Saint Guinefort

Saint Guinefort - a dog named Guinefort, a breed of dog or greyhound who has been worshiped in the vicinity of the French village of Villeneuve-des-Dombes since the 13th. His memory was celebrated on 22 August. It was not recognized by the Catholic Church.

According to legend, the dog was killed by the master (knight) when he saw him standing by the baby's cradle and blood-stained. It was only after killing the dog that he did not bite the baby, but the snake who tried to get into the cradle. When the owner understood his mistake, he buried it in the well, and planted it around. In a short time the inhabitants of the surrounding villages began to worship this place, because in the 13th century the castle was destroyed, where local people saw divine intervention. Recognizing Guinefort as a martyr, they asked him to intercede as patron and healer of the children. Sick children were brought to the grave, sacrificed with salt, baby clothes and diapers hung, and nine times naked babies were transported between the trees to the old woman who took care of the place. Other rites included leaving naked children in straw between candles until they burn out and dip them in a nearby river.

The Guinefort cult was investigated by the Inquisitor and Dominican, Etienne de Bourbon, who attempted to eradicate it. The Inquisitor taught the harmfulness and barbarity of these practices, and when he failed, ordered to dig up the body, cut out the surrounding grave of the tree, and burn them together with the debris. He also issued a decree which forbade gathering in this place. Despite his efforts, the cult was intensively practiced until the end of the nineteenth century, and sporadically until the 1930s. People prayed for the intercession of Guinefort and brought in his grave the children's clothing. In the mid-twentieth century ethnographic studies conducted in this region showed that people know the form of a martyr dog. The author of the study, Jean-Claude Schmitt, devoted this topic to the book Le Saint Lévrier. Guinefort, guérisseur d'enfants depuis le XIIIe siècle (1979).

Guinefort celebrations were celebrated in the so-called. Psich Days (between July 24 and August 24), which in ancient Rome was considered extremely hot due to the configuration of Sirius and the Sun. In addition, the saints, in which hagiographies appeared the motif of the dog, were mentioned during Psich Days. In the opinion of some of the researchers, the character of a forgotten saint could be hidden behind a dog, whose folk tradition was too literally linked to the dog's silhouette. In some traditions Guinefort was considered a dog of St. Rocha, who had to hit the knight's castle after the death of his former master. Jean-Claude Schmitt also discovered the cult of St. Paul in Pavia. Guineforta, whose life dates from the 8th to 12th centuries, and which was also recalled on 22 August as a patron saint of sick children. According to his theory, this could lead to identification of this character with a dog.

In 1987, even a film about the cult of St. Guineforta - The Sorceress.

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