History Main / SeekingSanctuary

* In the Fairport Convention song "John of Ditchford", the title character claims sanctuary at Wooten Church after killing Henry Felip. The church coroner tells him he must accept exile, and so he takes a heavy cross (indicating he's still under sanctuary) and heads for the coast. He gets a mile before being killed, presumably by Henry's son, who's already killed the other members of the gang.

* In SandyMitchell's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' CiaphasCain novel ''Duty Calls'', how Cain persuades the Sisters of Battle to [[HonorBeforeReason stop blindly advancing]]: pointing that they would leave a gap in the battle line once they were slaughtered, and the tyranids would pour in, charge straight to the temple, and slaughter all the refugees praying there for the Emperor's protection -- and if they wanted to report before the Golden Throne having permitted that, he wouldn't stop them. Not only do they retreat, one later thanks him for reminding them of their duty.

* One of the Rules of ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'': no Immortal can fight another on Holy Ground. ''Any'' holy ground of any religion seems to work, but churches and graveyards are the most common. Whether it's an honor system or an actual binding law seems to vary by show/movie. In one TV Movie, an attempt to fight in a Buddhist Temple causes [[DramaticThunder omnious thunder]] and [[WreckedWeapon the swords to break]], while in ''Film/HighlanderEndgame'', a group of [[HeroicBSOD Immortals tired of the fight]] are slaughtered on presumably (it's the subject of much debate) Holy ground. In one episode of ''HighlanderTheSeries'' Joe tells Duncan that the last time an Immortal killed another on holy ground was in 79 AD, in a little town named Pompeii.

* ''{{Shannara}}'': One of the signs that things are going to crap is that Feeders are running amock in a church.

* Greenback Jane in ''BlackLagoon'' tries this when she runs afoul of some of Roanapur's criminal elements. Unfortunately, the only church found in the WretchedHive is the CorruptChurch, and things rapidly go downhill for her.

* ''Film/{{Spider-Man}} 3'': After realizing [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil things have gotten out of control]], Peter goes to a church tower where he tries to free himself from [[TheDarkSide the black symbiote]]. He later learns the ringing bells generate that loud noises are the symbiote's weakness, freeing him. This is more or less how it happened in the comics.

* In TimBurton's ''Film/SleepyHollow'' movie, the town residents are gathered in a church for a meeting when the Headless Horseman shows up outside. The Horseman's body and weapons dissolve upon contact with consecrated ground, and it would seem that his plan to kill the heroine's father is thwarted. So the Horseman ties a rope to a stake and launches it through a window [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling Baltus Van Tassel]]. The Horseman then pulls on the rope, yanking Baltus out of the window, then he pulls on him until the father gets stuck in the fence. (Unfortunately for the father, his head is now sticking beyond the border of the consecrated ground...)

* Happens several times in ''Berserk'' with innocents running to the nearest church to escape whatever demons happen to be roaming around. [[CrapsackWorld unsurprisingly]] it never really works out.

Where do you run? [[PlaceOfProtection The sanctuary]] of the nearest SaintlyChurch.

* One of the Rules of ''Film/{{Highlander}}'': no Immortal can fight another on Holy Ground. ''Any'' holy ground of any religion seems to work, but churches and graveyards are the most common. Whether it's an honor system or an actual binding law seems to vary by show/movie. In one TV Movie, an attempt to fight in a Buddhist Temple causes [[DramaticThunder omnious thunder]] and [[WreckedWeapon the swords to break]], while in ''HighlanderEndgame'', a group of [[HeroicBSOD Immortals tired of the fight]] are slaughtered on presumably (it's the subject of much debate) Holy ground. In one episode of ''HighlanderTheSeries'' Joe tells Duncan that the last time an Immortal killed another on holy ground was in 79 AD, in a little town named Pompeii.

* In one of the ''{{Deverry}}'' novels, the wife and daughters of the slain lord of the Wolf clan seek sanctuary from their enemies in the Boar clan at a temple. The Boars respect the sanctuary of the temple, but leave a squad of men behind just outside of the temple's lands, ensuring that the women cannot leave without being captured.

Where do you run? The sanctuary of the nearest SaintlyChurch.

When a character seeking sanctuary in a different sort of way, wanting to be alone to talk to God, that's SanctuaryOfSolitude.

* ''XFiles'': Scully and a bunch of kids hide from someone inside a church; the chaser is revealed to be Satan after it turns out that he can't cross the threshold.
* In the ''KolchakTheNightStalker'' episode "Firefall", Kolchak takes refuge from a pyromaniac poltergeist in a church (due to its being on holy ground). He later sees the ghost looking into the church through a window.

