Rooster Of Barcelos
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Rooster of Barcelos () is a common symbol of Portugal.


Folk tale

The folk tale of the rooster of Barcelos, tells the story of a dead rooster's miraculous intervention in proving the innocence of a man who had been falsely convicted and sentenced to death. The story is associated with the 17th-century
calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...
that is part of the collection of the Archaeological Museum located in Paço dos Condes, a gothic-style palace in Barcelos, a city in the
Braga District The district of Braga ( ) is a district in the northwest of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Braga, and it is bordered by the district of Viana do Castelo in the north, Vila Real in the east, Galicia (a Spanish autonomous commu ...
of northwest
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. According to the tale, a landowner in Barcelos had stolen silver and the inhabitants of that city were looking for the thief. A man from Galicia became a suspect, despite his pleas of innocence. The Galician swore that he was merely passing through Barcelos on a
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
to
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...
to fulfill a promise. Nevertheless, the authorities arrested the man and condemned him to hang. The man asked them to take him in front of the
judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
who had condemned him. The authorities honoured his request and took him to the house of the magistrate, who was holding a banquet. Affirming his innocence, the man pointed to a roasted
rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
on top of the banquet table and exclaimed, "It is as certain that I am innocent as that rooster will crow when they hang me." The judge pushed aside his plate, deciding not to eat the rooster, but otherwise ignored the appeal. However, while the pilgrim was hanged, the roasted rooster stood up on the table and crowed as predicted. Understanding his error, the judge ran to the gallows, to discover that the man had been saved from death thanks to a poorly made knot. The man was immediately freed. Some years later, he returned to Barcelos to sculpt the ''Calvary (or Crucifix) to the Lord of the Rooster'' (Portuguese: "") in praise to the
Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
and to Saint James. The monument is located in the Barcelos Archaeological Museum.


Variations

In all cases, the folk tale of the Rooster of Barcelos is about a dead rooster that crows to prove an accused man's innocence. However, variations to the story include: * The pilgrim is a guest whom the landowner invited to his banquet, where silver is stolen. * The pilgrim stays at a local inn, and the greedy owner of the inn accuses the pilgrim. * There are two pilgrims, father and son. The son is accused, and the father pleads his innocence by calling on the rooster to crow. * The rooster crows as soon as the accused man declares it will, so the man is never taken to the gallows. * The accused is not from Galicia. * The miracle is located in La Rioja, Spain, and associated to Saint Dominic de la Calzada.


In popular culture

In the 1990s U.S. sitcom ''
Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...
'', Elaine's first apartment, which she shares with a roommate who briefly dates Kramer, is shown furnished in kitschy style, cluttered with bric-a-brac—including a rooster of Barcelos. It can be seen in the episode "
The Truth The Truth may refer to: Film * ''The Truth'' (1920 film) starring Madge Kennedy * ''The Truth'' (1960 film) or ''La Vérité'', a French film by Henri-Georges Clouzot starring Brigitte Bardot * ''The Truth'' (1988 film), a Hong Kong trial cri ...
", aired in 1991. The rooster of Barcelos is used in the logo of
Nando's Nando's (; ) is a South Africa, South African multinational fast casual restaurant chain that specialises in Portuguese flame-grilled, peri-peri style Chicken as food, chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outl ...
, a
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
-based chicken restaurant chain.


See also

{{Commons category * Symbols of Portugal * Gallic rooster


References


External links


Galo de Barcelos Video, by Daniel Oliveira Prins

The legend of the Rooster of Barcelos at the Barcelos City Hall's website (Portuguese)
Portuguese folklore National symbols of Portugal Fictional chickens Barcelos, Portugal Mythological galliforms Birds in mythology Chickens in art Animals in Christianity Camino de Santiago