Kunigunde from Rapperswil

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According to legend, Kunigunde von Rapperswil († 4th century in Rapperswil ) was a companion of Saint Ursula of Cologne and died in Rapperswil on the return journey from Rome. She is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church .

Short biography

Martyrdom of Ursula and her companions in a woodcut from 1499

Kunigunde is said to have lived in Eichsel near Rheinfelden in the 4th century . On June 16, 1504, Cardinal Raimondo Peraudi solemnly raised the bones of Kunigunde together with those of the Mechtund and Wibrandis in Eichsel. A relic procession still takes place in Eichsel on their feast day , and the pilgrimage , the so-called Eichsler encounter , continues to this day. Kunigunde is revered as the patroness of the blind and the lame.

Legend

According to the Legenda aurea , the Breton king's daughter Ursula of Cologne was to marry Aetherius, son of the pagan king of England . She agrees, but sets three conditions which the bridegroom also fulfills: Prince Aetherius should be baptized within a period of three years; a group of ten companions and 11,000 other virgins is to be put together and a pilgrimage to Rome by ship is to be undertaken. There they are joined by the (not historically documented) Pope Cyriacus and (in some versions of the legend) some bishops and cardinals. Martyrdom is proclaimed to Ursula in a dream . In Cologne all pilgrims are killed by the Huns who are besieging the city. However, the Prince of the Huns falls in love with Ursula and offers to spare her and marry her. When she refuses, he kills her with an arrow shot . One of her companions is St. Cordula , who initially hides when the Huns attack, but then also faces martyrdom.

Commemoration

  • Her feast day is June 16 .
  • Kunigunde means the fighter for her clan (old high German).

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ekkart Sauser :  Kunigunde von Rapperswil. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 16, Bautz, Herzberg 1999, ISBN 3-88309-079-4 , Sp. 888  ( article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  2. ↑ Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints

literature

  • V. Schauber-HM Schindler: saints and namesake in the course of the year . Augsburg 1998
  • J. Torsy: Lexicon of German saints . Cologne 1959
  • Oskar Schade: The legend of Saint Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins: A contribution to legend research . 3. Edition. Rümpler, Hanover 1854 ( digitized version )
personal data
SURNAME Kunigunde from Rapperswil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman Catholic saints
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century or 4th century
DATE OF DEATH 4th century
Place of death Rapperswil SG