Humans and Other Animals in the Middle Ages
An Introduction and Reader
Published on 21. March 2025
Book
Hardback
756 pages
978-90-04-72084-8 (ISBN)
Description
This sourcebook serves both as an introduction and a wide-ranging reference work for human attitudes to nonhuman animals in Latin Europe during the Middle Ages. Under twelve headings, it includes numerous translated passages from Latin and vernacular texts that reflect human conceptions and uses of other animals during the period 300-1520. Theologians, philosophers, encyclopaedists, bestiarists, hagiographers, chroniclers, huntsmen and writers of agricultural manuals, cookbooks and plague treatises all had something to say about the place of nonhuman animals in their world and their interaction with humans, or simply recorded incidentally what they did in their writings. All are represented here.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 43 mm
Weight
1568 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-72084-8 (9789004720848)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Philip Line, Ph.D. (2003), University of Leeds. He now works as an independent researcher on human-animal relations. His most recent publication is "The elephants who appealed to the gods: Animal agency in the Roman arena" (Trace: Journal for Human-Animal Studies, 2022).
Content
Dedication
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Introduction
?1?Notes
1 The Genesis of the Animals
?1?The Medieval Conception of the Biblical Creation
?2?The Naming of the Animals
?3?Animals Wild and Tame
2 Animals in Medieval Natural Philosophy
?1?Defining the Animal
?2?Categorizing Animals
?3?Animals in the scala naturae
?4?Human and Nonhuman Souls and Their Faculties
?5?Animal Society
3 Animals as Exemplars
?1?Animals as Didactic Tools
?2?The Symmetry of Nature
?3?Physiologus and the Bestiaries
?4?The Medieval Encyclopaedia of Nature
?5?Animals in Homilies and Sermons
?6?Physiognomy
?7?Symbols of Ferocity, Valour and Lineage
?8?Animal Behaviour as Portents
4 Animals in Field, Park, and Forest
?1?Animal Husbandry
?2?The Lot of the Working Animal
?3?Foresta and Parks
5 Hunting
?1?Defining the Medieval Hunt
?2?Quarry Animals
?3?Animals Who Assisted in the Hunt
?4?Medieval Conservation?
?5?Hunting of Rival Predators
?6?Illegal Hunting
?7?Criticism of Hunting
6 Animals and Law
?1?Natural Law
?2?Animals in the 'Laws of the Barbarians'
?3?Animals in High Medieval Law
?4?Human Ownership of Animals and the Right to Hunt Them
?5?Trials, Execution and Cursing of Nonhuman Animals
?6?Execution of Animals for Involvement in Bestiality
7 Beast-Humans and Human Beasts
?1?Monstrous Beings, Monstrous Races
?2?Metamorphosis
?3?Zoophilia
?4?Offspring of Human-Beast Unions
?5?Humans Acting Beasts
?6?Humans Compared to Beasts
?7?Beasts Representing Humans
8 Animals as Food
?1?Eating as Differentiator of Humans from Other Animals
?2?The Old Law Dietary Restrictions in Christianity
?3?Cultural Taboos
?4?Meat-Eating, Lust and Gluttony
?5?Meat for the Starving
?6?Human Meat, Animal Meat
?7?Animals in the Human Diet
?8?Entertaining Meals
?9?Food Waste Management
?10?Animal Fast Food
9 Animals, Disease and Medicine
?1?Animals as Sources of Medicinal Cures or Causes of Injury and Disease
?2?Care of Domesticated Animals
?3?Animal Self-Help
?4?Animals as Medical Metaphors
?5?Epidemics among Domestic Animals and the Human Perception of Them
10 Animals and Saints
11 Animals for Show and Companionship
?1?Menageries
?2?Animals as Companions to Humans
?3?Animals in the Cloister
?4?Pets of the Secular Aristocracy
?5?Naming Household Animals
?6?Animals Punished as Surrogates for Human Owners
?7?Animals for Entertainment
12 Animals at War
?1?Warlike Animals?
?2?The Warhorse
?3?Other Animals in Battle
?4?Feeding the 'Beasts of Battle'
?5?Animal Messengers
?6?Animal Attrition: on the March, in Camp and in Sieges
?7?Animals Stolen and Slaughtered
Quoted Authors
Bibliography of Works from Which Passages Are Quoted
Figures
Index
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Introduction
?1?Notes
1 The Genesis of the Animals
?1?The Medieval Conception of the Biblical Creation
?2?The Naming of the Animals
?3?Animals Wild and Tame
2 Animals in Medieval Natural Philosophy
?1?Defining the Animal
?2?Categorizing Animals
?3?Animals in the scala naturae
?4?Human and Nonhuman Souls and Their Faculties
?5?Animal Society
3 Animals as Exemplars
?1?Animals as Didactic Tools
?2?The Symmetry of Nature
?3?Physiologus and the Bestiaries
?4?The Medieval Encyclopaedia of Nature
?5?Animals in Homilies and Sermons
?6?Physiognomy
?7?Symbols of Ferocity, Valour and Lineage
?8?Animal Behaviour as Portents
4 Animals in Field, Park, and Forest
?1?Animal Husbandry
?2?The Lot of the Working Animal
?3?Foresta and Parks
5 Hunting
?1?Defining the Medieval Hunt
?2?Quarry Animals
?3?Animals Who Assisted in the Hunt
?4?Medieval Conservation?
?5?Hunting of Rival Predators
?6?Illegal Hunting
?7?Criticism of Hunting
6 Animals and Law
?1?Natural Law
?2?Animals in the 'Laws of the Barbarians'
?3?Animals in High Medieval Law
?4?Human Ownership of Animals and the Right to Hunt Them
?5?Trials, Execution and Cursing of Nonhuman Animals
?6?Execution of Animals for Involvement in Bestiality
7 Beast-Humans and Human Beasts
?1?Monstrous Beings, Monstrous Races
?2?Metamorphosis
?3?Zoophilia
?4?Offspring of Human-Beast Unions
?5?Humans Acting Beasts
?6?Humans Compared to Beasts
?7?Beasts Representing Humans
8 Animals as Food
?1?Eating as Differentiator of Humans from Other Animals
?2?The Old Law Dietary Restrictions in Christianity
?3?Cultural Taboos
?4?Meat-Eating, Lust and Gluttony
?5?Meat for the Starving
?6?Human Meat, Animal Meat
?7?Animals in the Human Diet
?8?Entertaining Meals
?9?Food Waste Management
?10?Animal Fast Food
9 Animals, Disease and Medicine
?1?Animals as Sources of Medicinal Cures or Causes of Injury and Disease
?2?Care of Domesticated Animals
?3?Animal Self-Help
?4?Animals as Medical Metaphors
?5?Epidemics among Domestic Animals and the Human Perception of Them
10 Animals and Saints
11 Animals for Show and Companionship
?1?Menageries
?2?Animals as Companions to Humans
?3?Animals in the Cloister
?4?Pets of the Secular Aristocracy
?5?Naming Household Animals
?6?Animals Punished as Surrogates for Human Owners
?7?Animals for Entertainment
12 Animals at War
?1?Warlike Animals?
?2?The Warhorse
?3?Other Animals in Battle
?4?Feeding the 'Beasts of Battle'
?5?Animal Messengers
?6?Animal Attrition: on the March, in Camp and in Sieges
?7?Animals Stolen and Slaughtered
Quoted Authors
Bibliography of Works from Which Passages Are Quoted
Figures
Index