Hans Talhoffer's Medieval Warefare Insights are Revealed from Royal Library, Copenhagen

I recently watched a very interesting program about Medieval warfare, which I have to say, I know little about. The National Geographic program; Medieval Fight Book however, unveiled some rare insights into the strategies and methods of combat during the 15th C, which revealed some surprising evidence of new war machines, weapons and the means by which even a woman could compete in and win a battle.



http://www.aemma.org/onlineResources/talhoffer1459/contents_body.htm

http://www.kb.dk/da/nb/materialer/haandskrifter/HA/e-mss/thalhofer/thott-2_290.html

National Geographic unveils New Discoveries behind the Staffordshire Hoard

Last night, the National Geographic channel aired the first behind the scenes insight into the revelations of the Staffordshire Hoard, as it is slowly conserved and researched at institutions across England and Europe.

The program previewed some of the artifacts found in the 3,500 piece collection and showcases some of the further discoveries that have been made since the unparalleled collection was unearthed by metal detectorist Terry Herbert in 2009.

Professionals and historians, namely Curator Dr David Symons, Dr Kevin Leahy; Anglo Saxon Metal Work expert, Lead Conservationist; Deborah Cane and Anglo Saxon Craft Specialist; Dane Roper, from the Birmingham and Stoke Museums and the British Museum, explore some interesting theories behind the Hoard's reason for being, its craftsmanship, its provenance and its ultimate end in the field in which it was found in the Staffordshire countryside 2 years ago.

The team of experts seem to have discovered that the majority of the Hoard is made up of artifacts to do with war and warfare in its true sense, in that, the artifacts are not only extremely decorative, but also made with a lethal and effective purpose to the destruction of enemies.

New breakthroughs after conservation of some of the artifacts indicate how and where the objects were made. The ruby red garnets, which brightly adorn many of the artifacts found in the Hoard, are thought to have been sourced from Europe and Asia. Through research conducted at the Louvre museum using a Particle Extractor, the researchers found that the chemical composition of the gemstones could be linked to those found in the geographical areas of Sri Lanka and the old kingdom of Bohemia, now the Czech Republic. The program also showcases a collection of 7thC tools, found just 100 miles away from the Hoard's location, that are thought to be similar to the tools used by the craftsmen of the Staffordshire Hoard. This has shed light on the production of the beautiful high grade metalwork, which is consistently accomplished across the collection.

Similar scientific technologies have been utilised at the British Museum to determine more about the type of gold used in the pieces of the Hoard. Dr Symons believes that the gold must have been sourced from the Byzantine Empire, that in the 6thC held a treasury of 400,000 lbs in weight of gold. The Staffordshire Hoard's gold totals 11lbs in weight.

The apparent difference in the colour of gold between each object and the discolourations within each object, suggested impurities with the gold used. These impurities signify the composition of the gold and specific compositions can be linked to geographical locations where the gold has originated. In the same way that the Particle Extractor was used for the garnets, the British Museum used X Ray Florescence to determine the different elemental compositions of each artifact within the collection.

The X Ray's revealed there were impurities from other metals such as silver, in the gold. This most commonly occurred when gold was melted down and other metals were introduced for reuse. This could mean that the gold used for the artifacts in the Staffordshire Hoard may have been taken from existing pieces that were melted down and salvaged. Other signs of recycling throughout the Hoard are seen in the use of ancient Roman glass and mosaic that appear in some of the objects, indicating the Anglo Saxon's resourcefulness.

The indication that the gold had been melted down from another source in order to create the objects found in the Hoard, has lead to some questions about the original source of the gold. If the gold did come from the Byzantine Empire, as Dr Symons suggests, then the program explored the possibility of the gold coming from Byzantine gold coins. It is estimated that it would have taken 3000 gold coins to create the amount of gold needed for the objects found in the Staffordshire Hoard. As gold coins were a rarity during the Anglo Saxon period, this theory seems to be unfavorable. The next hypothesis is that the gold has originated as other forms of sword hilts and spoils of war from Byzantium. It would then have been brought over to England and reworked to result in the stunning artifacts we see today. This would also support the time-line within the pieces of the Hoard itself, which span at least 150 years. The earliest piece in the collection is estimated to date around 550bc and the latest date, between 680-700bc, with an early Christian Cross estimated as being from the early 8thC.

