IMC 2010: Sessions
Session 908: Cat Woman and the King of Beasts: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Felids in Medieval Life - A Round Table Discussion
Tuesday 13 July 2010, 19.30-20.30
| Sponsor: | M(edieval) A(Animal) D(ata-network), Central European University, Budapest |
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| Organiser: | Alice Choyke, Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest |
| Moderator/Chair: | Gerhard Jaritz, Institut für Realienkunde, Universität Salzburg, Krems / Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest |
| Abstract | Cats, both domesticated and in their multiple wild forms reflect a variety of contradictory elements in the human imagination. They are regarded as hearth-keepers, ridding kitchens of pests who damage the food supply. At the same time, some of their physical characteristics, from the way they apparently 'play' with their prey, their nocturnal habits and stealthy, stalking movements meant that they were also regarded with suspicion bordering on fear. Their descriptions tend to have a female, often negative orientation. Larger wild felids such as lions came to represent male political power in heraldry while exotic big cats of all kinds were sought after in royal menageries. The round table will explore medieval attitudes to felids of all kinds using archaeozoology, image, and textual sources. Participants include Alice Choyke (Central European University, Budapest), Irina Metzler (Swansea University), and Brigitte Resl (University of Liverpool). |