About Ursula
Where I come from:
One of the most interesting (and challenging) parts of the SCA is creating a real and three-dimensional persona for yourself. I chose to base my persona in an area of personal interest for me, the town of Stratton in Cornwall. The wiki page linked has lots of info on the history of Stratton, including things of my time period. Many of my maternal ancestors hail from that town and the surrounding area.
Stratton is a sleepy village now, but in the middle ages it was the head of its Hundred and was mentioned in the will of King Alfred, part of the Saxon Charters,(1)(5) (CE 880) as Straetneat and in the Domesday Book (as Stratone). Stratton was well-known in the middle ages for its gardens and produce, particularly its abundance of wild garlic. (2) (3) (4) As a real lover of gardening and also of garlic, this immediately appealed to me. I chose to situate my persona in the late 12th century because I have had a long fascination with Eleanor of Aquitaine and the court of Henry II, and also Richard the Lionheart. I'm not sure how this will work into my persona yet, but time will tell. I also love the clothing of the 12th century, and the wide variety of arts and crafts that were practiced then. As a lifelong crafter, I knew a big part of my SCA involvement would be in the Arts and Sciences. Cornwall is an appealing area historically, with its legends of King Arthur, and its interesting mix of Viking, Celtic, Brythonic, and Norman cultures. I wanted to have a wide variety of styles to choose from as I flesh out my persona, and I can draw on my own mixed Danish and British heritage for inspiration. In the 12th century the Norman church dedicated to St. Andrew was built, and I'm sure this would have been a big event in my persona's life. More detail will follow, and hopefully some references from actual books.
1. http://www.aschart.kcl.ac.uk/idc/idx_sawyerNo.html accessed 7/11/13 - I haven't yet found the exact quote(s) but clicking on King Alfred the Great would probably be the place to start.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratton,_Cornwall accessed 6/17/19
3. http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Stratton accessed 7/11/13
4. For some historical writings about Stratton, check out this awesome website: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/3414/writing including this quote from William Camden's (1551-1623) work Brittania (a chorography of Britain at the time): "To this Stratton lieth close to a market towne of no meane name amongst the neighbours for their gardens and good garlicke."
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundreds_of_Cornwall
My name:
After a bit of a kerfuffle with a name that didn't work out I decided to look for more historical names for my period. I looked at the names of monarchs and of saints, trying to concentrate on the the area of my persona. I had already decided on the idea of a bear for my device. Stratton's "good garlicke" would have been the wild garlic of Europe and Asia, known as Allium ursinum or bear's garlic, which supposedly bears dig up and eat with great enthusiasm (can't blame them, it's delicious, and something I happily foraged for when I lived in Scotland). For my device, I decided I needed garlic flowers and a bear. With my husband's help and the generous support of the SCA Heraldry Chat group on Facebook I now have a device I hope will pass muster (submitted in March, 2014).
However, in order to submit I needed a name, and that was when I stumbled upon St. Ursula. Ursula, of course, is a feminine Latin name which means little bear, and that serendipity seemed to be too much to ignore, especially as she was said to have come from the same area of Cornwall as my persona. According to (totally unsubstantiated) legend, Ursula was a virginal daughter of King Dionotus of Dumnonia (the kingdom which once encompassed Southwest England, Cornwall, and Wales). Her father promised her to the governor of Armorica (Western Brittany) known as Conan Meriadoc, who was a pagan. She traveled there with 11,000 virgins and a miraculous storm carried them over the channel in just a day. Ursula declared a pan-European pilgrimage before her marriage and persuaded Pope Cyriacus to join them. The whole party, sadly, was slaughtered by Huns in Cologne, Germany in about 383.
Though the story is unsubstantiated Ursula was a very popular saint in the 12th century. The Basilica of St. Ursula includes a 4th or 5th century inscription alluding to Ursula's story. It has quite an enormous reliquary filled, supposedly, with the bones of the virgins, many gilded or covered with jewels. Ursula is the patroness of education and protector of young girls. She was the inspiration for the Ursuline order of Nuns, which works to educate girls around the world.
There is some speculation that Ursula is a Christianization of Freya, who is a goddess very close to my heart. Freya also protects virgins and takes their souls away after death. She is the Norse goddess of fertility and love.
I do have documentation of period uses of the name Ursula, though a little later than my persona. I decided it is reasonable to believe she would have been known in Cornwall during my time period, and honestly, it's good enough for me. The town of Llangwyryfon is named for St. Ursula, and was supposedly her home. Llan means church, and gwyryddon are the 11,000 virgins St. Ursula took with her. The only other church in Europe dedicated to St. Ursula is there, and the town is just across the water from Stratton. Click here to see it. Records only go back to the 1670s there, and I don't know how old the church is, but it's very lovely.