The context of the surrounding landscape where the Hoard was unearthed, has also been researched. A geophys report into the area produced a pocket of interest near to where the Hoard was located. Although this didn't produce a barrow or ditch as the experts were hoping, a survey of soil samples were taken by Environmental Archaeologist Dr Ben Geary of a cross section of the the plants and insects surrounding the area at the time. Dr Geary and his team produced a report of the pollen, revealing the area was on a high ground of heathland and encompassed by a densely wooded area. Therefore it seems that the Hoard was buried in a distinct visual island that would have been easily recognisable and relocated.

Questions must still remain then, as to who would bury such a treasure and why no-one ever returned to claim it.

The program will air again on Monday 16th of January on the National Geographic channel at 2pm. You can go to visit the Hoard at both the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke on Trent. You can also keep up to date with the conservation of the Hoard and any new discoveries by logging onto or subscribing to their blog; http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/blog/research

Photo's courtesy of Robert Clark.

http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/

http://www.robertclarkphoto.com/

http://natgeotv.com/uk/saxon-gold-new-secrets-revealed/about

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/11/gold-hoard/clark-photography#/01-staffordshire-treasure-3500-pieces-670.jpg

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/national-geographic-channel/all-videos/

Television that offers Illumination on the Kings of the Dark Ages

Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings is a new series about to start on BBC4 tonight at 21:00 and will continue into next week. The series concentrates on the British Library's Royal Manuscripts Illumination collection and delves into the great illuminations through the Medieval period to discover their meaning, symbolism and creation.

Episode One; Ruling by the Book:

Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of illuminated manuscripts that were custom-made for kings and explores the medieval world they reveal. She begins her journey with the first Anglo-Saxon rulers to create a united England, encountering books in the British Library's Royal manuscripts collection which are over a thousand years old and a royal family tree which is five metres long.

Janina finds out about a king who had a reputation for chasing nuns and reads a book created as a wedding gift for a ten-year-old prince. She roams from Westminster Abbey to other ancient English spiritual sites such as Winchester, St Albans and Malmesbury, and sees for herself how animal skins can be transformed into the finest vellum.

The British Library's exhibition; Royal Manuscripts. The Genius of Illumination, began in November 2011 and will continue until 13th March 2012.

Dozens of medieval manuscripts from the Royal and other British Library collections will be featured in a television series to air on BBC Four, beginning next week. Presented by art historian Dr Janina Ramirez, Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings is a three-part series examining in detail what these manuscript treasures can reveal about the hidden lives of England's monarchs.

The series was produced as part of The British Library's ongoing collaboration with the BBC, and in conjunction with our exhibition of manuscripts from the Royal collection. Many of the manuscripts featured have never before appeared on film (a few of our curatorial team will be making their television debuts as well).

Dr Scot McKendrick, Head of History and Classics at the British Library, served as a series consultant on the programmes. He says, 'There is no doubt that this collection held by the British Library provides us all with unique opportunities to explore in-depth the lives of our kings from the medieval period. The beauty and ingenuity of these manuscripts, that have stood the test of time, also tells us a great deal about a relatively forgotten period of our history. We are delighted to be telling this fascinating story through the British Library's exhibition and through this mesmerising series with BBC Four.'

The first episode, called Ruling by the Book, will air on BBC Four on Monday 9 January at 21:00, and will also be available after the broadcast on BBC iPlayer.

Further information is available from the British Library's press release, and there is also a review of the programme in the Daily Mail. This review ends with a reference to the long-running debate over whether or not gloves should be worn by curators handling illuminated manuscripts, a topic previously discussed in our blog.

