> > > I'm not sure whether riding a horse into a church
> > > constitutes 'pollutio',
>
> This is also a good medieval topos. A standard charge against
> allegedly abusive lords, bishops, and abbots is that they stabled their
> horses in church (hounds are also often specified).
> --John Howe, Texas Tech
There is a tale told in relation, I believe, to both Chartres
Cathedral and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris (in fact, it may
be that one incident has been attributed to two places) regarding
King Philip de Valois in which, after the Battle of Cassel on 24
August 1328 he rode into the cathedral on his warhorse in full
armour, offering both horse and arms to the Virgin in thanks for his
victory. And then, of course, ransoming them for a suitably large
sum (1000 livres according to the Chartres story). In commemoration
of the event, an equestrian image of the king was apparently set up
in both churches. It would appear that a horse, of course, is not
always a polluting horse. (alternately, the story could have been
embellished: one version of it has the king stopping on the
threshhold rather than riding right into the church, but this is so
much less dramatic!).
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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