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https://theconversation.com/cats-in-the-middle-ages-what-medieval-manuscripts-teach-us-about-our-ancestors-pets-195389

Cats in the middle ages: what medieval manuscripts teach us about our
ancestors’ pets
Published: December 23, 2022 2.38am EST
Author
Madeleine S. Killacky
PhD Candidate, Medieval Literature, Bangor University

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Madeleine S. Killacky does not work for, consult, own shares in or
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this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their
academic appointment.
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Cats had a bad reputation in the middle ages. Their presumed links with
paganism and witchcraft meant they were often treated with suspicion.
But despite their association with the supernatural, medieval
manuscripts showcase surprisingly playful images of our furry friends.

From these (often very funny) portrayals, we can learn a lot about
medieval attitudes towards cats – not least that they were a central
fixture of daily medieval life.

In the middle ages, men and women were often identified by the animals
they kept. Pet monkeys, for example, were considered exotic and a sign
that the owner was wealthy, because they had been imported from distant
lands. Pets became part of the personal identity of the nobility.
Keeping an animal that was lavished with attention, affection and
high-quality food in return for no functional purpose – other than
companionship – signified high status.

It was not unusual for high-status men and women in the middle ages to
have their portrait completed in the company of a pet, most commonly
cats and dogs, to signify their elevated status.

Read news coverage based on evidence, not tweets
A painting of Jesus and his disciples, gathered round a table on the
right. On the left, in a corridor outside of the dinner, a cat and dog
are shown.
Last Supper (1320), by Pietro Lorenzetti. Web Gallery of Art
It is commonplace to see images of cats in iconography of feasts and
other domestic spaces, which appears to reflect their status as a pet in
the medieval household.

In Pietro Lorenzetti’s Last Supper (above), a cat sits by the fire while
a small dog licks a plate of leftovers on the ground. The cat and dog
play no narrative role in the scene, but instead signal to the viewer
that this is a domestic space.

Similarly, in the miniature of a Dutch Book of Hours (a common type of
prayer book in the middle ages that marked the divisions of the day with
specific prayers), a man and woman feature in a cosy household scene
while a well looked-after cat gazes on from the bottom left-hand corner.
Again, the cat is not the centre of the image nor the focus of the
composition, but it is accepted in this medieval domestic space.

a man and woman feature in a cosy household scene whilst a well-looked
after cat gazes on from the bottom left-hand corner.
1500 Book of Hours known as the ‘London Rothschild Hours’ or the ‘Hours
of Joanna I of Castile’. Illustrated by Gerard Horenbout. London British
Library. Manuscript 35313, folio. 1 verso. C, Author provided
Just like today, medieval families gave their cats names. A 13th-century
cat in Beaulieu Abbey, for example, was called “Mite” according to the
green ink lettering that appears above a doodle of said cat in the
margins of a medieval manuscript.

Royal treatment
Cats were well cared for in the medieval household. In the early 13th
century, there is mention in the accounts for the manor at Cuxham
(Oxfordshire) of cheese being bought for a cat, which suggests that they
were not left to fend for themselves.

A painting of a young woman in a yellow dress, her hair wrapped in
fabric and a pearl choker round her neck, holding a tabby kitten to her
chest in a pose of affection.
Bacchiacca (circa 1525), by the Italian painter Antonio d'Ubertino
Verdi. Christie’s
In fact, the 14th-century queen of France, Isabeau of Bavaria, spent
excessive amounts of money on accessories for her pets. In 1387, she
commissioned a collar embroidered with pearls and fastened by a gold
buckle for her pet squirrel. In 1406, bright green cloth was bought to
make a special cover for her cat.

Cats were also common companions for scholars, and eulogies about cats
were not uncommon in the 16th century. In one poem, a cat is described
as a scholar’s light and dearest companion. Eulogies such as this
suggest a strong emotional attachment to pet cats, and show how cats not
only cheered up their masters but provided welcome distractions from the
hard mental craft of reading and writing.

Cats in the cloisters
Cats are found in abundance as a status symbol in medieval religious
spaces. There are lots of medieval manuscripts that feature, for
example, illuminations (small images) of nuns with cats, and cats
frequently appear as doodles in the margins of Books of Hours.

Rouen bibliotheque municipale ms 3028 fol. 63r
St Matthew and his cat, Bruges, c. 1500. [Rouen bibliotheque municipale.
Manuscript 3028, Folio 63r], Author provided
But there is also much criticism about the keeping of cats in medieval
sermon literature. The 14th-century English preacher John Bromyard
considered them useless and overfed accessories of the rich that
benefited while the poor went hungry.

Doodle showing a nun spinning thread, as her pet cat plays with the spindle.
Detail of a miniature of a nun spinning thread, as her pet cat plays
with the spindle; from the Maastricht Hours, the Netherlands (Liège),
1st quarter of the 14th century, Stowe manuscript 17, folio 34r
Cats are also recorded as being associated with the devil. Their stealth
and cunning when hunting for mice was admired – but this did not always
translate into qualities desirable for companionship. These associations
led to the killing of some cats, which had detrimental effects during
the Black Death and other middle age plagues, when more cats may have
reduced flea-infested rat populations.

Because of these associations, many thought that cats had no place in
the sacred spaces of religious orders. There do not seem to have been
any formal rules, however, stating that members of religious communities
were not allowed to keep cats – and the constant criticism of the
practice perhaps suggests that pet cats were common.

Doodle in the corner of a page of a medieval manuscript shows a cat on
its hind legs, dressed as a nun
A cat cosplaying as a nun. State Library Victoria, 096 R66HF, folio 99r,
Author provided
Even if they were not always considered as socially acceptable in
religious communities, cats were still clearly well looked after. This
is evident in the playful images we see of them in monasteries.

For the most part, cats were quite at home in the medieval household.
And as their playful depiction in many medieval manuscripts and artwork
makes clear, our medieval ancestors’ relationships with these animals
were not too different from our own.

Pets
Cats
Animals
Manuscripts
Middle Ages
European Middle Ages
Medieval art
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