E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Eleven Thousand Virgins.
Ur’sula being asked in marriage by a pagan prince, fled towards Rome with her eleven thousand virgins. At Cologne they were all massacred by a party of Huns, and even to the present hour “their bones” are exhibited to visitors through windows in the wall. Maury says that Ursula’s handmaid was named Undecimella, and that the legend of her eleven thousand virgins rose out of this name. (Légendes Pieuses.)
