The Cult of guinefort: An Unusual saint

Ultimate History Project ^ | Michael R. Lynn

[Alex Murphy]

The recent and simultaneous canonization of not one, but two former popes brings to mind the rich and varied traditions surrounding the history of different Christian saints. Today, the process to create a saint is complicated with various stages, each requiring a certain amount of time, along with the need for particular forms of evidence which provide proof of miracles. The Pope can amend the process, if he so chooses, but the general pattern remains the same.

In some cases the gap between the life of the individual and his or her canonization could be quite lengthy. Saint Joan of Arc, for example lived in the fifteenth century and remained a largely local heroine. It took almost five hundred years from her death in 1431 until she was canonized in 1920.

This process of canonization itself underwent various changes across the history and geography of the church. In Rome, for example, canonization was a more formalized process with input from ecclesiastical authorities. In the provinces, however, the method for making someone a saint was more flexible with room for local input and influence. In this environment, someone could be “sainted” without really meeting the necessary qualifications of the central church.

One illustration of such a case is that of the thirteenth-century Saint Guinefort who, as it happens, was a greyhound.

The story was written down by a Dominican friar, Stephen of Bourbon, in the thirteenth century. He had been traveling in the Dombes region of France, near Lyon, when he came across the story.

St. Roch spent his life administering to the sick. When he contracted plague he was driven out to die in the forest. His dog, named Guinefort, brought him food until he recovered. Later, after Roch died, Guinefort ended up with a noble family.

One day, the lord and his lady, who lived near the village of Neuville, left their baby behind in the manor house. The child’s nurse also left the baby alone in his cradle.

While both the parents and the nurse were absent, a large serpent entered the house and approached the cradle. Guinefort, however, remained on guard. When Guinefort saw the serpent he attacked it and upset the cradle. The dog and serpent exchanged many bites but in the end Guinefort prevailed and tore the serpent to pieces leaving behind considerable blood and gore. Although injured, the dog remained on guard duty until the family returned.

The family panicked when they saw the gory scene. First the nurse came in and began screaming that the dog had devoured the child. The mother then ran in also thinking Guinefort had killed her child. The child’s father now quickly took action. He drew his sword and killed the dog. Only then did the family see the infant sleeping peacefully off to the side.

Having realized they unjustly had accused and killed Guinefort, the lord took the dog’s body and placed it in a well which he covered with stones. He also planted trees beside it to memorialize the dog’s deeds.

The local peasants, upon hearing of Guinefort’s bravery in saving the baby, began to visit the site and, eventually to pray to Guinefort for help with their own children who were sick or in danger. Rituals developed around Guinefort’s resting place. Traditionally, peasants would make offerings, such as salt, to the local spirits or fauns. Now they also brought their baby’s clothes to place on the nearby bushes and trees to give these plants apotropaic powers (the ability to avert evil influence). Children were also brought directly to the well. In one instance, a baby was passed between the trunks of two trees nine times by the mother to another woman in an attempt to heal the child.

Stephen of Bourbon, a writer and preacher, thought the women participating in such rituals were probably not invoking God in their rituals but were invoking demons. The church viewed fauns, for example, as incubi working for the Devil rather than friendly spirits who, with Guinefort’s intercession, might help children. Stephen thought that women who left their children behind at the well, with lit candles, were really intent on committing infanticide rather than trying to help their sick babies. He apparently even visited the site of the well, preaching against the practices of the local population. He also claimed to have had the body of the dog disinterred, the trees cut down and burnt, and to have had an edict passed by local lords warning that anyone who went to this site to get help from Guinefort would have their possessions seized and sold.

In the sixteenth century, the emerging Protestant churches criticized the cult of Guinefort seeing in it an example of the abuses and errors of the Catholic Church. High authorities in the Catholic Church agreed with this critique and sought to quash practices and beliefs such as those surrounding Guinefort.

Despite this early attempt to ridicule and dismiss the cult of Saint Guinefort, the local tradition continued. In 1879 a folklorist named Vayssière passed through “Saint Guinefort’s wood” and found it still intact. Similarly, the modern historian Jean-Claude Schmitt found evidence of the cult still in practice after World War I.

