sanctuary

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Sanctuary, novel by Faulkner, published in 1931. The original text, in which Horace Benbow is the central character, was published in 1981. Requiem for a Nun (1951) is a sequel.

Temple Drake, an 18‐year‐old Mississippi college girl, goes to a petting party with a drunken escort, Gowan Stevens (see Gavin Stevens), who wrecks his car on a lonely road. They walk to a nearby house, which is a bootleggers' hideout, inhabited by a number of vicious criminals of whom the chief is the killer Popeye, emasculated and of subnormal intellect as the result of a childhood accident. Temple's cowardly escort escapes after a severe beating, but the girl, whose virginity makes her the object of several attacks, is finally raped by Popeye, who incidentally murders one of his men. He then places her in the Memphis brothel of Miss Reba, who is at first pleased to have the custom of this influential man, then horrified by his degenerate conduct. Goodwin, one of the bootleggers, is arrested for the murder that Popeye committed and is defended by a member of the distinguished Benbow family of Jefferson, Horace Benbow, a lawyer who wishes to redeem his conventional career by serving justice in this unpopular case. He learns of Popeye's guilt and of the plight of Temple, whom he persuades to testify. The girl's mind is already unbalanced, and her testimony only increases the unreasoning vindictiveness of the jurors, who convict Goodwin. The latter is brutally lynched; Benbow manages to escape with his life; Temple is taken by her broken father to live in Paris; and Popeye, who has escaped to Alabama, is apprehended and hanged for another murder, which he did not commit.

sanctuary sacred place, especially the most sacred part of a sacred place. In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, a sanctuary served as asylum , a place of refuge for persons fleeing from violence or from the penalties of the law. To injure a person in sanctuary or to remove him from it forcibly was considered sacrilege. In Egypt the temples of Osiris and Amon offered the right of sanctuary. Under the Greeks all temples enjoyed this privilege, and certain ones, like the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, were known throughout the Mediterranean world as a haven for fugitives. In Rome sanctuary was often sought by fugitive slaves. Christian churches were given the right of sanctuary by Constantine I. Abuses of sanctuary, tending to encourage crime, led to its curtailment and abolition. Modern penal codes no longer recognize the right of sanctuary.

sanc·tu·ar·y / ˈsang(k)choōˌerē/ • n. (pl. -ar·ies) 1. a place of refuge or safety: people automatically sought a sanctuary in time of trouble. ∎  immunity from arrest: he has been given sanctuary in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. 2. a nature reserve: a bird sanctuary. 3. a holy place; a temple or church. ∎  the inmost recess or holiest part of a temple or church. ∎  the part of the chancel of a church containing the high altar. ORIGIN: Middle English: from Old French sanctuaire, from Latin sanctuarium, from sanctus ‘holy.’ The early sense ‘a church or other sacred place where a fugitive was immune from arrest’ gave rise to senses 1 and 2.

sanctuary a place of refuge or safety; originally, a church or other sacred place where a fugitive was immune, by the law of the medieval Church, from arrest. By English common law, a fugitive charged with any offence but sacrilege and treason might escape punishment by taking refuge in a sanctuary, and within forty days confessing his crime and taking an oath which subjected him to perpetual banishment.

The word is recorded from Middle English in the sense a holy place, a temple, or the inmost recess or holiest part of such a place; it comes ultimately from Latin sanctus ‘holy’.
sanctuary lamp a candle or small light left lit in the sanctuary of a church, especially (in Catholic churches) a red lamp indicating the presence of the reserved Sacrament.

sanctuary A sacred place recognized as a refuge for criminals. Such places existed in both Greek and Roman society and since 399 in the Christian world. In England a fugitive could claim refuge from immediate prosecution in a church or churchyard provided he agreed with the coroner to leave the realm by a specified port within 40 days. Failure to do so would result in prosecution. This right did not apply in cases of treason (1486). Towns having sanctuary privileges were restricted by Henry VIII to Derby, Launceston, Manchester, Northampton, Wells, Westminster, and York. In England criminals lost the right to sanctuary in 1623.

sanctuary Christian sanctuaries were protected under English common law whereby a fugitive charged with any offence except sacrilege or treason could delay punishment by reaching sanctuary, often by grasping the ring or knocker of any church door. He had the choice of submitting to trial or, clad in sackcloth, confessing crime to a coroner and swearing to leave the kingdom after 40 days. Often abused, sanctuary became a source of dispute between church and state. Sanctuary was abolished for criminals (1623) and for civil cases (1723).

sanctuary A place of holiness or security. (1) The Israelites trekking through the wilderness believed that the Lord was present with them in a portable ‘tent of meeting’ (Exod. 25: 8 ff.; 29: 4) and in the Temple at Jerusalem, when Solomon had built it. The Presence was located in the Holy of Holies, the innermost section, which only the high priest was allowed to enter. (2) Six cities were set aside as places of sanctuary or refuge (Josh. 20: 7–9) for persons fleeing from avengers after an accidental homicide.

Sanctuary (Lat., sanctuarium). A holy place, especially in Christianity the part of a church containing the altar (or high altar). The right (or benefit) of sanctuary was recognized in Roman law, limited by Justinian in 535 to more serious crimes. Canon law allowed sanctuary for a limited period so that compensation might be agreed (sacrilege and treason were excepted).

sanctuary n. a nation or area near or contiguous to the combat area that, by tacit agreement between the warring powers, is exempt from attack and therefore serves as a refuge for staging, logistic, or other activities of the combatant powers.

sanctuary. The part of a church containing the altar (or, if there are several altars, the high altar). In Byzantine churches it is enclosed by the iconostasis.

sanctuary.
1. Especially holy place within a church or temple

2. Sacrarium, or part of a church in the vicinity of the high-altar.

3. Chancel or presbytery.

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