Day 27

Before the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th c., books were not as common as they are today.  Most books from that time period were religious text, primarily the Bible and they often took up to two years to complete.  Monks would work in a special room in the monastery called the 'Scriptorium', copying the text and then later an illuminator would take over and illustrate the text with pictures and designs.  Because making the books was such a painstaking process books were very expensive and generally owned by monasteries, universities and the extremely wealthy.

Another type of book created during this time was a 'Bestiary'. A bestiary is a book of a collection of animals. Like today, animals were a very important part of life for the medieval family. People kept animals as pets, hunting and farm animals and they were an important source for food and clothing. Since they usually didn't travel far from home, people also imagined the world beyond their village might be full of fantastic creatures like monsters and dragons. People also believed that illness and disease were punishments and that evil spirits, demons and beasts were real and ever present. Often these beasts would end up in illustrations in the margins of illuminated manuscripts. These animals that appeared alongside the text were symbolic and they oftentimes told a story. Since the majority of people couldn't read, they could still understand the story just by looking at the illustrations.

Animals were also associated with different qualities. Monkeys were considered evil and
were associated with the devil. Peacocks were associated with immortality and dogs were
associated with devotion. One animal that is often seen in illuminated manuscripts is the
owl. Unlike today, when owls are associated with wisdom, during the middle ages,
owls were often associated with darkness of mind and spirit because they are nocturnal.

You can learn more about illuminated manuscripts here and here.

You can learn more about bestiaries here and take a look at the Aberdeen Bestiary here.

You can learn more about the invention of the printing press here.

In the meantime, my only question for you today is:
Which medieval owl is your mood? 
I’d say I’m about an 8 right now.