St. Guinefort the Dog.

By gail in Religion on Jan 17, 2008 at 8:10 pm

guinefort

According to Wikipedia:

Saint Guinefort was a 13th century dog that received local veneration as a saint after miracles were reported at his grave.

His story is a variation on the well-travelled ‘faithful hound’ motif, perhaps better-known to Anglophones in the form of the dog Gelert. Guinefort the greyhound belonged to a knight who lived in a castle near Lyon. One day, the knight went hunting, leaving his infant son in the care of Guinefort. When he returned, he found the nursery in chaos – the cot was overturned, the child was nowhere to be seen and Guinefort greeted his master with bloody jaws. Believing Guinefort to have devoured his son, the knight slew the dog. He then heard a child crying; he turned over the cot and found his son lying there, safe and sound, along with the body of a viper. Guinefort had killed the snake and saved the child. On realising the mistake the family dropped the dog down a well, covered it with stones and planted trees around it, setting up a shrine for Guinefort. Guinefort became recognised by locals as a saint for the protection of infants. It was alleged by Catholic commentators, dismayed by the worship of a dog, that the locals sacrificed babies at the site.

The cult of this dog saint persisted for several decades, until the 1930s, despite the repeated prohibitions of the Catholic Church.

Thanks to Derek the Ænglican, commenting at Unlocked Wordhoard.


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  1. Lea
    Jan 17th, 2008 at 9:34 pm

    I have read the same story before, but instead of a viper it was a wolf.

  2. James
    Jan 18th, 2008 at 3:24 am

    Some people believe seriously bizarre stuff …

  3. Less Than Jake
    Jan 18th, 2008 at 5:32 am

    i think the wolf part comes from the town of bedgelert in wales. the name and the story are essentially unconnected, but a local innkeeper or someone similar around the 19th century told the story as a reason behind the name, presumably changing it to wolves as vipers are pretty rare around wales. its a pretty big tourist thing in the village i think there’s even a grave of the dog.

    correct me if any of that’s wrong

  4. Eni
    Jan 18th, 2008 at 10:24 am

    This story used to make me cry when I was younger.

  5. gail
    Jan 18th, 2008 at 11:26 am

    There’s nothing like a “dead dog story” to make you cry when you’re a kid. Remember Old Yeller in grade school?

  6. Misciel
    Jan 18th, 2008 at 12:36 pm

    Bravo on bringing this tale to Neatorama! (Lassie, take that!!)

    Anyway, if you’re interested in knowing more, there’s The holy greyhound : Guinefort, healer of children since the thirteenth century
    by Jean Claude Schmitt
    (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.)

  7. Alex
    Jan 21st, 2008 at 2:07 am

    Wow, that’s a pretty neat story!


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