According to the legend, Aurelia accompanied Saint Ursula and the eleven thousand virgins from Roman Britain to Cologne, where they were favourably received by Aquilin, bishop of the place.
From Basel the travelers descended the Rhine to Strasbourg where St Aurelia succumbed to a violent fever, dying after a few days.
Some centuries later their tomb was opened and their bodies were found completely intact, marked with titles bearing their names.
Grandidier, who questions the authenticity of the legend, observed that the cult of Saint Aurelia was already very popular in Strasbourg by the 9th century.
[3] In 1524, Martin Bucer (a Protestant), soon after his appointment as pastor of the church, instigated members of the gardeners' guild to open the tomb and remove the bones, justifying this on the grounds that the tomb had become an object of idolatry.