Category Archives: Animals

Other Medieval Wild Animals

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Ruth

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 →

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Medieval Deer

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Ruth

The Anglo-Saxon word “deer” meant all wild animals in general, but it came to mean, in modern English, the one large wild animal that survived best in shrinking forest: the cud-chewing, horn-growing hoofed one. The red deer is the one … Continue reading →

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Medieval Wild Pigs

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Ruth

Wild pigs also roamed Europe in large herds. Boars had large, sharp tusks, but even without tusks, sows could be just as deadly. As omnivores, pigs could live anywhere. In the forest, they lived on acorns, while near towns, they … Continue reading →

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Medieval Bears

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Ruth

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 →

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Medieval Wolves

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Ruth

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 →

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Medieval Animals

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Ruth

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 →

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