The Holy Greyhound: Guinefort, Healer of Children since the Thirteenth Century

by Jean-Claude Schmitt

The legend of a dog which is unjustly killed by its master in error, after it has defended his child from attack by a snake or wolf, appears in several popular cultures of Indo-European origin. This book concentrates on one local manifestation of the a cult among the peasants of the Dombes, north of Lyons, who brought their sick child to the grave of 'Saint Guinefort', the martyred greyhound, for preservation from disease. Providing a rare access to the underlying cultural traditions of Europe, all too often submerged in the survivals of literate culture, this book will be welcomed by a wide range of historians and anthropologists.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Religion, Folklore, France, Christianity

225 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Jean-Claude Schmitt (born March 4, 1946 in Colmar) is a prominent French medievalist, the former student of Jacques Le Goff. He studies the socio-cultural aspects of medieval history in Western Europe and has made important contributions in his use of anthropological and art historical methods to interpret history. His most significant work has dealt with the relationships among elites and laymen in medieval life, particularly in the realm of religious culture, where he has focused on ideas and topics such as superstition, the occult and heresy in order to flesh out the differing world-views of the lay peasantry and the clerical elites who attempted to define religious practice. He has contributed numerous books, articles and encyclopedia entries on these and related topics. He has also written widely on the cult of saints, the idea of adolescence, visions and dreams, and preaching.

Among Schmitt's best known works translated in English are The Holy Greyhound (1983), about the strange cult of a holy dog in medieval France, and Ghosts in the Middle Ages (1998) about notions of death, the afterlife and paranormal visions in medieval culture. Both works are considered important examples of "historical anthropology," or the use of methods and approaches borrowed from anthropology and other social sciences to investigate the past. Schmitt has argued that this has helped correct for the tendency among medievalists in the past to focus on elites, political institutions and narrative history to the exclusion of the lower classes and their less well-documented experiences of life.

Schmitt is currently Director of Studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and directs the society of professional historians, Groupe d'Anthropologie Historique de l'Occident Médiéval.

Reviews

[Mary Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, but with a 4 star vibe.

This book is about a dog saint.

Apparently, once upon a time, there were some very irresponsible parents who left their baby in the care of their greyhound when they went out for the day. When they left, a giant snake slithered out from the wall and tried to eat the baby. The greyhound, however, was not about to let that happen, so he chased the snake away, knocked over the baby's crib in the struggle, and then ripped the snake to pieces. The parents then got home and saw the dog covered in blood and their baby's crib tipped over, and the father assumed the dog ate the baby, which he did not. The father killed the dog, only to realize that his baby was totally fine and hadn't even woken up from his nap.

So this dog is then venerated as a martyr and then all the people in this 13th century town pray to him to help their sick kids, and he becomes Guinefort the Dog Saint, Healer of Children.

This is an absolutely bananas book, though. The author is confusing and all over the place with his theory, and he frequently will say things like, "Well, this could have happened. But this also could have happened. In conclusion, one of these two completely different things happened." He also dives VERY deeply into some linguistic stuff that seemed dubious to me, but I don't know. He would be like, "This name KIND OF sounds like Guinefort, so maybe they are connected?" The most notable instance of confusion was when he was like, "So some saints that are connected to dogs have their name days during the dog days of August. Although there are saints that have their name days during the dog days that have nothing to do with dogs, and there are also dog-related saints that have their name days at other times of year." And it seemed like he thought he said something? But all he really said was, "Could be anything; I don't know?"

But Guinefort the Dog Saint was cool, and this is probably one of the only books about him, so if you're interested, check it out. You might find it delightfully insane.

Also, I point this out because I must: I'm pretty sure that the whole dog/baby scenario I just described appears in Disney's Lady and The Tramp? Lady is kicked out of her house because the siamese cats want to eat the baby or something (or maybe it's a rat?) and she chases them away but then gets blamed for wrecking the nursery? I don't remember EXACTLY, but what I'm trying to say is that Lady appears to be Guinefort the Dog Saint reincarnated.

[Tõnis Hallaste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ühes kohas Prantsusmaal käidi palverändudel ning sooritati teatavaid riitusi, et haigeid lapsi päästa. Ainus konks - et "pühak", kelle juures käidi, oli hurdakoer Guinefort. Ja riitused, kuigi ka omajagu kristlikud, olid üsna nõialikud. Raamat jutustab ümber kristliku üleskirjutuse sellest ebausust, selle
edutust väljajuurimisest ning kombe jätkumisest sajandite vältel. Autor kasutab allikatena nii kristlikke allikaid kui ka folkloorset ainest.

Ülikooli algusaastatel kuulsin sellest kui metodoloogiliselt ja sisuliselt huvitavast raamatust. Esialgu lugema hakates tundus natuke kuiv. Ülevaade kristliku exemplum'i autorist, tema eluloost, eri tüüpi pattudest, mida inkvisiitorid välja püüdsid juurida, ülevaade eri kristlike haldusüksustest. Näiteks ka ülevaade teistest taolistest kultusepaikadest - ma ei saanud aru, milleks ma seda lugesin. Olnuks raamat 400-leheküljene, oleks loobunud kui mingi valdkonna inimeste jaoks tähtsast uurimusest, millega ma ei haaku (ja ega kõigega peagi).
Poolepealt läks asi ent huvitavamaks. Selline ajaloodetektiivi jälgede ajamine.

Kõige paeluvam oli minu jaoks demonoloogiline pool. Või nõiaajalooline. Vahetuslaste müüt ja see, kuidas haiged lapsed olid haldjate omad ja riitustega vahetati võõras laps tagasi enda oma vastu. Haige, oma tõbisuses niigi õnnetu lapse 9-kordne kastmine külma jõevette... Natuke kurb, aga siiski huvitav lugemine.

