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Élite groups appear to have developed comparable identities, aspirations and cultures by the 12th century across much of Europe, however there is evidence for complex local variation (Duggan 2000). This included a diverse range of responses to animals, dependent on social as well as ecological factors. Research into this topic has been traditionally fragmented across various disciplines each focusing on documentary, literary, artistic and archaeological sources. Recently there have been increasing attempts to integrate these sources into a single interpretative framework, rather than using one to simply illustrate or play off the other.
The range of topics relating to the appropriation of animals by aristocracies in medieval societies is diverse. The list below represents major inter-related themes and is not comprehensive...
- Hunting - techniques and rituals (e.g. pursuit par force, unmaking of carcass), equipment and trappings (e.g. weapons, clothing), animals (e.g. deer, dogs, horses), landscapes (e.g. parks, foresta), structures (e.g. lodges), literature (e.g. hunting manuals, romance), related iconography (e.g. motifs on caskets).
- Diet - proportion of wild to domestic species consumed, banquet specialities.
- Magic and Medicine - animal body parts (e.g. medicinal texts, unicorn horns)
- Warfare - animals (e.g. horses), zoomorphic iconography on arms (e.g. helmet, shield and sword decoration)
- Social display - clothing (e.g. furs and feathers), pets (e.g. foreign or indigenous species), exotica (e.g. imported live animals housed in 'menageries'), heraldry, ornaments (e.g. tapestries), animal accessories (e.g. collars)
- Ownership - breeds and species (e.g. horses, dogs, raptors), exotica (e.g. monkeys and lions), gift-giving (live animals and body parts),
- Religious symbolism (e.g. cults of SS. Eustace and Hubert),
- Environmental impact - landscaping (e.g. gardens), hunting grounds (e.g. parks), hydrology (e.g. moated sites), transformation (e.g. woodland to arable, vice versa?).
- Identity/Ethnicity (e.g. Normans in England, Franks in Outremer).
- Gender (e.g. women's involvement in hunting, choice of animals in social display)
- Cross-cultural interaction (e.g. adoption of coursing with cheetahs by western aristocracies)
These topics have all been approached from varying perspectives, and an incredible amount of scholarly work has established strong foundations for future research, so perhaps a new research methodology would focus on a particular seigneurial group (e.g. the nobility in early 14th century Gascony or 13th century Polish royalty) and explore contrasts and comparisons within this group, and in relation to others, encompassing many or all of the above categories. This would entail an inter-disciplinary approach looking at related archaeological, artistic and written sources, and would offer fresh insights into both medieval seigneurial culture and human-animal relations, breaking away from more generic stereotypes.
The development of multi-disciplinary databases incorporating sources on animals and environments will facilitate such an approach; the first is being constructed at the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University in Budapest, with a primary focus on Hungary and a secondary focus on central-eastern Europe. It will be officially launched at the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo in May 2005, and at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds in July 2005.
References
Hatto, A. T. 1965. The Nibelungenlied. Harmondsworth
Duggan, J. A. (ed.) 2000. Nobles and Nobility in Medieval Europe: Concepts, Origins, Transformations. Woodbridge.
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