Cunera of Rhenen

Whether she actually existed remains a mystery. Legend has it that she was a princess from the Orkney Islands, Scotland. In 377 she and 11,000 other women accompanied her cousin, St Ursula of Cologne, on a pilgrimage to Rome. The Huns attacked them en route, at Cologne, and Cunera was saved by the ‘King of the Rhine’. He took her to the town of Rhenen in Utrecht, where she built a new life. She concerned herself with caring for the poor, which did not go down well with the queen of the castle. It is said that the queen herself strangled Cunera with a scarf. The scarf has been preserved, ensuring that her legend also survived.