Algul ma ei tajunudki niiväga, mis seal hullu, et ülistati üht äärmiselt tubli koera, kes oli päästnud legendi järgi hällilapse.
Siis tuli meelde, et antikristuse-filmi "Oomeni" üks suuri pöördeid on see, kui peategelased kaevavad välja Damieni ema haua - ja leiavad ühe koera säilmed.
(Mida parodeeriti päris vahvalt "South Parkis", kui ükskord tuli Saatana poeg kooli, oli igati saatanlik, ja ühel hetkel peategelased, Kyle või kes, karjub, et kuule, me nägime, kui su ema tõi su kooli ära, "she was a real bitch!")
Sellises kontekstis pole "inimpühaku asemel on koer" mitte üksnes neutraalne tõdemus (väärikaid asju võivad teha ka tublid koerad - isegi Lassie väärib monumenti) ega natuke totakas eksitus (vaatad, püha Guinefort, aga selgub - see on mingi faking kutsu! - ja raamatus mainitakse ka, et mõned pidasid tolle kristliku exemplumi autorit lihtsalt naiivseks, et ta sellist lugu uskuma jäi), vaid lausa saatanlik kristlike pühaisikute parodeerimine. Koer pühakuks, see võiks seega olla nõidade õelaim harraste tunnete mõnitus, tõeliselt väärtusliku pahupidipööramine.

Veel oli huvitav mõte, et keegi nõid käis palverännul teiste inimeste ja teiste haigete nimel, ent tasu eest. Kas palverändu saab tõesti delegeerida?

Omamoodi sõsarteosena võib vaadelda Robert Eggersi filmi "Witch". Omal moel ka "Mesilased". Mõlemad hirmuäratavad näited sellest, kuidas ulmelisus teostub inimeste maagilisest mõtlemisest - sündmuste fantastilisuse tingib maailma maagiline tõlgendamine. Huvitav lugeda nõialikke lapse tagasivahetamise riitusi ja kujutleda seda hirmu ja kõike. Jube ja kurb - ja huvitav.

[Joshua Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some pretty heavy scholarship weighs this one down to the extreme! Very interesting, but heavily burdensome to the layperson to fully grasp Schmitt's intentions. I so appreciate the effort though. St Guinefort!

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daaaaaaaaated.

[Mathieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best History books I ever read. Jean-Claude Schmitt studies an exemplum from the Dominican Inquisitor Etienne de Bourbon and, using literary analysis and comparison (with other similar tales and with the legend in the 19th century), archives studies, ethnology and archaeology, he gives this medieval text meaning and deciphers its originality and logic. Brilliant. And utterly captivating because all along the way it's the medieval mind of the peasantry that Schmitt unravels. How peasants and especially peasant women venerated this Saint Guinefort in a wood that was once a "castrum" in order to ask him to act as intercession between them and the fae ("faunus") who lived in a nearby forest so that the fae gave back their stolen child, their changeling. Schmitt proposes the hypothesis that this cult is the peasant interpretation of the cult of saint Guinefort as brought to the region by the nearby abbey of Cluny. He believes that this is the way peasants tried to build their own system of faith, in opposition with the Church and in defiance of the aristocracy. Of course, the response of the Church and aristocracy was stiff -- as Etienne de Bourbon's attempt at dismantling the "superstitious" cult attests. And yet, he failed -- only modernity, the train and the de-Christianization of the countryside brought an end to the cult -- along with the Church's influence on the minds of the people.

[Karl J]

Etienne de Bourbon 1180-1261, Stephen of Bourbon
Püha vaimu seitse andi: jumalakartus, vagadus, teadmine, meelekindlus, nõuandmine, mõistmine ja tarkus.
Ebausu vormide seas eristab EdB: selgetnäegmise, manamist, nõidumist ja deemonite mitmesuguseid pettuseid; usk ennustamisse.

Püha Guineforti palve: suur püha guinefort, kas elu või surm?
päritolu: väga keeruline, nime esineb üle kogu prantsusmaa
* algselt püha koer guinefort, hiljem mujalt meespühak Pavio linnas(nooltega peaaegu surnuks loobitud, paluti katku vastu)
tähistamise kuupäev: 22 august(Pavias) või vastupidine ~23 veebruar
lk 164 tabel kõigi guinefortidega parim KOKKUVÕTE LK ~160

Fanchette Gadin - 1848-1936 viimane vetula, kes viis annetusi ja juhtis emasid Guineforti metsasalus

Siiriuse tõusmine Koera tähtkujus avab aasta tähtsaima perioodi - koerapäevad (it k canicula väike koer) [kanikulõ-puhkus]:D

püha dominicus oli ka pärimuse järgi emaüsas olnud väike koer, kel oli otsa ees särav täht

[Karen Norwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

To the medieval scholar, this is as good as it gets. I caution that it might help to be acquainted with Schmitt's predecessor's work (Jacques Le Goff) and perhaps the Annales school of though to better understand the methodology and philosophy behind his approach to this book. That being said, this book is richly dense with information surrounding St. Guinefort and easily to navigate and flip through. I recommend this text to anyone interested in medieval lay culture, folklore, hagiography (saints lives and relics), anthropology, and theological studies. It really is an endlessly fascinating and wonderful read.

[Sean Mccarrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot fault this book for my inability to pay attention. But I do think that such a story is worthy of a little bit more flare on behalf of the author. Other than that though, the author wove in massive amounts of detail in an investigation that was to my eyes. Over all it was a worth while read, but not a fun one.

[Lauren Stotts · Rating 4 out of 5]

buy it for the description of the guinefort story, but schmitt's 1970s-era analysis is middling to very, very dated.