Monday Mysteries: Miracle Chicken

Today’s Monday Mysteries post answers the question: What is the Tübingen legend of the chicken?

Once upon a time – well, actually, it was in the 12th century — there was a man and his wife who set out off from somewhere near Tübingen on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. They were accompanied by their son, who was a handsome, well-built, personable young man.

One night they stopped to stay at a guesthouse in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Spain. There, the innkeeper’s young daughter caught sight of the young pilgrim and made eyes at him, if you know what I mean. She invited him to stay and dally with her.

However, the young devoted pilgrim replied, “I’m sorry, Fraulein, but I am on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with my parents. I cannot stay here with you.” Or, maybe he replied, “I’m sorry, Fraulein, but I just don’t find you all that attractive, so I’m not going to stay here with you.”

Well, in any case, whatever he said, he turned down her offer. The inkeeper’s daughter was very disappointed, and so she drank a lot of alcohol to drown her sorrow. After she got drunk, though, her sorrow turned to anger. In a drunken rage she then hatched a plot to take revenge on the young man who had scorned her.

So during the night she planted a valuable silver goblet from the family cabinet in his backpack. When morning came, as the family of pilgrims made to leave, the innkeeper’s daughter raised the alarm and told her father that the silver goblet was gone! The young lad’s backpack was searched, and when the goblet was discovered, he was immediately arrested for stealing.

Now in the 12th century in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, stealing was a capital offense. Despite his protestations of innocence, and his parents’ pleas for mercy, the young hero of our story was duly found guilty by the local priest. Justice in those days was swift, and the sentence — death by hanging — was immediately carried out.

The parents, heartbroken, continued on their trek to Santiago de Compostela.

Some time later, the parents, having completed their pilgrimage, were headed back toward home in Germany. Since the path went back through the village of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, it was with a heavy heart that they arrived in town. But there, before their eyes, they could hardly believe what they saw: their son still hanging from the tree.

They rushed over to the priest, who, as it turned out, had just sat down to eat his lunch. The parents begged the priest to know what was happening with their son, and asked if their son was still alive. The priest looked at them, laughed scornfully, and pointed to the roast chicken on his plate, saying ” Alive? Ha! Your son is as alive at this chicken on my plate.”

At that moment, the chicken stood up on the plate and promptly flew away. As the priest sat there dumbfounded, the parents cried, “It’s a miracle!” and rushed over to the tree, cutting down their son, as he was indeed just as alive as the chicken had turned out to be.

Before leaving town, the family — or maybe the priest, but I’m thinking the family — carved a chicken on the wall of the church in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, so as to commemorate the site of the miracle.

When the family subsequently arrived in Tübingen, the St. Jacobs Church was under construction. So the son carved a chicken in the stone brick on the side of the church there, too.

And from that day forward, the fate of the towns of Tübingen, Germany and Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Spain have been forever linked by the miracle of the chicken.

*******
OK, I’ve taken a little literary license here, but only a little. According to the Geheimnisse der Heimat book that we have, the basic facts of the story are these:

– family on a pilgimee to Santiago de Compostela stops in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Spain for the night
– son gets framed by the innkeeper’s daughter
– he’s hung for his crime
– some time later the parents come back, and when they see the son is still hanging from the tree, they ask the priest about their son
– the priest makes the crack about the chicken on the plate being as alive as the son
– the chicken on the plate gets up and flies away

Really, that’s the story.

Except, I get the feeling that somebody is having a laugh at someone’s expense. Because here’s my photo of what the book says is the carving of the chicken on the church:

St. Jacob's church "chicken carving"

St. Jacob’s church “chicken carving”

Don’t spent a lot of time trying to see the chicken drawing in my photo above. Even in the book the label on their photo says that you can’t really see the chicken carved there with the naked eye.

Hmm. Perhaps you have to believe in the chicken … in order to see those chicken scratches in the shape of a whole chicken.


Comments

Monday Mysteries: Miracle Chicken — 2 Comments

  1. Pingback: Travel Tuesdays: Pilgrims Progress | Two together … wherever

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *