The Bizarre and Beautiful World of Medieval Bestiaries (Part 1)

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Today, we'll begin a journey into the strange and eccentric world of medieval bestiaries--a place where science and religion converge to present catalogs of fantastic creatures, with descriptions ranging from grounded to, at times, outright ridiculous. But as we'll see, these bestiaries offer far more than a few silly descriptions. They're a window into the minds of generations of people who truly found wonder in even the most common forms of life.

That, and a few deeply inaccurate attempts at describing and illustrating animals they'd clearly never seen.

Sources:

[cumbrap]

Crocodiles are so badass that medieval scholars used them to represent Hell itself. That's metal.
Best part is that these medieval artists tried really hard to make it look as ferocious as possible yet the real thing is still much more terrifying.

[kevingluys]

I love a few of the mythical creatures that are clearly the result of Telephone. Such as the Basilisk (a snake that stands upright, has a "crest" like a rooster, and can kill from a distance) being a spitting cobra, the ichneumon (a weasel that battles dragons) being a mongoose, and the crocuta (a beast with the body of a bull, legs of a wolf, head of a badger, and the ability to mimic human speech) being the hyena.

[purplehaze]

I find it interesting how snakes, despite now being associated with dishonesty above all else, were treated as almost a role model for religious behavior.

[felest]

I think it’s impressive that Aristotle noted how a snakes eyes appear to go blind during a shed, its true that when they are shedding their eye caps they have impaired vision. I also liked how the Aberdeen Bestiary notes that snakes fast during a shed, snakes usually feel more vulnerable during the shedding process and don’t prefer to eat. Despite the inaccurate things, someone clearly did some good work studying these snakes.

[celtofcanaanesurix]

the basilisk to me sounds a lot like the spitting cobras of India, with it's title of "little king" as well as the representations with rooster's heads being from greek exaggerations of what an indian trader likely called a "crest" on it's head (referring to the hood).
The mentioning of a mongoose as its enemy only supports this theory in my view.

[solgerWhyIsThereAnAtItLooksBad]

Wait, so the basilisk made people aggressive and fear water? Did they blame the basilisk for rabies?

[teawrecks]

I'm kind of disappointed medieval bestiaries never got to learn about the platypus and the echidna. That would have been *entertaining*.

[MrDUneven]

"Stag is the mortal enemy of the serpent" So that's why Harry's patronus was a stag.

[irvs]

Bestiaries :
- The Bonnacon (1:30)
- The Basilisk (2:51)
- The Serpent (7:13)
- The Stag (11:24)
- The Crocodile and The Hydrus (13:00)

[suchendelokidottir]

I am convinced that at some point a traveler to the south came back north with a description of cotton that more or less went "and there they have WOOL that grows on PLANTS!" And that's where the myth of the vegetable lamb came from

[jordinagel]

Medieval bestiaries were basically one really long game of telephone, with each new telling becoming more distorted and fantastical

[DomR]

I'm reminded every day that people of the past weren't less intelligent, they just had a different base from which their understanding of the world is built.

[sampy]

"For the creator has made nothing without a remedy" is a good line

[darcieclements]

Great video. I have couple of fun facts that might offer a little extra perspective. First, in the middle ages, serpent did not mean snake, rather it meant animal with a long skinny body. This is why animals with legs show up called this. Salamanders, many birds, weasels, caterpillars and worms were all serpents, not just snakes. The second area of interest is that deer actively hunt, kill and eat baby birds and reptiles, a behavior that people were in denial about for a bit in more modern history when the idea of them being herbivores and pure for that fact came in fashion, so the original description could easily have nothing to do with a lesson and just be an observation that later people put through a lense. The fun thing about these old beastiaries, is sometimes the reason they seem absurd is because our own assumptions lead us to think they described a different animal than they actually do, or that the description is wildly wrong when really it is us who have made inaccurate assumptions about a species 😁 Though sometimes they really are just silly.

[pedrotalons]

I love how basilisks kill anything with a mere look, except the mighty... weasel

[aaronlaughter]

There is something about medieval art that is just so awesome.

[lesteryaytrippy]

No, pelicans as dragons is a very good artistic expression of that horrible bird

[teinestokoe]

"and remember, no matter what your title - *you matter* " was such an unexpectedly wholesome ending

[Scarecrow_Crane]

Can I just say that a lot of your videos have inspired me to try and make my own fictional sci-fi or fantasy species and try my hand in speculative evolution. Also, holy hell I am early.

[benmcreynolds]

I find it very interesting how ancient history people described animals. I wonder what species where actually around that no longer exist. I feel the weasel fighting the basalisk is a Cobra. Spitting Cobra, King Cobra. The mongoose can battle with these snakes and Ricky ticky tavey is a children's story about this exact interaction of the 2 animals.