Dr Diane Heath of the Medieval Animals Project reveals the history of the medieval bestiary, or book of beasts.

The bestiary is a medieval book of beasts, in Latin a liber bestiarum or a bestiarium. In the medieval period (400-1500CE) ‘bestiary’ referred to a specific spiritual book that focused on aspects of animal traits in relation to the lessons they provided to people. There were many inter-related versions of the bestiary, in prose and in rhyme, in Latin and in the vernacular. The earliest and main version was the medieval Latin prose bestiary, which was based on a book called the Physiologus, written by monks who lived in the Egyptian desert around the third and fourth centuries. This is why the bestiary includes so many animals from Africa and the Near East. The bestiary allowed the ‘book’ of nature to be read and understood as part of divine creation, as the Book of Job explains:

ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the birds of the air, and they shall tell thee. Speak to the earth, and it shall answer thee: and the fishes of the sea shall tell. Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord hath made all these things?

This reading of nature became part of what has been called the ‘two books’ trope and was summed up by Alan of Lille (ca. 1128- ca. 1203/5) as

every creature of the world is for us like a book and a picture and a mirror as well.

Medieval stained-glass Dragon: Trinity Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral, credit: Professor Rachel Koopmans

While many bestiaries were unillustrated, some of the deluxe versions produced for wealthy monasteries and the nobility have sumptuous illuminations by professional artists using the most expensive pigments and often gilded. The Rochester Bestiary is one of the most beautiful of these superb medieval masterpieces and it is still being used as inspiration for artists of all ages today. Having this c. 800 year old priceless manuscript on display in the place where it was made is a terrific opportunity for people in Rochester to see for themselves their wonderful medieval heritage.

DEH
July 2023

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