The Library, in keeping with the latest cultural trend to attempt to reach a wider audience, has provided a wealth of information about the exhibition, linking facebook, apps, blogs and online video's to engage with the prospective visitor or interested viewer. The 'Royal App' is actually very interesting and for £2.99 you can access;

• 58 manuscripts from the exhibition, each with interpretive text
• 500 high-resolution manuscript images of some of the best surviving examples of medieval painting in England, including many pages not on display in the exhibition
• 6 expert curator videos exploring the history and details of the manuscripts
• Functionality to star your favourite items and view them together in one place

Selected manuscripts include colourful histories and genealogies, Bibles and Psalters, scientific works and accounts of coronations.

Highlights include:

• Book of Hours made for Margaret Beauchamp (great-grandmother of Henry VIII)
• Henry VIII’s Psalter, commissioned and annotated by the king himself
• Maps of an itinerary from London to Apulia and to the Holy Land
• Shrewsbury book, presented to Margaret of Anjou on her marriage to Henry VI in 1445

Please note, a WiFi connection is required to download the app and to view the videos.

There is also the usual exhibition catalogue to provide substantial academic support. The British Library's website says;

Illuminated manuscripts collected by the kings and queens of England from the 9th to the 16th century form the heart of a unique and visually stunning collection held by the British Library. A key figure in the formation of the collection is King Edward IV (1461 – 1483), who commissioned luxury manuscripts decorated with his arms. Subsequent monarchs added to this library, which was given to the nation by George II in 1757.Over 150 examples from this exceptional collection are presented in this catalogue, which accompanies a major British Library exhibition of the same name. These manuscripts contain paintings produced by some of the finest artists of the Middle Ages and together provide the most vivid surviving source for understanding royal identity, moral and religious beliefs, learning, faith and international politics.The catalogue features a full-page entry of around 750 words on each manuscript included, as well as three illustrated essays which explore the wider history and context of this unique collection. It is lavishly illustrated, with a beautiful reproduction of an image from each manuscript presented alongside the text for every entry.

http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/royal/

http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/royalman/about/index.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0192nrg

Welock Priory & Buildwas Abbey

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/buildwas-abbey/#Left

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/wenlock-priory/

Treasures of Heaven: British Museum displays the sacred relics of Medieval Chistendom

The British Museum has opened its latest Block Buster Exhibition entitled 'Treasures of Heaven' which is on display from 23rd of June until the 9th of October 2011 and will encompass for the first time, more than 150 objects of reverie and reliquary loaned from renowned world-wide institutions here in Europe and the U.S.

The website, which is prolific in its exhibition information for this event, describes the exhibition;

Treasures of Heaven

Saints, relics and devotion
in medieval Europe

This major exhibition brings together for the first time some of the
finest sacred treasures of the medieval age.

The exhibition features over 150 objects from more than 40 institutions including the Vatican, European church treasuries, museums from the USA and Europe and the British Museum’s own pre-eminent collection.

Where heaven and earth meet

It was during the medieval period that the use of relics in devotional practice first developed and became a central part of Christian worship. For many, the relics of Christ and the saints – objects associated with them, such as body parts or possessions – continue to provide a bridge between heaven and earth today.

Sacred containers

Relics were usually set into ornate containers of silver and gold known as reliquaries, opulently decorated by the finest craftsmen of the age. They had spiritual and symbolic value that reflected the importance of their sacred contents.

Over a thousand years of history

The earliest items date from the late Roman period and trace the evolution of the cult of the saints from the 4th century to the peak of relic veneration in late medieval Europe.

Relics featured in the exhibition include three thorns thought to be from the Crown of Thorns, fragments of the True Cross, the foot of St Blaise, the breast milk of the Virgin Mary, the hair of St John the Evangelist, and the Mandylion of Edessa (one of the earliest known likenesses of Jesus).

Witness a lost heritage

Treasures such as these have not been seen in significant numbers in the UK since the Reformation in the 16th century, which saw the wholesale destruction of saints’ shrines. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to glimpse the heritage of beautiful medieval craftsmanship that was lost to this country for centuries.

The eclectic website includes a blog where you can follow the behind the scenes progress from curator James Robinson and his team, a multi-media presentation, an online book shop and ticket booking service, excerpts from the exhibition catalogue which are free to download and additionally there are links to networking sites such as twitter and Facebook.

