Lanterns of The Dead - Misconceptions

Misconceptions

The origin and use of such lanterns are controversial. Some of those lanterns are said to be "lanterns of the Moors" instead of "lanterns of the Dead". The illiteracy of most of the population in the past can easily explain this folk etymology: in French, the Moors (French: les Maures) and the Dead (French: les Morts) are homophones. Moreover, some of those lanterns don't indicate any cemetery and their architecture has strong oriental influences. The proximity of Al-Andalus, Crusaders coming back to France, or trade in the Mediterranean may explain such monuments. For instance, the "lantern of the Moors" in Vergèze, Southern France, looks like the chimneys of the Bakhchisaray Palace, the Palace of the Crimean Tatars in Crimea, Ukraine, and doesn't indicate any cemetery. Actually, its other name is indeed the "Saracen chimney". The "lantern of the Dead" of Carlux, Southern France, is called a "Saracen chimney" too. Another example is the "lantern of the Moors" in Sarlat-la-Canéda, in Southern France too. The origin of the lantern is linked with the abbot Bernard de Clairvaux, who played a major role in the Second Crusade. It is said to have been built after a visit of the abbot in the city, in 1147, possibly by Knights Templar as would prove a sculpture on the tower representing a horse and two Crosses pattée. The tower, besides being named "lantern of the Moors" and "lantern of the Dead" is also called "Saint Bernard Tower". It can be argued, however, that Sarlat-la-Canéda - with its proper "lantern of the Moors" - being in the vicinity of Carlux (11 km as the crow flies) explains the use of the name "lantern of the Moors" to a "lantern of the Dead".

Besides, "Saracen chimneys" (French: Cheminées sarrasines) are a typical local architecture feature of Bresse, a region in Eastern France. It seems to bear the same name only coincidentally. And the origin of the name remains a mystery in that case too. The article on the French Wikipedia says that the name "Saracen" comes from the fact that people found them old-fashioned already in the 17th century. The page given as source of the article gives various fanciful origins for those who introduced this tradition, such as: survivors from the Battle of Tours (during which Charles Martel fought the Saracens in 732, 350 km and many centuries away), refugees from the Balkans fleeing the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century after the Fall of Constantinople, Burgundians settling in Bresse in the 5th-6th century and carrying with them Nordic-style chimneys, or monk-soldiers of the 12th century. Last given explanation, "Saracen", or "Arab" also meant "apocryphal" in the 19th century.