Pets in the Middle Ages
Episode description
Here's a rhetorical question: do you love your pet? Of course you do, but did you know that medieval people did too? The only difference is, these pets had jobs!
In this episode, Olivia and Aran delve into the wacky world of medieval cats and dogs, to explore what contemporary people wrote about them. Spoiler alert: they thought they were cool little guys.
Also discussed: the official WMG dogs Bonnie and Bizzy; whether medieval hunting is like football, and if they had Mormons in late-antique Arabia.
Further Reading:
Carole Rawcliffe, "Town Tykes and Butchers Hounds" https://www.jstor.org/stable/26630015?read-now=1&seq=18#page_scan_tab_contents
Peter Konieczny, "Why cats were hated in medieval Europe" https://www.medievalists.net/2023/05/cats-hated-medieval-europe/#:%7E:text=Cats%20in%20medieval%20Europe%20mostly,this%20view%20of%20felines%20emerged
Edward, Duke of York, "The Master of Game": https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43452/43452-h/43452-h.htm
Some lady called "'Olivia Swarthout' (never heard of her): "Medieval Muslims loved their cats so much" https://weirdmedievalguys.substack.com/p/medieval-muslims-were-so-much-nicer
The Laws of Hywel Dda: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Laws_of_Howel_the_Good
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