Bestiary

Abestiary is an almanac used to list creatures of both imaginary and real origins. Especially popular during the Middle Ages, bestiaries often had educational purposes. In particular, many medieval authors of bestiaries used them to present Christian allegories, with the animals presented as having characteristics of symbolic moral significance. Each description was usually accompanied by an illustration that, in later editions, became progressively more lavish.

Brief History

The earliest known bestiary was called the Physiologus (meaning the "Natural Historian" in Greek) and was composed between the second and fourth centuries in Alexandria, Egypt. This original bestiary was written in Greek and is generally attributed to an unknown author called Physiologus. It consisted of between forty and fifty examples of real animals, mythological creatures, plants, and stones that would have been familiar to a North African audience. Although no copies of the Physiologus survive in its original form, it was the basis for many later similar works that often heavily relied upon it as source material. The Physiologus was itself believed to have been inspired by ancient Egyptian, Hebrew, and Indian folkloric traditions.

The Physiologus was immensely popular and translated into many different languages. At its peak, it was among the most reproduced works in Europe. In each entry, the author uses biblical allegories to describe the symbolic nature of individual subjects. For example, in the first chapter, the lion is said to be able to hide his tracks from hunters by sweeping his tail behind him. This (fictional) trait is likened to Jesus hiding his divine nature from the Jews. Other chapters offer symbolic portraits of stones like agates and fire stones (which are said to have masculine and feminine traits), animals ranging from the ant to the elephant, and such mythological creatures as sirens and massive turtle-like aspidochelone, which are equated to the devil.

In the seventh century, editions of the Physiologus were often supplemented by a text called the Etymologiae. The Etymologiae was created by Saint Isidore of Seville in the seventh century as a compendium of knowledge that was often used as a textbook during the Middle Ages. Book XXII of the Etymologiae was concerned with how animals gained their names. Many of Isidore's anecdotes detailing the roots of names were fanciful in origin and added to the symbolic associations of animals with certain traits. For instance, he derived the eagle's name from the Latin word Aquila from its sharpness (Acumine in Latin) of sight, even though the two words had no shared origins.

Later works expanded upon the original contents of the Physiologus to include new fantastic creatures and moral fables. By the twelfth century, wealthy patrons commissioned new versions of ornately illustrated bestiaries called illuminated manuscripts. Famous surviving examples include the Aberdeen Bestiary and the Ashmole Bestiary, both from the twelfth century. Some of these bestiaries also included stories of God's creation of life and the universe, as well as other biblical tales.

Various editions of bestiaries were published throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Each version was often adapted to meet the tastes and needs of a regional audience and was typically updated to include examples of local fauna and flora. As a result, English bestiaries included pages featuring the hare and the yale—a mythological creature found in European heraldry—while an Irish edition had folios dedicated to the badger and barnacle goose.

Symbolism

The initial purpose of bestiaries was to present Christian doctrine. Each animal had overt characteristics that were said to have biblical connotations. For instance, the panther was described as a docile animal with sweet-smelling breath that it used to attract prey. It would also hide in its den when it had eaten to fullness. For the purposes of moralization, these attributes were likened to Jesus. The original bestiaries suggested that, like the panther, Jesus remained in wait for three days after his crucifixion after having had his fill of abuse. Upon his return, his sweet words drew the Jews of Jerusalem to him to follow his teachings, just as the panther attracts his prey. Bestiaries such as the Aberdeen Bestiary clarified these messages with a short doctrinal message. In the case of the panther folio, the Aberdeen Bestiary suggested that Christians needed to seek out the "scented ointment" of Jesus's words to purify their spirits and set themselves on the path of redemption.

The pelican, too, was said to have mystical traits in bestiaries. Despite the devotion of their parents, pelican chicks were said to strike their parents with their large bills. When the adult pelican responded in kind, its blows would kill its young. However, after three days, the mother pelican would slice open her chest and allow her blood to flow over her chicks. This symbolic gesture was likened to the Passion of the Christ and, in particular, the wound Christ received just prior to his crucifixion. While this behavior has not been observed in pelicans, medieval writers may have mistaken the regurgitating habits of pelicans when feeding their young as an act of physical sacrifice.

In the Medieval Period, the influential nature of bestiaries extended beyond their Christian moralizing. For instance, in the Physiologus, the lion is associated with Judah and the later kings of Israel, a lineage from which Jesus was presumed to have descended. As such, the lion is equated to Jesus. Like the lion, which is no less than the "king" of beasts, Jesus is the king of all humankind. Beyond his ability to erase his tracks, the lion is given other characteristics in various editions of bestiaries. In the Bern Physiologus from the ninth century, the lion is depicted as sleeping with his eyes open and reviving his dead cubs, imagery meant to invoke Christ's death and resurrection.

Medieval royalty would often try to link themselves to this sort of divine right of rule by depicting lions as a part of their official heraldry. Similarly, members of European aristocracy included in their heraldic shields and insignias various creatures from bestiaries whose characteristics were traditionally associated with their families.

Topic Today

Bestiaries were ultimately replaced by more factually based scientific studies of animals and their behavior. However, bestiaries remained popular vehicles for presenting compendiums of animals, although in their contemporary incarnations, they typically are reserved for collections of deliberately fanciful creatures. Their function as tools for religious dogma has largely been eclipsed in favor of secular fantasy. As a result, modern bestiaries often present an illustrated list of supernatural creatures of the author's own creation.

Bibliography

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Baxter, Ron. Bestiaries and Their Users in the Middle Ages. Sutton, 1998.

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Clark, Willene B., and Meradith T. McMunn. Beasts and Birds of the Middle Ages: The Bestiary and its Legacy. U of Pennsylvania P, 1989.

Curley, Michael J. "Introduction." Physiologus: A Medieval Book of Nature Lore, 2nd ed., U of Chicago P, 2009, pp. ix-xliii.

Grout, James. "The Medieval Bestiary." Encyclopædia Romana, University of Chicago, penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia‗romana/britannia/anglo-saxon/flowers/bestiary.html. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

Haist, Margaret. "The Lion, Bloodline, and Kingship." The Mark of the Beast: The Medieval Bestiary in Art, Life, and Literature, edited by Debra Hassig, Routledge, 2013, pp. 3-20.

Hassig, Debra. "Introduction."The Mark of the Beast: The Medieval Bestiary in Art, Life, and Literature, edited by Debra Hassig, Routledge, 2013, pp. xi-xvii.

Key, Sarah. "'The English Bestiary', the Continental 'Physiologus' and the Intersections between Them." Medium Aevum, vol. 85, no. 1, 2016, pp. 118-42, doi.org/10.2307/26396473. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

Renauld, Marie-Madeleine. "The Bestiary: Medieval Legends of Mythical Beasts." The Collector, 7 Sept. 2021, www.thecollector.com/medieval-bestiary. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

"What Is a Bestiary?" The Aberdeen Bestiary, University of Aberdeen, www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/what.php. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.