File:Salisbury Bestiary.jpg
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Summary
| Description |
English: An illumination from the 13th century Salisbury Bestiary, British Library, Harley MS 4751, Folio 9r, depicting a beaver hunt
This illumination depicts a group of hunters pursuing beavers. It appears in an English medieval bestiary, a compendium of animal lore, iconography, and proto-zoological illustrations. In this image, one beaver is castrated, and he is bleeding freely. His genitalia are located in the hand of one of the hunters. A hunter aggressively gestures with his hand and spear towards the other beaver who is in the act of castrating himself with his teeth. According to a myth which dates back to Aesop, the beaver was a peaceful creature whose testicles were key to the preparation of many remedies. This meant that it was regularly the prey of hunters. However because the animal knew why it was being pursued, it would mutilate itself and throw its genitalia in the face of the hunter in order to keep from being killed. If the animal was hunted again after its castration, it would stand upright or lie on its back to display its castration scar, thereby causing the hunters to lose interest.The castrated body of the beaver was frequently linked to Christian ideas. Church fathers such as Augustine and Jerome likened the ambiguously gendered body of the castrated beaver to that of a eunuch. They chose to understand the beaver’s behavior as a metaphor for choosing spiritual chastity. The beaver also became a symbol for cloistered devotees who renounced worldly goods. This idea is lent support by the Physiologus text which stated: “You also, Christian, render to the hunter what is his. Prostitution, lust, and greed are within you. Remove from yourself these vices, and give them to the devil hunter, and he will leave you alone, so that you too can say: ‘Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers.’” Larissa Tracy also suggests that medieval interest in the beaver’s disfigurement may stem from mutilation concerns. During the medieval period, castration occupied a central place in religious, legal, and popular discourses. Tales of mystical or spiritual castration were recorded in the lives of various historical figures, and mutilation was a popular topic in narrative accounts of revenge, war, and crusades. Court systems and secular law codes were also created to set up and carry out castration penalties for such crimes as rape, homosexual activity, and sins against nature. All of these thing created a heightened sense of anxiety about sexuality and the male body. https://inpress.lib.uiowa.edu/feminae/DetailsPage.aspx?Feminae_ID=32366 |
| Date | 13th century |
| Source | http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=8797&CollID=8&NStart=4751 |
| Author |
Salisbury Bestiary |
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This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer.
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| Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| current | 13:39, 12 July 2013 | | 834 × 768 (165 KB) | Mzilikazi1939 | {{subst:Upload marker added by en.wp UW}} {{Information |Description = {{en|An illumination from the 13th century Salisbury Bestiary, British Library, Harley MS 4751, Folio 9r, depicting a beaver hunt }} |Source = '''Original publication''': 13th centu... |
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