SAINT GUINEFORT,
THE DIVINE DOG

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The story of a greyhound who became a saint during the Middle Ages has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. Aside from being a fascinating part of medieval lore, the idea of a dog being sainted has great appeal to those who think a loyal pet is worthy of such an honor … and is a source of amusement for those who feel otherwise.

ABOUT GREYHOUNDS

Greyhounds are a fascinating breed with a rich history, and DNA analysis continues to reveal clues about their exact origin which remains a mystery.

For centuries greyhounds have been popular subjects in art because of their elegant stature and association with nobility, and images of them can found in such regal settings as Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace’s Great Gatehouse entrance, and the Grand Staircase in Buckingham Palace ... just to name a few. Greyhounds are the surviving dog breed featured most often in heraldry, the other popular breed being the Talbot dog which is now extinct. Some of England's most famous monarchs were greyhound owners including Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and Queen Victoria. The White Greyhound of Richmond was one of "The Queen's Beasts" at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and is commemorated on a coin from The Royal Mint. 

Greyhounds enjoyed special status in parts of medieval Europe with the privilege of ownership being reserved exclusively for the aristocracy, and penalties for commoners who dared to own one. So prized were these dogs that killing a greyhound was punishable by death during the reign of King Hywel Dda in 10th century Wales. Greyhounds are believed to be the first dog breed mentioned in English literature (The Canterbury Tales), the only dog mentioned by name in the Bible (King James Version), and the breed Shakespeare used most frequently in his plays.

“If there are no dogs in Heaven,
then when I die I want to go where they went.”
―Will Rogers

DOGS, SOULS, AND HEAVEN

The question of whether animals can join us in the afterlife has been debated for centuries, with notable theologians including Martin Luther (father of the Protestant Reformation) and John Wesley (founder of Methodism) having supported the idea that animals can enter heaven.

Pope Francis, who chose his name in honor of the patron saint of animals, stated in the encyclical Laudato Si’ (an important Roman Catholic document) that “eternal life will be a shared experience of awe, in which each creature, resplendently transfigured, will take its rightful place…”. While not explicitly clear, this was a welcome indication for many Roman Catholics from their church’s leader that they will be reunited with their beloved pets in the afterlife. This was especially meaningful given that an earlier Pope, Pius IX, took a negative view declaring animals had no souls, and went so far as to claim they had no consciousness. Fortunately for our four-legged friends, scientific studies have shown that dogs have a level of sentience comparable to that of a human child.

Other Christian denominations that are not Catholic (approximately 50% of Christianity) hold varying views on animals joining us in heaven. Many prominent theologians including Anglican bishop Joseph Butler, John Calvin, John Wesley, and Billy Graham have supported the idea. Martin Luther, an early Christian advocate of animals joining us in heaven, noted in his 1544 Easter sermon about the afterlife “there will be little dogs, with golden hair, shining like precious stones.”

Animals have been recognized as beings with spiritual potential in many cultures and religions throughout history. Dogs were held in great esteem in Mesopotamia where they were associated with healing powers and were companions of the goddess Gula. The ancient Egyptians believed pets could join them in the afterlife, and dogs were sometimes mummified to help ensure a safe passage after death. The God Anubis appeared with the head or complete body of a canine which bears a striking resemblance to today’s greyhound, although DNA evidence suggests it was a different breed of canine that lived in ancient Egypt. In ancient Greece the gods Hecate, Artemis, and Ares had canine companions, and the ancient Roman goddess Diana is often depicted with greyhounds.

Eastern religions like Hinduism and Jainism teach that animals have souls, and Buddhists believe that both humans and animals can eventually achieve full enlightenment. Some Buddhists perform special funeral rituals for their deceased pets to help them achieve a fortunate rebirth.

Regardless of what one thinks about animals in the afterlife or a dog being sainted, the following story of Guinefort the greyhound illustrates the heroic selflessness of dogs, and serves as a cautionary tale warning against impetuous actions.

THE STORY OF SAINT GUINEFORT

The oldest and primary record that survives today regarding St. Guinefort comes from Stephen of Bourbon (1180–1261). Bourbon was a Roman Catholic inquisitor during the early stage of the Inquisition, and recounted the story in his written work De Supersticione which was to be used in sermons denouncing heresy and idolatry.