For historians, the cult of Guinefort sheds light on the complexity of past cultures in Europe, including the power of popular religion. The people in this area forged their own interpretation of what a saint should be and created a set of rituals around this particular saint which served their immediate needs. Guinefort may have been a saint in this community but he was not officially declared a saint by the powers that ruled the church. Additionally, neither decrees from the official church nor ridicule from the Protestant churches persuaded local believers to halt their practices, some of which persisted until the twentieth century.

The story of Guinefort defeating a snake, a traditional symbol of evil, was surely no accident. This phenomenon also reveals the harsh realities facing parents in the medieval period. At a time when as many as twenty-five percent of children died before the age of one, parents looked in many directions for help in keeping their children alive and healthy. A dog with a reputation of saving children was just as likely a candidate for veneration and potential assistance as herbal remedies or amulets. A local saint like Guinefort allowed the population to identify their specific needs, and to then create a saint to intercede on their behalf to obtain assistance specific to these needs.

But why a dog? Claude Lévi-Strauss famously noted that animals are good to ruminate about. In the medieval period, the idea of keeping an animal as a pet was still somewhat rare although the idea of animals serving humans by helping and working with them had deep roots.

Significantly, animals in this culture could take on human roles and were held culpable in human crimes. In 1457, a pig accused of killing five-year-old Jehan Martin was tried and executed, by hanging. If animals could be culpable for crimes then surely they could exhibit other human traits as well, such as compassion, mercy, fortitude, and loyalty. Dogs in particular served multiple purposes as guards, shepherds, and in the eradication of vermin.

Even as today’s pope canonizes new saints, Guinefort reminds us of the different but equal importance placed on sainthood in medieval Europe. Like today, Christians of the past used their religious beliefs and practice to deal with real issues they faced on a day to day basis and studying their religious beliefs provides insight into the broader community.

[Alex Murphy]

In the sixteenth century, the emerging Protestant churches criticized the cult of Guinefort seeing in it an example of the abuses and errors of the Catholic Church. High authorities in the Catholic Church agreed with this critique and sought to quash practices and beliefs such as those surrounding Guinefort. Despite this early attempt to ridicule and dismiss the cult of Saint Guinefort, the local tradition continued. In 1879 a folklorist named Vayssière passed through “Saint Guinefort’s wood” and found it still intact. Similarly, the modern historian Jean-Claude Schmitt found evidence of the cult still in practice after World War I.

For historians, the cult of Guinefort sheds light on the complexity of past cultures in Europe, including the power of popular religion. The people in this area forged their own interpretation of what a saint should be and created a set of rituals around this particular saint which served their immediate needs. Guinefort may have been a saint in this community but he was not officially declared a saint by the powers that ruled the church. Additionally, neither decrees from the official church nor ridicule from the Protestant churches persuaded local believers to halt their practices, some of which persisted until the twentieth century.

[RBStealth]

Before the introduction of the printing press and newspapers also called the press. Information was passed by word of mouth, there were no reporters or vetters of information. Bad news or talk couldn’t be so easily swatted down or corrected if there were not a professional class whose business it was to go to the source and investigate.
Fortunately, those days are mostly over, but not quite. Today you have conspiracy theories that can never get swatted down. And just like yesteryear, bad rumors and even worse happen and get passed about as true information. Ever play the game of telephone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_whispers

[Alex Murphy]

KEYWORDS: moacb

Re yesterday's question of who wears the crown.

[Alex Murphy]

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[Elsie]

One can NOT just make this stuff UP!!!

[Elsie]

If animals could be culpable for crimes then surely they could exhibit other human traits as well, such as compassion, mercy, fortitude, and loyalty.

Exodus 21:28-29

"If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished.

"If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.

[Elsie]

Like today, Christians of the past used their religious beliefs and practice to deal with real issues they faced on a day to day basis and studying their religious beliefs provides insight into the broader community.

HMMMmmm...

[Salvation]

The truth about saints:

How does the Roman Catholic Church determine sainthood? [Catholic Caucus]
How Many Miracles are Required to Canonize a Saint?
Saints [Catholic, Orthodox, Open]
SAINTHOOD 101: Rules for Becoming a Saint [Catholic Caucus]
The Process of Becoming a Saint (Canonization) [Catholic Caucus]
Pope Lists Criteria for Causes of Canonization

[xone]

The Real truth about saints.

Romans 1:

7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Eph 1:

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Also: Matthew 27:52; Acts 9:13; Acts 9:32; etc;etc

[RnMomof7]

Great story