* On an episode of ''Series/{{Mash}}'', an AWOL soldier takes refuge in the mess tent while Father Mulcahy is using it for a church service. Mulchahy takes up the boy's cause, and many calls are made to find out if a mess tent qualifies as an actual place of sanctuary. The answer comes back no, and the [=MPs=] are sent in to get the soldier, who wards them off at gunpoint. Incensed, Father Mulcahy upbraids the kid for defiling what he previously considered a house of the Lord by pointing a deadly weapon at someone. After Mulcahy disarms him despite being at point black range, the kid feels bad and gives himself up and the Army later compromised by arranging Dr. Freedman to give him psychiatric help.

* In ''DennouCoil'', the Satchii (anti-virus programs; the city is an augmented reality) can't follow people into Shinto shrines. You can also trick them by drawing the basic shape of a shrine gate on the ground with chalk, then standing on it. This sanctuary doesn't come from any higher morality, but just [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucratic infighting]] - Satchii are run by the Ministry of Posts, but schools are run by the Ministry of Education while shrines and parks fall under the purview of the Ministry of Culture[[hottip:*: In the actual government, the Ministry of Posts was absorbed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2001, while the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture are the same]]. They're just keyed to recognize torii as shrine indicators, to the point where a solitary torii from a demolished shrine or a sketch of a torii can apparently suffice to trick them, and since Daikoku is an old town, there are a lot of old shrines nestled among the back streets.

* In ClassicalMythology, this was a recurrant theme. Characters persued by somebody trying to rape or kill them could rush to the nearest temple and prostrate themselves as a supplicant before the image of the god. Violence of any kind (with the sole exception of ritual animal sacrifice) was strictly forbidden on temple grounds, so any gods-fearing pursuer would have to stop off their attack. In myths where an attacker kills somebody at the altar anyway, they usually suffer the vengeance of the god whose sanctuary they violated.

** One origin story of Medusa had her raped by Poseidon inside a temple of Athena... at which point Athena punished her priestess for violating her vow of chastity by turning her into a monster.

* Grimly subverted in Shakespeare's ''Theatre/RichardIII'' (as in RealLife) when Richard, Duke of York, taken to sanctuary by his mother, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Woodville Queen Elizabeth]] (no, not [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I that one]]), is haled out of sanctuary on the arguments of the Duke of Buckingham and subsequently murdered in the Tower.

Why? Because it's symbolic of a safe haven from demonic forces, [[GoodHurtsEvil who can't set foot on holy ground]]. The tradition originated from the idea that spilling blood in God's house was a great evil, so it's still a good place to hide from a suitably God-fearing human enemy. In some times and places there were laws against making arrests if a suspect is in a church and the Geneva Convention forbids attacking a place of worship.

The probability of success depends on where the story is on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism. On one end, not only will the church be safe but the local GoodShepherd will provide the hero with cookies and milk. At the other end, their will be a SinisterMinister that is working with what ever was chasing the hero.

* On an episode of ''[[{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'', an AWOL soldier takes refuge in the mess tent while Father Mulcahy is using it for a church service. Mulchahy takes up the boy's cause, and many calls are made to find out if a mess tent qualifies as an actual place of sanctuary. The answer comes back no, and the [=MPs=] are sent in to get the soldier, who wards them off at gunpoint. Incensed, Father Mulcahy upbraids the kid for defiling what he previously considered a house of the Lord by pointing a deadly weapon at someone. After Mulcahy disarms him despite being at point black range, the kid feels bad and gives himself up and the Army later compromised by arranging Dr. Freedman to give him psychiatric help.

* Played for laughs in ''TheSimpsons'', in which Homer is being chased by members of PBS who are out for blood. He eventually makes his way to the church and runs in screaming "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" Reverend Lovejoy irritatedly questions why he bothered to even teach him the word.

-->-- ''TheSimpsons'', "Missionary Impossible"

** Later on, Esmeralda seeks sanctuary to escape the guards, but Frollo simply bides his time, knowing that she will have to leave eventually - "Gypsies don't do well inside stone walls".

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': Raven and Robin hide from Slade, now Trigon's messenger, in a Church. Slade follows them in, Robin passes out, and Raven runs for it.

* Subverted in IronMaiden's "Sanctuary", as he's wants "sanctuary from the law" after killing a woman, but given he also wants "love me tonight", it's not in a church.

** Later on, Esmerelda seeks sanctuary to escape the guards, but Frollo simply bides his time, knowing that she will have to leave eventually - "Gypsies don't do well inside stone walls".