Strange Medieval Rabbit pics...must see!

These are pictures of rabbits taken from a genuine Medieval text:



I'm loving the one with the crossbow! :shock: :shock:

I reckon this is what my O/H's nightmares must be like :lol:

Haha, is that other one pooping at the bottom of the tree? :lol:

Jaysmonkey said:

Haha, is that other one pooping at the bottom of the tree? :lol:

Click to expand...

I think it's terrorizing the little man sat at the top of a tree! Medieval rabbits must've kicked ass!

looks that way! :lol:

I think they must be related to the killer rabbit of Caerbannog that featured in the Monty Python documentary, you know, the one where they tried to find the holy grail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcxKIJTb3Hg (I should add that this video clip is rated for over 15 yr olds only, but no rabbits were harmed!)

:lol:

The one carrying a woman on a stake looks a tad :shock:

That is an extraordinary text for several reasons.

As far as I know, in medieval times rabbits couldn't burrow, & lived in man made warrens called pillow mounds. They were "farmed" by the lord of the manor, much to the detriment of the poor peasants crops. The loss of crops could tip the peasants into starvation. But the peasant had virtually no legal rights, & no "voice". So the text is fascinating.

I wonder about the language? I don't think it's Latin, wonder about French but can't read middle English.

:lol:rabbits revenge like it

thumps_ said:

That is an extraordinary text for several reasons.

As far as I know, in medieval times rabbits couldn't burrow, & lived in man made warrens called pillow mounds. They were "farmed" by the lord of the manor, much to the detriment of the poor peasants crops. The loss of crops could tip the peasants into starvation. But the peasant had virtually no legal rights, & no "voice". So the text is fascinating.

I wonder about the language? I don't think it's Latin, wonder about French but can't read middle English.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure, but it does look like French. The friend who sent the pictures to me specializes in medieval English and French texts, so I'd hazard a guess at Early Middle French. I'll ask him tomorrow at work...I'll ask him which text it is as well

Thank you Abbymarysmokey. I can't wait to hear from you.

The crossbow has exactly the same expression as Pickles! :lol:

Ooh, how fabulous!

Actually it looks to me like it's 'world turned upside down' imagery although I don't know the actual text. This was very popular after the Black Death which contemporaries thought had turned the world on its head. In late medieval texts there are frequent representations of carts before horses, social order uprooted, etc. and this looks like the hunted hunting the hunter.

It wouldn't surprise me if those buns are actually hares as they were represented far more frequently in medieval art both because they were indigenous and common (rabbits being hard to breed and keep!) and because they were viewed as a symbol of purity and timidity (apparently it was thought that they reproduced asexually, unlike buns who were thought to go at it .. like buns) so it would be more bizarre to see a timid hare hunting a hunter.

Don't get me started, I could go on for days about medieval rabbits ........

I would hazard a guess at it being an earlier form of French too. I've briefly looked at Middle English before and there isnt any word on that bottom line that is vagely familiar but a couple of definite French words. Just a guess.

Oooo, I'm really excited by this, & wish I knew more. I'm fascinated by the concept of "world order" being turned upside down by the Great plague. Perhaps today we would call it "social order."

Am I on the right track that so many serfs, bondsmen, & villeins died, that there was insufficient free labour/taxes to make the estates profitable for the aristocracy & bishops? For the 1st. time since the Norman conquest, the peasantry had a little "power" because of scarcity value. Subsequent epidemics of plague mainly affected the young with no previous exposure to the illness, further reducing the labour force & finally leading to the various peasants revolts & even murder of some oppressive landlords? In that case the hares would represent the peasants.

Even if the text is old French, it may have still been written in England by some one in the French speaking aristocracy. I can only imagine a wealthy person being able to afford the illumination, or having the text written.

I'm going to guess that this text refers to the various peasant's revolts following the Great plague. [ & have scrambled egg all over my face! Ah but I'm a scientist not a historian]

Am I on the right track that so many serfs, bondsmen, & villeins died, that there was insufficient free labour/taxes to make the estates profitable for the aristocracy & bishops? For the 1st. time since the Norman conquest, the peasantry had a little "power" because of scarcity value. Subsequent epidemics of plague mainly affected the young with no previous exposure to the illness, further reducing the labour force & finally leading to the various peasants revolts & even murder of some oppressive landlords? In that case the hares would represent the peasants.

That is broadly correct although it's quite a 'Marxist historian' interpretation! Basically, the Black Death and subsequent plague epidemics killed so many people that labour became scarce and expensive. As wages rose, living standards and consumerism rose and people could afford meat and fur .... hence the late medieval increase in commercialised rabbit farming! The link with the Peasants' Revolt is open to debate because the insurgents weren't peasants - they tended to be better-off farmers who had various gripes including objections to the Poll Tax.

If anyone is interested in late medieval rabbits, there is a excellent article by Mark Bailey ... if you google 'Mark Bailey rabbits' it comes up and you can download it as a PDF file. Although it is an academic article he's a really good writer so it's very readable.

Thanks Pomand Ri.

Hi Pomand Ri - do you know Mark??

I knew him years ago when our research areas were very similar (I was doing medieval deer).

The manuscript is, I think, one that was on show at the Fitzwilliam Museum (cambs) not long ago, and if my memory serves me well is not only a world turned upside down one, but has a special resonance in that its owner was one of the 'de Warren' family so the illustrator chose lots of these rabbit related images.

There is another fascinating article on rabbits and medieval imagery by an ex English heritage inspector called David Stocker if any one is into this (as several obviously are!!). Its quite whacky given his academic background!

I spoke to my colleague today, but he can't remember much about the text they come from...parsnipbun, do you know?

Medieval deer...sounds fascinating! At work, we are currently doing a web resource on Medieval Women, and we're planning an exhibition on the Wollaton Library Collection to be opened in March (The Wollaton Library Collection is the new name for the Middleton/Willoughby Library)

I'll try and find out - pretty certain its a text that for some reason was either 're-discovered' or acquired by the Fitz in Cambridge.

I thought it was the one I saw a few years ago: so glad memory isn't giving out yet!!

It is the Macclesfield Psalter - probably commissioned for the earl de Warrene (note pun)

acquired by the Fitzwilliam museum in 2005

For full information and discussion of the illuminations and marginalia see:

http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/macclesfield/about/

(sorry its not an auto link - havn;t yet got the hang of doing them).