Medieval Pets by Sarah Woodbury

A key feature in my new book, The Prince’s Man, the 13^th Gareth & Gwen Medieval Mystery is the prevalence of pets in the medieval period. Medieval pets were not something I spent a great deal of time researching before I began writing the book and even in retrospect, it’s surprising to discover how much like modern people medieval people were in this regard.

I knew cats and dogs were kept for their utility: cats in order to suppress the mouse and rat population and dogs for hunting and herding, especially in Wales with the prevalence of sheep and cattle. I was not entirely aware, however, of the extent to which dogs permeated medieval society.

As Gareth observes in The Prince’s Man, dogs came in all colors, shapes, and sizes, including spaniels, terriers, and a wide variety of hounds. Not all dogs were kept purely for work either, and ladies’ dogs like the one in my book were not rare, to the point that one medieval thirteenth century writer lamented that many such dogs died from an overly rich diet. Dogs were so common, in fact, that William Greenfield, the Archbishop of York, complained in the early fourteenth century that bringing little dogs into the choir during divine services would “impede the service and hinder the devotion of the nuns.” link

The 13th century scientist and philosopher Albertus Magnus wrote a book called, On Animals, that includes such helpful advice as the idea that dogs “should not be fed the food right off the dinner plate or be petted constantly”, if the owner expected them to be effective guard dogs. In such instances, the dogs would then “keep one eye on the door and one on the generous hand of the master.” link

Cats too, while mousers, were also appreciated as pets and companions. A ninth century poet wrote about his cat:

I and Pangur Bán my cat,

‘Tis a like task we are at:

Hunting mice is his delight,

Hunting words I sit all night.

Less appreciatively, a scribe, writing around 1420, found his manuscript ruined by a urine stain left by a cat in the night. He was forced to leave the rest of the page empty, drew a picture of a cat, and cursed the creature with the following words:

“Hic non defectus est, sed cattus minxit desuper nocte quadam. Confundatur pessimus cattus qui minxit super librum istum in nocte Daventrie, et consimiliter omnes alii propter illum. Et cavendum valde ne permittantur libri aperti per noctem ubi cattie venire possunt.”

[Here is nothing missing, but a cat urinated on this during a certain night. Cursed be the pesty cat that urinated over this book during the night in Deventer and because of it many others [other cats] too. And beware well not to leave open books at night where cats can come.] link

Likely any longtime cat owner can appreciate this monk’s frustration.

The Prince’s Man is available worldwide in paperback and ebook.

Sarah Woodbury, July 20, 2020