The Mark of the Beast

The medieval bestiary was a contribution to didactic religious literature, addressing concerns central to all walks of Christian and secular life. These essays analyze the bestiary from both literary and art historical perspectives, exploring issues including kinship, romance, sex, death, and the afterlife.

Debra Hassig Ph.D. is a Reader at the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh

Acknowledgments Introduction Abbreviations Figures A-k Part 1.Social Realities The Lion, Bloodline, and Kinship Margaret Haist Misericord Owls and Medieval Anti-Semitism Mariko Miyzkazi Part 2. Mortal Lessons Bestiary Lessons on Pride and Lust Carmen Brown Sex and the Bestiaries Debbra Hassig The Phoenix and the Resurrection Valerie Jones Part 3. Classical Inheritances Did Imaginary Animals Exist Pamela Gravestock Classical Ideology in the Medieval Bestiary J. Holli Wheatcroft Part 4. Reading Beasts Taboos and the Noly on Bodley 764 Alison Syme Silences' Beasts Michelle Bolduc Appendix: List of Bestiary and Physiologus Manuscripts Contributors Index of Creatures