Author Archives: Ruth

Pigs, sheep and goats were the medium-sized domesticated animals of medieval Europe and Asia. Most meat that landed on the table was pork or mutton, most cheese came from sheep and goats, and most farmland was primarily fertilized by their … Continue reading →

In the Middle Ages, the European bison, or wisent, was still wandering about in herds, but it was quickly becoming extinct like its relative, the aurochs. There seem to have been small herds still in the deepest forests in France … Continue reading →

The Eurasian brown bear, Ursus arctos, ranged over every part of Europe in the early Middle Ages. Its diet was mainly mean, since small animals were also plentiful. Two different bear populations met in Europe, one coming from the Pyrenees … Continue reading →

The “medieval” period stretches from the rise of Islam, about 650 AD, to the full establishment of the Ottoman Empire in about 1500. In the Late Classical Period of 400-500 AD, just before the Early Medieval, Europe was heavily forested … Continue reading →

Animals haven’t changed a lot in the last thousand years, but human use of them has shifted, and thus they too have changed somewhat. We can divide animals into six useful categories: wild animals, farm animals, horses, pets, exotic (zoo) … Continue reading →