Guinefort was a greyhound who lived in the XII century and venerated as a saint by the near populations.
The castle where the dog lived belonged to a knight with his newborn. One day, returning from hunting, he found the cradle upside down and the greyhound covered in blood. Convinced that the dog killed his son, he immediately murdered the animal, but shortly after he heard the cries of the baby and he noticed a dead snake nearby: the dog protected the child.
Shocked by the mistake he made, he started burying Guinefort.
As time passed, the knight noticed that on the dog’s grave started appearing a lot of ex-voto, because according to the castellans the dog performed miracles to protect the children.
In 1250 the diocese of Lyon sent the preacher and inquisitor Etienne de Bourbon to verify the facts and the cult, being a dog, he was opposed by any means but survived every sentence up to the 30s of the XX century.
