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IMC 2011: Sessions

Session 1216: From Poor and Plain to Richly Illustrated: New Research on the Latin Bestiary

Wednesday 13 July 2011, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Centre for Medieval & Early Modern Studies, University of Kent
Organiser:Diane Heath, Centre for Medieval & Early Modern Studies (MEMS), University of Kent
Moderator/Chair:Helen Gittos, Centre for Medieval & Early Modern Studies, University of Kent
Paper 1216-aThe Latin Bestiary in Eastern Europe
(Language: English)
Patricia Stewart, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Index terms: Art History - General, Language and Literature - Latin, Manuscripts and Palaeography, Religious Life
Paper 1216-bThe Bestiary in Canterbury: Perception, Reception, and Usage
(Language: English)
Diane Heath, Centre for Medieval & Early Modern Studies (MEMS), University of Kent
Index terms: Art History - General, Monasticism, Religious Life, Teaching the Middle Ages
Paper 1216-c'Est autem in Babylonia alia bestia': Animals of the Holy Land - Bestiaries in Crusading Literature
(Language: English)
Jan Vandeburie, Centre for Medieval & Early Modern Studies, University of Kent
Abstract

Bestiaries span the whole range of rich and poor, from gilded and expensively illustrated versions such as the Aberdeen Bestiary, to mistake-ridden, unillustrated copies in tatty, hole-filled parchment monastic 'collectiones'. This panel explores bestiary production in the British Isles and Europe and the transmission and patronage of this medieval core text, bringing together the most recent research-findings to problematize and contextualize its fundamental place in medieval mnemonics, rhetoric, theology, literature and illustration. Natural, unnatural, or numinous, bestiary animals inflect, infuse, and enlarge our understanding of the medieval worldview, from the benign bee to the monstrous manticore.