All this pre-exhibition information that is available for the visitor seems to verify the latest developments in the management of 'the block buster' exhibition trend for eminent Museums and Galleries. It seems they are trying to turn the tide of 'Gallery Rage' experienced by a visitor who is often bustled into an exhibit where viewing is limited and of short duration due to the numbers of other visitors all crowding in.

As we saw with the National Gallery's preparation for the forthcoming Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition, it seems the more information and context the institution can provide to the the avid voyeur before their visit, the better their exhibition experience will become. Although the British Museum has not mentioned any restrictions on numbers allowed into the exhibition space at any one time, as the National Gallery have done, the hope seems to be that equipped with as much information about the objects and artefacts as possible, a visitor to the British Museum will enjoy a greater sense of the display and less a sense of being herded through a money making show.

After being open for a week, it seems that not only art lovers have been flocking to see these rare insights into the Medieval religious mind. Religious visitors too, are flocking to see the exhibition with one member of staff describing himself as being; "knee deep in archbishops".

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/treasures_of_heaven.aspx

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/jun/30/treasures-of-heaven-kiss-relics?INTCMP=SRCH

http://blog.britishmuseum.org/category/exhibitions/treasures-of-heaven/

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/devotion-by-design

http://www.learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/Arm-Reliquary-of-the-Apostles.php

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/treasures_of_heaven/introduction.aspx

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2011/jun/20/treasures-of-heaven-british-museum-in-pictures

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/jun/28/british-museum-top-attraction

Tewkesbury Medieval Festival this Weekend!

This weekend sees the little town of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, adorning its historic cap as it holds the largest medieval festival in Europe over a two day spectacular.

Tewkesbury is a small Gloucestershire market town standing at the confluence of the rivers Severn and Avon. It has a magnificent Abbey - now the Parish Church and the second largest in the country. It also has a wealth of medieval buildings and is so well preserved it is one of just six 'gem' towns in the country. Every summer the town centre is decorated with colourful medieval banners, based on those carried in the battle of Tewkesbury.

Now in its 25th year, this completely volunteer organised event, is more popular than ever with locals and historians alike, as the whole town becomes involved in the festival which, centers around the re-enactment of the Battle of Tewkesbury won in 1471.

The battle was the last in the battle of the Civil War of the Roses and took place on May 4th 1471. Both the Houses of York (the White Rose) and Lancaster (the Red Rose) fought viciously to prove who should be King.

The War of the Roses began because Henry VI was considered insane and the country was without a strong leader. Edward of York was believed to be the most able leader left and was was declared King in 1461. He had Henry locked in the tower of London so his wife Margaret of Anjou fled to France with their son who was also called Edward.

When Edward reached 18 Margaret decided to return to England and re-claim the throne for her son. She landed at Weymouth on April 14, 1471, and set off for Wales, where Jasper Tudor awaited with re-enforcements for her small army. As they approached the city of Gloucester they gathered further support for their cause but King Edward locked the City Gates to prevent their attack.

The next crossing point over the River Severn was Tewkesbury, and though the party hoped to cross the River to safety, Edward's army far outnumbered and out-skilled that of Margaret's, who were, in the end, bitterly defeated. It is said that many tried to flea the scene and cross the River Severn, only to be killed by Edward's men. This has lead the nearby Meadow to be known as 'Bloody Meadow'.

Margaret was lucky and escaped with some of her ladies to a Priory in Malvern, her son Edward however, was killed and buried in Tewkesbury Abbey. The Prince's last resting place is still marked today with a brass plaque, which sits directly beneath a ceiling boss of the Yorkist badge; The Sun in Splendour' within the Abbey.

The Festival promises to be very entertaining and interesting and i'm very much looking forwards to visiting this event for the first time. The website lists the events program:-

Saturday

• 11am - Festival opens.
• 11:45am - Mayors Party, with Colchester Watch arrives.
• 12 noon - Official opening by our patron, actor and historian Robert Hardy, outside the public information tent, next to the Black Bear Banner.
• 12 non - Archery competition for re-enactors, in the amphitheatre on Windmill Hill.
• 3pm - Falconry display on the battle arena.
• 3:15pm - Troops start to muster for battle.
• 4pm - Battle re-enactment.
• 6pm - Festival site closes and events move into town.
• 7pm - Re-enactment of the storming of the Abbey.
• 7.30pm - Trial and be-heading of captured Lancastrians followed by Compline (in the Abbey) and presentation of the Tewkesbury Indenture.

