Guinefort
Guinefort (also Saint Guinefort or Saint-Guignefort ) was a dog who was venerated as a saint in the Dombes countryside in France from the 13th century , after miracles are said to have occurred at his grave .
The forecast for the part Greyhound Saint Guinefort a nobleman , the near Villars-les-Dombes north of Lyon lived. When the nobleman left the castle one day with his wife and wet nurse , he left his little son alone with Guinefort, who was supposed to guard the child. When she returned, the nurse found the room devastated: the cradle had been knocked over, the child was nowhere to be seen and the dog was smeared with blood. The parents, summoned by the nurse's cries, believed that Guinefort had mauled their son; the nobleman drew his sword and killed the dog. Immediately afterwards, however, he heard a child crying and found his son lying undamaged under the cradle; next to him lay a bitten snake .
The nobleman regretted his mistake, threw Guinefort into a well, covered it with stones and planted trees around the dog's grave in memory of this event. The castle was later destroyed and the area fell back to its original state. Soon after, the population began to tell of miraculous healings that are said to have occurred at the dog's grave. In the 13th century, the inquisitor Stephen of Bourbon reports how small children were brought to the grave in order to be healed. The dog was revered locally as a saint and protector of children. The Catholic Church never recognized this veneration of saints and tried several times to stop it.
The forest of Saint Guinefort ( French-Provencal : Bois de Saint-Guignefort ) is located in the municipality of Sandrans , a few kilometers south of Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne ( 46 ° 5 ′ 57.8 ″ N , 4 ° 59 ′ 24 ″ E ). In the 1970s, the French medievalist Jean-Claude Schmitt was able to use coin finds and interviews with residents of the area to prove that the cult was practiced here until after the First World War . Today on the D7 from Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne to Marlieux in front of the forest there is a sign with the following inscription:
“ Bois de Saint-Guignefort
En ce lieu, durant des siècles, on vint implorer and saint lévrier pour la guérison des enfants. Au XIIIe s. l'inquisiteur Etienne de Bourbon prêcha contre ce culte, basé sur une très ancienne légende, mais la pratique existait encore au début du XXe s.
(Forest of Saint-Guignefort
In this place a holy greyhound was implored for centuries to cure children. In the 13th century the inquisitor Stephen of Bourbon preached against this cult, based on a very old legend, but the practice still existed at the beginning of the 20th century) "
The legend of the faithful dog who is wrongly killed by his master is a very old and widespread narrative motif. A forerunner is possibly the story Brahman and Faithful Mungo from the Indian poetry Panchatantra . In the Seven Wise Masters Collection , which can be traced back to Europe from around 1200, the story is told in a version that largely corresponds to the legend of Guinefort and probably provided the basis for it. In the Aarne-Thompson-Index this narrative group is listed as type AaTh 178A .
Similar legends exist in several places in Europe. The Welsh legend of Gelert , which is said to have given the place Beddgelert its name, should be mentioned in particular . The dog there, however, was never an object of religious worship.
Remarks
- ↑ On this story see The Brahmin and the Mongoose in the English language Wikipedia.
literature
-
Jean-Claude Schmitt : Le saint Lévrier - Guinefort, guérisseur d'enfants depuis le XIIIe siècle. 2nd, expanded edition. Flammarion, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-08-080095-7 .
- German: The holy greyhound. The story of an unholy cult. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-12-937000-5 .
- Jan Scotland: A greyhound named Guinefort . In: Our greyhounds . No. 1 , 2011, p. 44–48 ( windhunde-weser-ems.de [PDF; 1.1 MB ]).
Web links
- Stephan von Bourbon: de Supersticione (source text for the story)
- Holy Dogs and Dog-Headed Saints