Medieval bestiaries
For medieval people animals were not only creatures to hunt, breed or fear: they were signs. The lion, the pelican, the ant and even the whale mistaken for an island spoke of Christ, of the devil, of virtues and vices. This section tells the story of the medieval bestiaries, the books that gathered and handed down that symbolic language. It begins with the Physiologus, the anonymous Greek text from which everything derives, and passes through the encyclopedias of Isidore of Seville and Hrabanus Maurus, the Tresor of Brunetto Latini and the refined Bestiary of Love of Richard de Fournival. It then turns to the great illuminated English manuscripts, such as those of Aberdeen, Ashmole and Rochester, and to the individual creatures that fill them, each with its own ‘nature’ and its own moral. The journey ends with the monsters of the Liber monstrorum and the beasts carved on the capitals, portals and floors of cathedrals, where the bestiary left the page and turned into stone.
The Physiologus: the Greek book from which all bestiaries were born
Origins, structure and influence of the Physiologus, the anonymous early Christian Greek text that turned animals into moral and theological symbols.
MED · N. 002The illuminated English bestiaries: Aberdeen, Ashmole and Rochester
Between the 12th and 13th centuries England produced Europe's most sumptuous bestiaries: history of the Aberdeen, Ashmole and Rochester manuscripts.
MED · N. 003Isidore of Seville and Book XII of the Etymologies
How Isidore of Seville organised knowledge of animals in Book XII of the Etymologies, explaining each creature through the origin of its name.
MED · N. 004Hrabanus Maurus and the mystical meaning of creatures
In his De rerum naturis Hrabanus Maurus, abbot of Fulda, reworked Isidore and gave every animal a spiritual meaning, for good and for ill.
MED · N. 005Brunetto Latini and the animals of the Tresor
Dante's teacher wrote an encyclopedia in French, the Tresor, which gives ample space to animals: its sources, method and differences from bestiaries.
MED · N. 006The Bestiary of Love of Richard de Fournival
In the mid 13th century a canon of Amiens turned the bestiary into a love letter: Richard de Fournival, memory and the animals of the lover.
MED · N. 007The pelican that revives its young with its own blood
From the Physiologus to Dante and Thomas Aquinas: how the pelican became the supreme symbol of Christ's sacrifice and of the Eucharist.
MED · N. 008The panther and the fragrance that draws every animal
In the bestiaries the panther sleeps three days and on waking breathes a sweet scent that draws every animal except the dragon: history of a symbol.
MED · N. 009The lynx: eyes that see through walls and a hidden stone
In the bestiaries the lynx has wondrous sight and out of envy hides the stone formed from its urine: ancient sources, medieval moral and later fame.
MED · N. 010The lion that sleeps with open eyes and wipes out its tracks
The three natures of the lion in the Physiologus and bestiaries: erased tracks, watchful sleep, revived cubs, and the lions of Romanesque portals.
MED · N. 011The beaver and renunciation: an ancient legend turned sermon
Why in the bestiaries the beaver mutilates itself to escape hunters: from Aesop and Pliny to Isidore, and on to the moral lesson about shedding vices.
MED · N. 012The deaf asp: the serpent that stops its ears
From Psalm 57 to Isidore and the bestiaries: the asp that presses one ear to the ground and blocks the other with its tail, symbol of refusing the Word.
MED · N. 013The caladrius, the white bird that decided the fate of the sick
According to the bestiaries the caladrius, a pure white bird of royal courts, gazed at the sick who would recover and turned away from the dying.
MED · N. 014The hydrus and the crocodile: a struggle that tells of the descent into hell
In the bestiaries the hydrus coats itself in mud, lets the crocodile swallow it and bursts out of its belly: a figure of Christ conquering death.
MED · N. 015The aspidochelone, the whale mistaken for an island
Sailors anchor on an island that turns out to be a sea monster: the story of the aspidochelone from the Physiologus to Saint Brendan and Sinbad.
MED · N. 016The bee and the ant, teachers of order and prudence
From Ambrose's Hexameron to the Physiologus: why in the bestiaries the bee and the ant were models of community life, chastity, work and wisdom.
MED · N. 017The stag, enemy of serpents and thirsting for living water
In the bestiaries the stag draws serpents out with its breath and runs to the spring: from Psalm 41 to Ravenna's mosaics, a symbol of baptism and faith.
MED · N. 018The unicorn and the virgin: the most mysterious hunt of the Middle Ages
Only a virgin can capture the unicorn: from the Physiologus to the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, the history and meanings of a famous legend.
MED · N. 019The Liber monstrorum, an early medieval catalogue of monsters and marvels
An anonymous 8th-century Anglo-Saxon gathered monstrous men, beasts and serpents in a unique book, sceptical of myth: the Liber monstrorum.
MED · N. 020The stone bestiary: animals and monsters in the cathedrals
Capitals, portals, mosaics and choir stalls: how the creatures of the bestiaries entered medieval churches, from Otranto to Verona and on to Paris.