Sunday

• 9:15am - Eucharist led by the Vicar of Tewkesbury Abbey at the Kings Camp.
• 11am - Festival site opens.
• 11.30am - Guided walk around the battle field.
• 12 noon - Archery competition.
• 1.30pm - Guided walk around the battle field.
• 2pm - Falconry display on the battle arena.
• 3pm - Battle re-enactment.
• 5pm - Festival ends.

Battlefield walks

Regular guided tours of the battlefield, are conducted during the festival, with a full description of the events leading up to the Battle of Tewkesbury, the conduct of the battle, and the aftermath. These walks are taken at a leisurely pace, and last about two hours.

The walks are organised by the Tewkesbury battlefield Society, which exists to promote knowledge of the battlefield.

Program of events and activities

Tewkesbury Medieval Festival includes a huge re-enactment of the Battle of Tewkesbury, featuring around 2000 warriors, including knights in full armour, gunners, with cannon and hand guns, archers, with the traditional English Longbow, and men at arms with swords, spears and other weapons of the period, all brought to life with a lively and informed commentary, and taking place on part of the site of the original battle of 1471.

The battle in full swing

When not fighting many of them will be living for the weekend as soldiers on the march, sleeping in authentic medieval tents, eating food of the period, cooked over open fires in copies of medieval pots and pans, and preparing for the battle as they would have done in 1471.

Many of the traders on our market are just as authentic, dressed 15^th century traders, they use well researched skills to do everything from making swords and armour, to preparing ginger bread and hand stitching beautiful gowns and colourful tunics.

Medieval entertainer

Outside of the battlefield

Throughout the summer the main streets of Tewkesbury are decorated with banners displaying the arms of some of those who fought in the battle and the event co-incides with the town's entry into The Heart of England in Bloom. Look out too for colourful floral displays and specially decorated windows.

A number of events connected with the festival also take place in the town. Notably the parade including the Colchester Watch, with their Mayor and ours mustering in the Black Bear at ten to ten to march to the site, our tithe collectors will be demanding money of the traders.

There is always a worry that events such as this might verge into the romantic elements of Medieval history, with a possible New Age feel but i shall report back next week and we shall see!

Please visit the website to make a donation, view maps and see the history of the Battle and Festival in full:-

http://www.tewkesburymedievalfestival.org/index.html

Medieval Treasure Found in Lancashire

A lucky metal detectorist from Lancashire has unearthed a medieval pilgrimage relic which will take its place amongst some of the most rare and revered Medieval Relics in an Exhibition at the British Museum.

The exhibition 'Treasures of Heaven' which opened last week and is on until 9th October, will for the first time bring into context, these sacred and mystical treasures from the Middle Ages.

The Guardian's Maev Kennedy reports;

The badge made of silver found by Paul King, a retired logistics expert, is a humble object to earn a place in an exhibition called Treasures of Heaven, but it is unique. It will sit among gold and silver reliquaries studded with gems the size of thumbnails – or the sockets from which they were wrenched by thieves – once owned by emperors, popes and princes.The badge, the only one of its kind ever found in Britain, provides a link 500 years ago between this corner of rural Lancashire and the great pilgrimage sites of mainland Europe. It shows one of the companions of St Ursula, one of the most popular mystical legends of medieval Europe...

King, a member of the South Ribble metal detecting club, found the silver plaque at the end of April in a field some miles from his home in Walton-le-Dale, where he had already found several hundred Victorian coins, but returned with the blessing of the landowner for a sweep with his new more high-powered metal detector.

"I knew immediately she was something special," he said. "I think she was hidden deliberately – she was folded over, not damaged by a plough strike in any way. It is extraordinary and moving to think how much history is locked up in this little piece of metal."

