A bestiary is a book that describes different animals. It began in the ancient world and became widely used during the Middle Ages. These books often had pictures and explained the natural history of animals, as well as rocks. Each entry usually included a lesson about good and bad behavior. This showed the belief that the world was created by God and that every living thing had special meaning. For example, the pelican was thought to tear open its chest to feed its young with its own blood, which was seen as a symbol of Jesus. Therefore, bestiaries also helped people understand the symbolic meanings of animals in Western Christian art and writing.
History
The bestiary, a medieval book about animals, was one of the most popular decorated texts in northern Europe during the Middle Ages (about 500–1500). People in medieval times believed that everything in the world showed God’s presence, and bestiaries focused on what each animal meant in religion. Much of the information in bestiaries came from ancient Greek writers and their ideas. The first bestiary in its later popular form was a Greek book from the 2nd century called the Physiologus. This book summarized knowledge about animals from works by classical authors like Aristotle’s Historia Animalium and writings by Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, Solinus, Aelian, and other naturalists.
After the Physiologus, Saint Isidore of Seville (in Book XII of the Etymologiae) and Saint Ambrose added religious messages from the Bible and the Septuagint. They and other writers expanded or changed earlier ideas, focusing more on moral lessons than on exact facts. Even though some stories in bestiaries were imaginative, people widely believed them. Some observations, like bird migration, were later ignored by scientists but were later confirmed in modern times.
Medieval bestiaries often followed the same order of animals. They were especially popular in England and France around the 12th century and were mostly collections of older texts. The Aberdeen Bestiary is one of the best-known examples of the over 50 surviving manuscript bestiaries.
Bestiaries were influenced by the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, and modern times. The Renaissance began around the 14th century in Italy. Bestiaries helped create early heraldry, providing ideas for symbols on coats of arms and artistic styles. They continue to inspire modern coats of arms.
Two decorated Psalters, the Queen Mary Psalter (British Library Ms. Royal 2B, vii) and the Isabella Psalter (State Library, Munich), include full bestiary sections. In the Queen Mary Psalter, the bestiary appears in the "marginal" decorations on the bottom of pages. These decorations are unusually detailed and include 90 animals, more than the Norman bestiary of Guillaume le Clerc. Some animals are placed near the text to connect with the psalm they illustrate.
Many people created their own bestiaries, adding their observations and ideas from earlier works. These could be written or illustrated. The Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci also made his own bestiary.
A volucrary is a similar collection of bird symbols, sometimes found with bestiaries. The most famous volucrary from the Renaissance was Gart der Gesundheit by Johannes de Cuba, which described 122 birds and was printed in 1485.
Bestiary content
Medieval bestiaries were created by combining information from older texts and descriptions of animals, including works like the Physiologus. These books included detailed written descriptions and drawings of animals found in Western Europe, animals from faraway places, and creatures that are now considered imaginary. Each entry described the physical traits of the animal, even if these traits were not scientifically accurate, and explained the Christian moral lessons the animal symbolized. Illustrations often followed the written descriptions, such as an image of an eagle labeled as the “king of birds.”
Bestiaries were arranged in different ways depending on the sources used. Some grouped animals by type, such as land or sea creatures, while others listed them alphabetically. However, these books did not clearly separate real animals from imaginary ones. Creatures like dragons, unicorns, basilisks, griffins, and caladrii were often included alongside real animals like bears, boars, deer, lions, and elephants. One source noted that bestiaries and fables are similar because each entry has a story and a message.
The lack of distinction between real and imaginary creatures has led to the belief that medieval people thought these creatures were real. However, this idea is being questioned by scholars. Some, like Pamela Gravestock, suggest that medieval people focused more on the moral lessons these creatures represented rather than believing the creatures existed. Historian David C. Lindberg explained that bestiaries used symbols and stories to teach lessons and entertain, rather than to provide scientific knowledge about nature.
Religious significance
The connection between animals and religion began long before bestiaries were created. In many ancient civilizations, animals were linked to religious beliefs and myths. For example, in Egypt, gods were often shown with animal heads, and in Greece, animals like the eagle were symbols of gods such as Zeus. Before bestiaries were written, people learned about the meanings of animals from earlier observations and the traditions of older cultures. The Physiologus, a text from the 2nd to 3rd century CE, was the direct predecessor to bestiaries, as it also described animals and taught lessons about right and wrong.
Bestiaries were not only read by monks and religious leaders but also by ordinary people. Every animal in bestiaries had a lesson or meaning. Some animals, like the pelican, panther, and lion, were seen as symbols of goodness, while others, such as the dragon, represented evil or the devil. For instance, the dragon is described in the pelican entry as being afraid of the panther’s sweet breath, showing how good can overcome evil.
Bestiaries contained many religious meanings. Nearly every animal was connected to a church lesson or a well-known religious story. Since animals have held importance in religion for a long time, bestiaries helped explain the meanings of real or mythical animals, reinforcing their significance in religious teachings.
Modern bestiaries
In modern times, artists like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Saul Steinberg created their own bestiaries. Jorge Luis Borges wrote a modern version of a bestiary called The Book of Imaginary Beings, which gathers descriptions of imaginary creatures from old bestiaries and stories. Nicholas Christopher wrote a novel titled The Bestiary (Dial, 2007), which follows a young man’s journey to find the most complete bestiary in the world. John Henry Fleming’s book Fearsome Creatures of Florida (Pocol Press, 2009) uses the style of medieval bestiaries to teach lessons about protecting the environment. Caspar Henderson’s The Book of Barely Imagined Beings (Granta, 2012; University of Chicago Press, 2013), also called "A 21st Century Bestiary," explores how people imagine animals during times of environmental change. In July 2014, Jonathan Scott published The Blessed Book of Beasts (Eastern Christian Publications), which includes 101 animals from the Bible, following the tradition of bestiaries found in the writings of religious figures like Saint John Chrysostom. Today, there is a field of study called cryptozoology, which focuses on animals that are not yet scientifically identified. This field connects to medieval bestiaries because some of the same unknown animals appear in both, and they often carry symbolic meanings. Lists of monsters in video games such as NetHack, Dragon Quest, and Monster Hunter, as well as in tabletop role-playing games like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Dungeons & Dragons, and Pathfinder, are often called bestiaries.