Good Friday by Ermes Dovico

Impurity

Horse meat, a taboo rooted in history
CHRISTIANITY AND FORBIDDEN FOODS/3

Horse meat, a taboo rooted in history

In Judaism, horse meat is considered “impure”. For Christians, however, the roots of this prohibition go back to the 8th century, when Gregory III, following the victory of Charles Martel in the Battle of Poitiers, banned the consumption of horse meat. His successor, Pope Zacharias, confirmed the ban for reasons related to the pagan sacrifices of the Germans. Traces of this aversion to horse meat remain in many Christian areas.