Though there are many variations, the story of St Ursula which was recorded by Jacobus de Voragine’s in his Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend) of 1266, is that Ursula was a British Princess who was offered her hand in marriage by a pegan king. It is said that Ursula managed to delay the betrothal for 3 years during which time she had pleaded with her father to let her go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Ursula was accompanied by 10 ladies in waiting and each lady had 1,000 virgins who accompanied them on their Holy pilgrimage across Europe.

After meeting Pope Cyriacus in Rome the ladies returned home and in Cologne, were stopped, besieged and eventually beheaded by the Huns. The Legend says that St Ursula was shot with an arrow, which is why most depictions of the Saint portray her holding a single arrow in one hand to demonstrate her means of Martyrdom.

The Legend says that some date this event to 238 but that the year 452 is more likely.

The story originated in a local tradition in Cologne that some number of Christian virgins had been martyred by the Romans in the early years of the city. The earliest testimony to these virgins is a stone inscription from the fourth century, now in the choir of the Church of St. Ursula in Cologne. It speaks only of an unspecified number of virgin martyrs "from the East." But in the ninth century a number of liturgical sources mention these Colognese virgins, reporting their number variously as five, eight, or eleven. Scholars are uncertain as to how the number eleven was chosen and then multiplied by a thousand.

Maev Kennedy writes further;

Although a church in Cologne holds her shrine and a whole chapel still decorated with the supposed bones of her companions, there were so many bones that the relics spread across Europe and beyond. Some of the most beautiful reliquaries, life sized busts of fashionably dressed young women, were made to hold the bones. The badge from Lancashire is a representation of just such a shrine - and so close in style and early 16th century date that it may come from the same Bruges workshop as the one in the exhibition on loan from the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

The Metropolitan reliquary, of a gently smiling young woman with her hair in a modish plaited style, is so alluring it has become the exhibition poster. The badge would have been bought as a souvenir by the Lancashire pilgrim from just such a shrine.

British Museum curator James Robinson said he was "beside myself with excitement" when he saw an image of the find. "To be honest if I hadn't been working on the exhibition it might have taken me a while to clock it – as it is I recognised her immediately as one of the companions of St Ursula. I hesitate to call it a miracle, but it is a most extraordinary coincidence that this should turn up just at this time."

He believes it is even possible that a similar reliquary may have been the centre of a shrine in Britain, destroyed as the cult of relics was condemned as idolatrous and blasphemous by religious reformers.

"The badge may be the only fragile, ephemeral piece of evidence for a cult of St Ursula in the north of England, that might have had at its centre a bust reliquary of continental manufacture."

The exhibition will include reliquaries which the faithful believed once held the breast milk of the Virgin Mary, the umbilical cord of the baby Jesus, the arm of Saint Luke - holding a golden pen to symbolise the gospels he wrote - and many still containing fragments of wood claimed to come from the cross on which Christ died. A carved icon of the Virgin which according to tradition was taken from the neck of the dead emperor Charlemagne, was one of the treasures of Aachen cathedral until it was given as present to Napoleon's Josephine. Some of the loans have never before left the churches or villages where they have been venerated for centuries. Many were believed to have miraculous powers, and made the places that held them wealthy pilgrimage sites - as Canterbury cathedral was for the relics of the martyred Thomas a Becket, and Santiago de Compostela in Spain remains to this day.

King, who has always been interested in history and spends days researching his finds in museums and archives, reported it under the Portable Antiquities scheme which encourages metal detectors to report all their archaeological finds, but she proved to be silver and so legally treasure which must be reported. When valued - the price will be shared between King and the landowner - Robinson hopes the British Museum will acquire her to find a permanent resting place in its medieval galleries

The Lancashire St Ursula badge and the Exhibition 'Treasures of Heaven' can be seen at the British Museum. For further information please see the below links:-

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/treasures_of_heaven/introduction.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Ursula

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/jun/20/badge-dug-field-medieval-treasure?INTCMP=SRCH

http://www.aug.edu/augusta/iconography/ursula.html

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/online/exhibitions/faith/stursula.asp

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/index.htm