Guinefort the greyhound’s tale begins in an area of France near the town of Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne, presumably around the 12th or 13th century. A nobleman and his wife left their castle one day, entrusting the care of their infant son to the family dog, Guinefort. Upon returning home the couple found the cradle upturned, the infant missing, and the greyhound’s mouth covered in blood. Assuming the dog had killed the child, the nobleman drew his sword and slayed Guinefort in a fit of rage. Moments later the husband and wife discovered the baby safe behind the crib, and a dead viper that was bloody from dog bites. Guinefort had risked his life by attacking the poisonous snake, protecting the child from a venomous fate. The nobleman and his wife buried Guinefort’s body in a well in front of their castle, and then piled stones on top and planted trees nearby as a memorial. Legend holds that God avenged the dog’s death by destroying the couple’s castle.

The story of the martyred greyhound’s heroic deed—risking his life to save the child from a poisonous snake—spread around the region. The locals sainted Guinefort in honor of his selfless act, and prayed to him when they were in need. The process of declaring saints was less structured during the early centuries of the Church, and it was not uncommon for regions to name their own saints without permission from the Vatican. The canonization process was not formalized until the 13th century, around the time Stephen of Bourbon discovered the sainted greyhound.

The Roman Catholic Church does not “make” saints, they only identify individuals who displayed heroic sanctity and are believed to be in heaven, and the role of saints varies among Christian denominations. In Roman Catholicism, saints can assist us if we need help in the same way an angel can. They can also act as intercessors between people and God. The idea of a dog in heaven would have been considered heresy by Church authorities during the Middle Ages.

Once Stephen of Bourbon discovered the sainted canine, he had the dog’s bones disinterred and destroyed, and the trees which served as St. Guinefort’s shrine burned down. It is interesting to note that there were the bones of a dog found at this shrine, lending some credence to the possibility that Guinefort the greyhound's story was based on actual events. In Bourbon’s written piece he describes the slaying of Guinefort as “unjustly killing of a dog so useful” and the dog's “noble deed and his innocent death”… a surprising amount of sympathy from the inquisitor. It seems that even Stephen of Bourbon was not totally immune to the charms of Guinefort!

Also mentioned by Stephen of Bourbon was a ritual practiced at the site based in the belief of changelings; a changeling being an infant who is secretly swapped by fairies or spirits, leaving the parents with a sickly or malevolent fairy child. The idea of changelings sounds absurd today, but belief in them was very real in medieval Europe. Scholars propose that the suspected changelings were often children with autism, epilepsy, or other conditions not understood at the time.

The changeling ritual likely had pagan origins that predated St. Guinefort, and was done under the direction of a specific woman who lived nearby and was a witchlike character. It consisted of passing a child between tree trunks in St. Guinefort’s Wood, then leaving the infant unattended on a bed of straw under burning candles. The mother made offerings to the spirits and fauns, requesting that they replace the changeling with her original child, and the infant was then submerged in a nearby river. Bourbon wrote that a number of infants perished during the ritual. Changeling rituals, tests, and remedies were not unique to this region and existed in medieval Europe for centuries. The belief in changelings was even found in the most infamous treatise from the European witch trials, the Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches), written by the Roman Catholic inquisitor Heinrich Kramer.

Stephen of Bourbon did not discipline the locals for venerating a greyhound as a saint, or punish the mothers for the changeling ritual. He did, however, destroy Guinefort’s shrine of trees and had an edict passed prohibiting anyone from seeking the holy dog’s help in St. Guinefort’s Wood with a penalty of the seizure and sale of one’s possessions for anyone caught violating the ban. 

The inquisitor left the Diocese of Lyons and later recounted the story in his written work De Supersticione. Bourbon must have thought he banished the holy greyhound for good, but the local people's love of their divine canine apparently outweighed the ban on seeking help from St. Guinefort. The locals did stop performing the changeling ritual, but a simple healing rite developed where people would knot tree branches together in St. Guinefort's Wood to symbolically bind a child’s ailment, thus curing the illness. People continued to visit the woods in honor of St. Guinefort for centuries.