The life and adventures of Lady Ursula:
I get a bit shy about the persona-building and acting sides of the SCA, but I am trying to broaden my horizons a bit, so here is what I've come up with so far.
Ursula de Strattone was born to a family of minor nobility in the town of Stratton, in the far north of Cornwall, just across the sea from Wales. Her father was descended from the Normans who came to Britain in the 11th century, and her mother was of mixed Cornish and Viking ancestry. From a young age, Ursula learned to sew, spin, weave, cook, and help her mother manage their household. She and her two younger sisters also enjoyed playing in the gardens in their family's small estate, exploring the countryside, picking wildflowers, harvesting wild nuts and berries, and learning to fish in both the local streams and in the nearby ocean. Ursula especially loved visiting the family stables to play with the animals, and as she grew she often had a special pet by her side. Ursula married at fifteen, though she and her husband were not blessed with children during their marriage, and he ultimately died of a fever, leaving Ursula a wealthy young widow at just twenty. She returned to her father's estate, her husband's lands having passed to his brother, and she spends most of her days caring for the needs of her father's household and local tenants. When time allows, Ursula enjoys plying her needle and other tools to create works of art for the newly built St. Andrew's church. Though she does entertain occasional suitors, she has not yet consented to remarry, and has become very fond of the freedom widowhood has brought her. Ursula has a special love for wild garlic, a food which grows plentifully in the rich soil of her homeland, and she is eagerly learning to cook with it, and many other sorts of produce from the town's plentiful gardens, warmed and watered by the gentle coastal weather. Ursula also enjoys hearing tales of travel and adventure, such as those of knights on crusade, Viking sagas of visits to strange lands, and the tales of Irish monks who set themselves adrift on the vast ocean. Much to the chagrin of the local monk who visits the estate to educate and catechize the family, she shows considerably less interest in his tales of piety and self-deprivation. Sometimes Ursula wonders if her Viking ancestors may have traveled as far as those in the stories, or if her roots simply run deeply in the black Cornish earth.
Like what you see? Buy me a coffee on ko-fi!
One of the most interesting (and challenging) parts of the SCA is creating a real and three-dimensional persona for yourself. I chose to base my persona in an area of personal interest for me, the town of Stratton in Cornwall. The wiki page linked has lots of info on the history of Stratton, including things of my time period. Many of my maternal ancestors hail from that town and the surrounding area.
Stratton is a sleepy village now, but in the middle ages it was the head of its Hundred and was mentioned in the will of King Alfred, part of the Saxon Charters,(1)(5) (CE 880) as Straetneat and in the Domesday Book (as Stratone). Stratton was well-known in the middle ages for its gardens and produce, particularly its abundance of wild garlic. (2) (3) (4) As a real lover of gardening and also of garlic, this immediately appealed to me. I chose to situate my persona in the late 12th century because I have had a long fascination with Eleanor of Aquitaine and the court of Henry II, and also Richard the Lionheart. I'm not sure how this will work into my persona yet, but time will tell. I also love the clothing of the 12th century, and the wide variety of arts and crafts that were practiced then. As a lifelong crafter, I knew a big part of my SCA involvement would be in the Arts and Sciences. Cornwall is an appealing area historically, with its legends of King Arthur, and its interesting mix of Viking, Celtic, Brythonic, and Norman cultures. I wanted to have a wide variety of styles to choose from as I flesh out my persona, and I can draw on my own mixed Danish and British heritage for inspiration. In the 12th century the Norman church dedicated to St. Andrew was built, and I'm sure this would have been a big event in my persona's life. More detail will follow, and hopefully some references from actual books.
1. http://www.aschart.kcl.ac.uk/idc/idx_sawyerNo.html accessed 7/11/13 - I haven't yet found the exact quote(s) but clicking on King Alfred the Great would probably be the place to start.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratton,_Cornwall accessed 6/17/19
3. http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Stratton accessed 7/11/13
4. For some historical writings about Stratton, check out this awesome website: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/3414/writing including this quote from William Camden's (1551-1623) work Brittania (a chorography of Britain at the time): "To this Stratton lieth close to a market towne of no meane name amongst the neighbours for their gardens and good garlicke."
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundreds_of_Cornwall
My name:
After a bit of a kerfuffle with a name that didn't work out I decided to look for more historical names for my period. I looked at the names of monarchs and of saints, trying to concentrate on the the area of my persona. I had already decided on the idea of a bear for my device. Stratton's "good garlicke" would have been the wild garlic of Europe and Asia, known as Allium ursinum or bear's garlic, which supposedly bears dig up and eat with great enthusiasm (can't blame them, it's delicious, and something I happily foraged for when I lived in Scotland). For my device, I decided I needed garlic flowers and a bear. With my husband's help and the generous support of the SCA Heraldry Chat group on Facebook I now have a device I hope will pass muster (submitted in March, 2014).
However, in order to submit I needed a name, and that was when I stumbled upon St. Ursula. Ursula, of course, is a feminine Latin name which means little bear, and that serendipity seemed to be too much to ignore, especially as she was said to have come from the same area of Cornwall as my persona. According to (totally unsubstantiated) legend, Ursula was a virginal daughter of King Dionotus of Dumnonia (the kingdom which once encompassed Southwest England, Cornwall, and Wales). Her father promised her to the governor of Armorica (Western Brittany) known as Conan Meriadoc, who was a pagan. She traveled there with 11,000 virgins and a miraculous storm carried them over the channel in just a day. Ursula declared a pan-European pilgrimage before her marriage and persuaded Pope Cyriacus to join them. The whole party, sadly, was slaughtered by Huns in Cologne, Germany in about 383.
Though the story is unsubstantiated Ursula was a very popular saint in the 12th century. The Basilica of St. Ursula includes a 4th or 5th century inscription alluding to Ursula's story. It has quite an enormous reliquary filled, supposedly, with the bones of the virgins, many gilded or covered with jewels. Ursula is the patroness of education and protector of young girls. She was the inspiration for the Ursuline order of Nuns, which works to educate girls around the world.
There is some speculation that Ursula is a Christianization of Freya, who is a goddess very close to my heart. Freya also protects virgins and takes their souls away after death. She is the Norse goddess of fertility and love.
I do have documentation of period uses of the name Ursula, though a little later than my persona. I decided it is reasonable to believe she would have been known in Cornwall during my time period, and honestly, it's good enough for me. The town of Llangwyryfon is named for St. Ursula, and was supposedly her home. Llan means church, and gwyryddon are the 11,000 virgins St. Ursula took with her. The only other church in Europe dedicated to St. Ursula is there, and the town is just across the water from Stratton. Click here to see it. Records only go back to the 1670s there, and I don't know how old the church is, but it's very lovely.
The life and adventures of Lady Ursula:
I get a bit shy about the persona-building and acting sides of the SCA, but I am trying to broaden my horizons a bit, so here is what I've come up with so far.
Ursula de Strattone was born to a family of minor nobility in the town of Stratton, in the far north of Cornwall, just across the sea from Wales. Her father was descended from the Normans who came to Britain in the 11th century, and her mother was of mixed Cornish and Viking ancestry. From a young age, Ursula learned to sew, spin, weave, cook, and help her mother manage their household. She and her two younger sisters also enjoyed playing in the gardens in their family's small estate, exploring the countryside, picking wildflowers, harvesting wild nuts and berries, and learning to fish in both the local streams and in the nearby ocean. Ursula especially loved visiting the family stables to play with the animals, and as she grew she often had a special pet by her side. Ursula married at fifteen, though she and her husband were not blessed with children during their marriage, and he ultimately died of a fever, leaving Ursula a wealthy young widow at just twenty. She returned to her father's estate, her husband's lands having passed to his brother, and she spends most of her days caring for the needs of her father's household and local tenants. When time allows, Ursula enjoys plying her needle and other tools to create works of art for the newly built St. Andrew's church. Though she does entertain occasional suitors, she has not yet consented to remarry, and has become very fond of the freedom widowhood has brought her. Ursula has a special love for wild garlic, a food which grows plentifully in the rich soil of her homeland, and she is eagerly learning to cook with it, and many other sorts of produce from the town's plentiful gardens, warmed and watered by the gentle coastal weather. Ursula also enjoys hearing tales of travel and adventure, such as those of knights on crusade, Viking sagas of visits to strange lands, and the tales of Irish monks who set themselves adrift on the vast ocean. Much to the chagrin of the local monk who visits the estate to educate and catechize the family, she shows considerably less interest in his tales of piety and self-deprivation. Sometimes Ursula wonders if her Viking ancestors may have traveled as far as those in the stories, or if her roots simply run deeply in the black Cornish earth.
Like what you see? Buy me a coffee on ko-fi!
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