblood on the shield. Also the number ofcrowns on the side of the ship can beeasily counted. These eleven crowns aremartyrs’ crowns. On a taler minted at Cologne in 1699

(Figure 11) we see the coat of arms of thecity on one side and the double-headedeagle of the Holy Roman Emperor onthe other. The 3 crowns and 11 drops ofblood became the distinctive feature ofthe city’s emblem. In the 18th centurythe city issued a whole series of bronze(Figure 12) and silver coins (Figure 13)showing this feature. Surprisingly theecclesiastical coins, i.e. those issued bythe archbishop of Cologne, do not have

Figure 4 – “The Huns at the Battle of Chalons,” an illustration by A. De Neuville on page 135 of“A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times.” (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 5 – Saint Ursula. Detail of an altar-pieceby Gonçal Perris Sarrià, ca 1380-1451, in theMuseum of Fine Arts of Valencia. (WikimediaCommons. Photo by Quinok)

the drops of blood, although they dooccasionally show the magi. This wasprobably because his seat (cathedra) wasin the cathedral where the golden casketwas. Cologne was founded in about 38 BC

when the Romans established a fortifiedsettlement on the site. In 50 AD it be-came a Roman colony named ColoniaClaudia Agrippina Augusta after Agrip-pina, the wife of the emperor Claudius.She had been born when her father,Germanicus, was stationed there. Thename was shortened to Colonia, whicheventually became Cologne. The mint atCologne was probably founded by theRoman emperor, Valerian, and his co-emperor, Gallienus, in about 257 AD. The

Figure 8 – The replica, “Roland von Bremen,” on the Rhine River at Cologne. The cathedral is in the background. (Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Immanuel Giel)

Figure 7 – Prussian white-metal medallion struck in 1880 to celebrate completion of CologneCathedral. 51 mms. Obverse: the three kings present their gifts. Reverse: Cologne Cathedral.(Author’s Collection)

Figure 6 – A gold coin (1 real) of the city of Cologne minted in 1516. 44 mms. Obverse: city arms with the three kings bearing their gifts. Reverse: St Ursula and her companions in a cog. (Stacks: The Vermeule, Ward and Mexico Maxico Collections, Lot 667)

mint-mark of the city does not appearon their coins but it does on some rarecoins of Postumus (260-269 AD) whobriefly made Cologne the capital of hisGallic Empire, which included Gaul,Britain and Spain. (Figure 14) The mint

at Cologne did not restart until about940 when it became an imperial mint.It continued on and off until 1794 whenthe city was occupied by the French. In 1155 a huge number of human bones

was found at Cologne. They were prob-

ably from a forgotten burial ground butthe devout citizens of the city immedi-ately identified them as the bones ofSt Ursula and the 11,000 virgins. Theycan still be seen in a special part of StUrsula’s Church called the GoldenChamber. (Figure 15) In addition to thediscovery of the bones, one of the axesused to decapitate the virgins was found.

Figure 9 – Doppeltaler minted at Cologne in about 1620. 47 mms, 58.40 grams. (Gorny & Mosch, Auction 226, Lot 3734)

Figure 10 - Silver coin equivalent to 1 taler minted at Cologne in about 1620. 29.07 grams.(Fritz Rudolf Künker, Auction 163, Lot 519)

Figure 11 – Taler minted at Cologne in 1699. Obverse: coat of arms of the city of Cologne. Reverse: coat of arms of the emperor Leopold I. (Fritz Rudolph Künker, Auction 229, Lot 5637)

Figure 12 – Bronze 4-heller coin minted atCologne. (Münzenhandlung Harald Möller,Auction 64, Lot 420)

It was taken to London where a churchwas built and dedicated to St Mary, StUrsula and the virgins. It was called theChurch of St Mary Axe. This church wasdemolished in the late 16th century butthe street in which it stood is still calledSt Mary Axe. In 2003 in the same streetthe Gherkin was built and is now arecognizable feature of the city. Theaddress of the Gherkin is 20 St MaryAxe, London. So whenever you see the Gherkin or

even an actual gherkin it will remindyou of the legend of St Ursula and the11,000 virgins. Unfortunately, except forthe information carved on the stone inSt Ursula’s Church at Cologne, none ofit is true. But there is no doubt that inthe first few centuries many Christianwomen were martyred for their faith.Women played an important role in earlyChristianity and they should not beforgotten. The first person to proclaimthe Resurrection of Jesus Christ was awoman.

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Figure 13 – Silver coin equivalent to 1/6 taler minted at Cologne in 1720. Obverse: coat of arms of thecity of Cologne. Reverse: coat of arms of the emperor Charles VI. (Dr Busso Peus, eAuction 1, Lot 890)

Figure 14 – Billon antoninianus of Postumus minted at Cologne in 268 AD. Obverse: radiate bustof Postumus. Reverse: Jupiter holds a spear and hurls a thunderbolt. CA in the fields = ColoniaAgrippina. Sear III, 10956. (Baldwin’s Auctions, Auction 65, Lot 1199)

Figure 15 – One of the walls in the Golden Chamber. On it are thousands of carefully arranged human bones. (Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Kevin Lakhani)

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