Over 500 years later in 1826, a curé from Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne briefly mentioned in a letter to the bishop that people had been visiting the woods in honor of St. Guinefort and knotting tree branches there to cure a fever for a long time, but he did not know anything more about the subject. Around 1879 a folklorist named Vayssière conducted research on St. Guinefort in the region. He discovered thousands of knotted tree branches in the woods, and all the individuals he interviewed confirmed that St. Guinefort was a dog. Vayssière was also told that the greyhound was named Guinefort because he constantly wagged his tail (guignier means “wink” or “make a sign” in Old French). In the latter half of the 20th century it was reported to a doctor that someone’s grandmother had visited St. Guinefort’s Wood back in the 1940s to cure a child's ailment, marking the last known pilgrimage to the site.

Stories of a martyred pet who performed a heroic deed have appeared in cultures around the world, and some scholars speculate they have a common origin in an ancient Indian folktale The Brahmin and the Mongoose. Folktales and religious traditions often borrow from other sources, and preexisting elements may have inspired or influenced Guinefort the greyhound's story. However, it is also possible that these common stories from around the world arose independently and are examples of peoples’ all-too-frequent impetuous actions, as well as pets’ renowned devotion and heroic acts. As recently as 2020 a dog in Brazil was hailed as a hero after being bitten repeatedly by a poisonous jararaca viper while he protected a child from the deadly snake.

No painting or statue of St. Guinefort the greyhound exists from the Middle Ages. Icon paintings sometimes identified as St. Guinefort are actually portraying St. Christopher. There are various theories as to why St. Christopher was sometimes depicted with the head of a dog, one being that it was due to a mistranslation of the word “Canaanite” centuries ago. These images of St. Christopher are not related to St. Guinefort. 

As any dog owner can attest, canines often end up in places they don't belong, and Guinefort has been known to show up in the story of St. Roch, the official patron saint of dogs. Legend tells that Roch was sick and starving to death in a forest until a dog found him and brought him bread. The dog continued to bring Roch food over several days and licked his wounds, healing them. The dog is sometimes identified as Guinefort, but it is estimated that Roch was born decades after Guinefort, so it’s unlikely this was our gallant greyhound.

There is a theory that the greyhound St. Guinefort was conflated with an earlier human saint named St. Guinefort of Pavia whose feast day is on August 22nd. Since this human saint could possibly be the origin of St. Guinefort the greyhound’s name, August 22nd has now become recognized as the feast day for the canine St. Guinefort … although this is a modern convention. St. Roch, the official patron saint of dog’s feast day is on August 16th, both feast days occurring around the dog days of summer (the exact dates for the dog days have shifted over the centuries). The term "dog days of summer" comes from the star Sirius and its position in the sky. Sirius's constellation, Canis Major, is shaped like a dog and has often been depicted in astronomical illustrations as a greyhound. Sirius’s constellation may have settled the debate around animals having souls by showing us that dogs do indeed have a place in the heavens.

Thus concludes the tale of Guinefort, the greyhound who became a saint. While the loyalty that dogs show towards their owners is celebrated around the world, the loyalty that these people from the Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne region showed towards their beloved St. Guinefort was impressive ... keeping his legend and healing rite alive for centuries despite condemnation and the threat of severe fines.

And in an ironic twist of fate, the Church inquisitor who tried to make the greyhound saint disappear ended up enshrining St. Guinefort's legend forever. Without Stephen of Bourbon's written work condemning the holy greyhound, the legend of St. Guinefort would have most likely faded into history. It seems that Guinefort had the last bark! 

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Guinefort pronunciation:
Geen (like “green” without the “r”) + four (like the number)

Read the St. Guinefort Prayer at www.StGuinefort.com

FOR FURTHER STUDY...

An important book on St. Guinefort is The Holy Greyhound: Guinefort, Healer of Children since the Thirteenth Century by Jean-Claude Schmidtt, Cambridge Studies in Oral and Literate Culture. Schmidtt presents extensive research on St. Guinefort, and the book is invaluable for anyone wishing to do research on the topic.

An entertaining exploration of the story is the French movie Sorceress (Directed by Pamela Berger and Suzanne Schiffman, 1987) with English subtitles. While the movie takes liberties with what happened, it provides an engaging glimpse into the period. It is an enjoyable film, but it should be noted for sensitive viewers and children that they reenact the “killing” of the dog at the beginning … however, I did confirm with the movie's producer that the dog was not harmed during the making. The movie is in French with English subtitles, and has been available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime.

There is an Association of St. Guinefort in Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne.