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Visual Representations of the Bear in Medieval Culture

In medieval times, humans often used animal symbolism to express concepts and represent human traits, and this was usually achieved by juxtaposing animals with the story of creation, as religion was a significant basis of medieval culture and society.[1] The Bible was seen to be the intellectual frame of reference humans used to explain life.[2] Nature, and thus animals, were constructed before humans, almost as a preparation for its existence.[3] In the words of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, “all types of animals, domestic and wild beasts as well as reptiles, were created for the best use of man”.[4] Different groups of animals were believed to have different uses to man; for example, deer and cattle were used as food, and donkeys and camels were utilised to help transport objects.[5] Animals were also seen as a mirror to human society[6], and often represented the weaknesses of man-kind, as shown in works such as the Physiologus. Therefore, tales of animals written during the medieval times had ulterior religious motives; humanity was “measured in the distance from the animal, and the lower the person sank, the closer he or she was to the animal world”.[7] Distancing oneself from animals, who were incapable of “reason or thought”[8], was considered to bring you closer to God, as animals did not possess a soul and were thus “removed from divinity”.[9] Works like the Physiologus aimed to use animals in a bid to teach humans how to live a good, ‘Christian’ life. For example, the lion, serpent and bear were portrayed as powerful animals to frighten people and “remind them of God’s power”.[10] The bear was once seen as being the king of all beasts, but was to be “dethroned”[11] by the church and replaced with the lion due to the negative connotations the bear acquired, which I shall explore in this essay.

The foremost physical characteristics of the bear are their great body, “power and solitary way of life”[12], and they have been described as being “clad in a body that is heavy, compact [and] crooked”.[13] Writings on the bear written in medieval bestiaries all share the same view of the beast, and show similar descriptions of its physical form and lifestyle. However, much of the works written about the bear carry negative connotations within the physical descriptions, despite not really relating back to moral stories and the Bible. The bear is not featured in the Physiologus, and is only present in the earlier writings of Isidore of Seville, Pliny the Elder and Bartholomaeus Anglicus. For example, Pliny the Elder wrote that the breath of bears is pestilential, and no animal will touch anything a bear has breathed on at the risk of contracting an infectious disease.[14] Another negative connotation attached to bears is that their brains contain a poison, and if drunk it would drive you bear-mad.[15] Grant states that the bear “is lazy and its life-style is its own; it is treacherous and violently ravenous”.[16] Its laziness has led to the bear occasionally becoming a symbol in medieval art “for a person’s old age and death”.[17] This could be due to its process of hibernation; the Aberdeen Bestiary describes the bear as falling “so deeply asleep that they cannot be aroused even if they are wounded”.[18] Once they emerge from hibernation, their lengthy sleep has said to have caused their eyes to be “so unused to the ight that you would think they have been blinded”[19], and as a way to help their eyes regain some sense of vision bears would attack beehives and allow the bees to sting their eyes, before attempting to seize honeycomb; bears did not “grab anything else more greedily than honey”.[20]

Many links have been drawn between the bear and the ‘seven deadly sins’; as previously stated, the bear had a gluttonous nature and sloth-like tendencies, and many contemporaries have also described the bear as being a highly lustful creature. This ravenous nature of the bear has been linked to its sexuality and mating processes, which is perhaps the most significant negative connotation the bear carries.

Isidore of Seville states that the mother bear “shapes its young with its mouth”[21], as bear cubs are “born as a shapeless lump of flesh”[22] which required the mother to lick it into shape, because of the “prematurity of the birth”.[23] This process is shown in Figure 1. Pliny the Elder furthers this view by asserting that newborn cubs were born with “with no eyes or hair, though the claws are visible”.[24] He goes on to describe the mating ritual of bears; how they mate at the beginning of winter, and “the cubs are born thirty days later in a litter of no more than five”.[25] Bartholomaeus Anglicus viewed the birth of a cub as the mother bringing forth “a piece of flesh imperfect and evil shapen”[26], and this view has derived from a negative perception of a bear’s sexuality; it was viewed that animals “exhibited more lust than humans did”[27], so the female bear had to lick its half-formed cub into shape as the she possessed an “insatiable desire to have excessive intercourse during pregnancy”.[28] Furthermore, male bears were also seen to be “representatives of male sexuality and a symbol of lust”[29] in medieval times, as male sexuality was “linked to power and an active expression of desire”.[30] The sexuality of animals in general is seen in a derogatory fashion; lust was believed to be the opposite of intellect and reason; thus, animals were shown to lack reason.[31] This medieval view on lust may present reasons as to why bears were represented in a negative light; bears were known to copulate face to face, which was more human-like than bestial, and “some medieval thinkers believed that bear semen was compatible with that of humans’, so that bears could impregnate women”.[32]It was believed that “male bears were sexually attracted to women and would violate them, producing half-bear, half-human beings—invincible warriors who founded royal lines”.[33] The resemblance of the bear to man himself, in its lust, methods of copulation, and even the fact that it could walk on two legs like a human, led to “violent confrontation with ecclesiastical authority”[34], as the “theology of the church depended on man’s uniqueness and superiority to animals”.[35] The bear was thus “associated with the Devil, and a symbol of the many vices and sins condemned by the church”[36], and was depicted as an “evil creature of chaos”.[37] It is depicted in some Bestiaries as being muzzled or wearing a collar, as is shown in Figure 2, which could be to symbolise the Devil being held back, unable to cause any harm. It could also be symbolic of the brutal treatment of bears committed by Christian contemporaries, who organised hunts against the bear and almost eliminated its populations within Europe. The bear was humiliated; it was “captured, muzzled, and chained, and led from fair to market as an object of amusement”,[38] and bear-baiting was a popular activity people took part in, as shown in Figure 3. Medieval festivals or rites allowed contemporaries to dress up as animals and make merry; however, churchmen sought to suppress such festivities that included “play[ing] the bear”[39], as it was believed by donning the costume of the beast you were also manifesting its insatiable sexual cravings.[40]

Some early Christian accounts show the bear holding importance to those with pagan beliefs, as they lived in “the dense, almost unreachable forests”[41]; places pagans considered to be sacred and usually hid and took refuge from forced Christianisation. Forests were seen to be where one would go to substitute “Christian culture and civilization for Paganism and the lawless hunter’s life”.[42] The bear was idealised for its “strength and fearlessness”[43] by one of the most famous groups of pagans, the Vikings, whose warriors tried to emulate these qualities. Thus, the bear and its “war-loving cult”[44], were seen as rivals to Christ, as well as “impediments to the conversion of pagan peoples”.[45] The church further attacked the bear by “depicting it in hagiographical literature as tamed and domesticated by holy men”[46], as well as its previous demonisation as the “embodiment of numerous vices and as the preferred form in which the devil appears”.[47] I believe that the vast negative representations of the bear during the Middle Ages ultimately led to a change in Christian ideologies; they were able to utilise this Devilish creature in such hagiographical literatures in order to represent a divine victory over chaos, and thus the bear began to feature in the writings of saints. For example, the fact that bear cubs were “believed to be born shapeless, their form being given to them by the mother”[48] became a “symbol of Christianity, which reforms and regenerates heathen people [and] it is in this sense that a number of legends concerning the taming of the bear by a saint may be interpreted”.[49]

Many saints were known to venture out into the wilderness in order to obtain an ascetic lifestyle away from the sins of cities, in order to fulfill their own personal spiritual needs. On their journeys, many of these saints encountered wild animals, and used them in their works in order to teach humans morality and show how God won over even the strongest of animals, as “only through their own faith, and their connection with the divine and the power of God, could they do such a thing, turning a ferocious beast into a docile companion”.[50] St Columbanus is an example of such saints; he was known for his “miracle-working cure, for his wilderness adventures and particularly for an amazing rapport with animals”[51], and taught that “personal holiness and the qualities in prayer intimately shape creation as well as the response of the animals to humans”.[52] Columbanus’ encounter with the bear occurred when he wandered into the forest, and stumbled across a cave he wished to rest in and conduct solitary prayers, which happened to be a bear’s den. He then “gently told the bear it was better for him to leave, and the bear did, never to return to that place”.[53] Another tale from Columbanus describes how he was able to tame a bear and yoke it to a plough, in order to help the monastery with the fields.[54] Furthermore, Columbanus stumbled upon a bear eating a stag in the woods, and commanded it “not to harm the hide, which he needed for shoes”[55], and upon his return to the scene, he discovered that no other birds or beasts at all had “dared to scavenge the dead stag”.[56] This tale would have been written to warn people against stealing from the resources of the monastery.

St Gall is another saint who encountered and overcame a bear in the wilderness; whilst warming himself at a fire in the forest, a bear was said to have emerged from the surrounding trees and charged towards him. It is believed that Gall “rebuked the bear, and so awed by his presence it stopped its attack and slunk off in to the trees”[57], before returning with more firewood and joining Gall by the fire. Legend says that “for the rest of his days St Gall was followed round by his companion the bear”.[58] The companionship of a bear was also featured in the writings of St Corbinian; Corbinian set out on a journey to Rome on horseback, but whilst riding through a forest he was “attacked by a bear that tore his horse to pieces”. Corbinian managed to not only “tame the animal but also to make it carry his baggage to Rome”, and the symbolism behind this tale has been said to reference the taming of the savage nature of paganism by Christianity. However, there are still negative accounts of the bear in hagiographical literature; for example, St Euphemia was sentenced to death due to her faith, but during the first two execution attempts she escaped unscathed with the help of God. On her third execution attempt she was to be thrown in a pit and devoured by wild beasts, but “none of the beasts, having been set loose in the arena, attacked her”.[59] She finally met her demise due to one of the she-bears in the pit scratching her on the leg, immediately killing her. Furthermore, a Biblical description of David’s prowess depicts David smiting a lion and a bear for taking a lamb out of the flock, and when they rose against him he slew them. This depiction is symbolic of “the power of Christ, to save the Christian from the lion’s mouth […] and from the power of our adversary the devil”.[60] St Augustine “in one of his discourses, treats the story of David killing the lion and the bear as a type of Christ, when He descended into hell, and delivered the souls out of the jaws of Satan”.[61]

Despite both the positive and negative perceptions of the bear within and outside the Christian narrative, one cannot deny the sheer power of the beast and the impact it had in medieval culture. The bear even appears as a symbol in heraldry; it features on the aforementioned St Gall and St Corbinian’s coats of arms, in Corbinian’s case in reference to the bear that carried his belongings to Rome. Besides these two saints, bears are “frequently found figuring largely in coats of arms for the names of Barnard, Baring, Barnes, and Bearsley, and for other names which can be considered to bear canting relation to the charge”.[62]

The bear tends to be “muzzled”[63] in its depictions on coats of arms, which could, as mentioned earlier, still be in reference to the Devil being held back. Nevertheless, the bear was mainly a positive symbol when presented on coats of arms, indicating strength, bravery, and “ferocity in the protection of kindred”.[64] Even today, “many ancient cities throughout Europe still have the representation of the bear in their coat-of-arms”[65], and this survival shows evidence of the “bear being the king of animals before the church replaced the symbolic functions of the bear for the lion”. [66]

In conclusion, the bear has been represented in a dualistic way in medieval culture and society. The bear carried with it a myriad of dichotomous imagery; good versus evil, Christian versus pagan, and strong versus tamed. It was “uncannily human-like in its diet, supposed sexual tastes and ability to stand upright”[67] which caused the bear to be demonized by the church, as it was “seen as an intermediary creature dwelling between the human and animal worlds”.[68] However, the church were able to utilise this image of a devilish, sinful beast in order to present to man-kind an image of divine victory over chaos, therefore providing a moralistic story to teach humans how to be good Christians.


Further Reading:

Primary Sources

Aberdeen Bestiary, Aberdeen University Library, Univ. Lib. MS 24, reproduced at <https://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/ms24/f15v> [accessed 13/12/17], Folio 15v

Bartholomaeus Anglicus, De proprietatibus rerum, Book 18 (13th century CE), reproduced by ‘The Medieval Bestiary’ <http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast171.htm> [accessed 22/12/17]

Isidore of Seville, Etymologies, Book 12, 2:2 (7th century CE), reproduced by ‘The Medieval Bestiary’ <http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast171.htm> [accessed 12/12/17]

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 8, 54 (1st century CE), reproduced by ‘The Medieval Bestiary’ <http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast171.htm> [accessed 22/12/17]


Secondary Sources

Alexander, D., ‘Monks and Animals in the Medieval Wilderness’, Saints and Animals in the Middle Ages (Boydell and Brewer, 2008)

Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, ‘St. Euphemia the All-Praised’ (n.d.) <http://www.antiochian.org/node/16741> [accessed 19/12/17]

Arithharger, ‘The Bear – Symbology During the Middle-Ages’, Whispers of Yggdrasil (2017) <https://arithharger.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/the-bear-symbology-during-the-middle-ages/> [accessed 16/12/17]

Becker, U., The Continuum Encyclopedia of Symbols (New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000)

Bethune, B., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Maclean’s, 124.44 (2011)

CatholicSaints.Info, ‘Saint Columbus’ (2017) <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-columbanus/> [accessed 05/01/18]

Collins, A. H., Symbolism of Animals and Birds Represented in English Church Architecture, (New York: McBride, Nast & Company, 1913)

Cohen, E., ’Animals in Medieval Perceptions: The Image of the Ubiquitous Other’, in Manning, A., Serpell, J., (ed.), Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives, (London: Routledge, 1994)

Ferguson, G., Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (USA: Oxford University Press, 1966)

Fox-Davies, A. C., A Complete Guide to Heraldry (London: T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1909), p.198

Grant, R. M., Early Christians and Animals, (London: Routledge, 1999)

Hall of Names, ‘Heraldry Symbols and What They Mean’ (n.d.) <https://www.hallofnames.org.uk/heraldry-symbols-what-they-mean#Bear> [accessed 06/01/18]

How do Symbols Appear? Bear (2011) < http://symbols.ehibou.com/bear/> [accessed 30/12/17]

Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King, trans. by Holoch, G., (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011)

Resnick, I. M., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Catholic Historical Review, 98.3 (2012) pp.528-529

Salisbury, J., The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages (London: Routledge, 2012)

St Gall’s Church, ‘The Bear of St Gall’ (n.d.) <http://www.carnalea.down.anglican.org/St_Galls_Church/St_Galls_Bear.html> [accessed 04/01/18]

Waddell, H., ‘Vita St. Columbae, c.15’ Beasts and Saints (Toronto: Constable & Co., 1934), reproduced by The Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration <http://www.orth-transfiguration.org/resources/library/writings-of-the-saints/st-columbanus-543-615/> [accessed 03/01/18]

White, T. H. (ed.), The Book of Beasts, (New York: Putnam, 1960), reproduced by <http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/HistSciTech.Bestiary> [accessed 16/12/17]


References:

[1] Cohen, E., ’Animals in Medieval Perceptions: The Image of the Ubiquitous Other’, in Manning, A., Serpell, J., (ed.), Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives, (London: Routledge, 1994), p.60

[2] HIST 297 Lecture Notes (10/10/2017)

[3] Cohen, E., ’Animals in Medieval Perceptions: The Image of the Ubiquitous Other’, in Manning, A., Serpell, J., (ed.), Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives, (London: Routledge, 1994), pp.60-61

[4] Cohen, E., ’Animals in Medieval Perceptions: The Image of the Ubiquitous Other’, in Manning, A., Serpell, J., (ed.), Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives, (London: Routledge, 1994), p.61

[5] Cohen, E., ’Animals in Medieval Perceptions: The Image of the Ubiquitous Other’, in Manning, A., Serpell, J., (ed.), Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives, (London: Routledge, 1994), p.61

[6] Cohen, E., ’Animals in Medieval Perceptions: The Image of the Ubiquitous Other’, in Manning, A., Serpell, J., (ed.), Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives, (London: Routledge, 1994), p.66

[7] Cohen, E., ’Animals in Medieval Perceptions: The Image of the Ubiquitous Other’, in Manning, A., Serpell, J., (ed.), Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives, (London: Routledge, 1994), p.61

[8] Cohen, E., ’Animals in Medieval Perceptions: The Image of the Ubiquitous Other’, in Manning, A., Serpell, J., (ed.), Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives, (London: Routledge, 1994), p.61

[9] Cohen, E., ’Animals in Medieval Perceptions: The Image of the Ubiquitous Other’, in Manning, A., Serpell, J., (ed.), Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives, (London: Routledge, 1994), p.61

[10] Cohen, E., ’Animals in Medieval Perceptions: The Image of the Ubiquitous Other’, in Manning, A., Serpell, J., (ed.), Animals and Human Society: Changing Perspectives, (London: Routledge, 1994), p.61

[11] Resnick, I. M., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Catholic Historical Review, 98.3 (2012) pp.528-529

[12] How do Symbols Appear? Bear (2011) < http://symbols.ehibou.com/bear/> [accessed 30/12/17]

[13] Grant, R. M., Early Christians and Animals, (London: Routledge, 1999), p.101

[14] Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 8, 54 (1st century CE), reproduced by ‘The Medieval Bestiary’ <http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast171.htm> [accessed 22/12/17]

[15] Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 8, 54 (1st century CE), reproduced by ‘The Medieval Bestiary’ <http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast171.htm> [accessed 22/12/17]

[16] Grant, R. M., Early Christians and Animals, (London: Routledge, 1999), p.101

[17] Becker, U., The Continuum Encyclopedia of Symbols (New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000), p.37

[18] Aberdeen Bestiary, Aberdeen University Library, Univ. Lib. MS 24, reproduced at <https://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/ms24/f15v> [accessed 13/12/17], Folio 15v

[19] Aberdeen Bestiary, Aberdeen University Library, Univ. Lib. MS 24, reproduced at <https://www.abdn.ac.uk/bestiary/ms24/f15v> [accessed 13/12/17], Folio 15v

[20] White, T. H. (ed.), The Book of Beasts, (New York: Putnam, 1960), reproduced by <http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/HistSciTech.Bestiary> [accessed 16/12/17], p.45

[21] Isidore of Seville, Etymologies, Book 12, 2:2 (7th century CE), reproduced by ‘The Medieval Bestiary’ <http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast171.htm> [accessed 12/12/17]

[22] Isidore of Seville, Etymologies, Book 12, 2:2 (7th century CE), reproduced by ‘The Medieval Bestiary’ <http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast171.htm> [accessed 12/12/17]

[23] White, T. H. (ed.), The Book of Beasts, (New York: Putnam, 1960), reproduced by <http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/HistSciTech.Bestiary> [accessed 16/12/17], p.45

[24] Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 8, 54 (1st century CE), reproduced by ‘The Medieval Bestiary’ <http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast171.htm> [accessed 22/12/17]

[25] Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 8, 54 (1st century CE), reproduced by ‘The Medieval Bestiary’ <http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast171.htm> [accessed 22/12/17]

[26] Bartholomaeus Anglicus, De proprietatibus rerum, Book 18 (13th century CE), reproduced by ‘The Medieval Bestiary’ <http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast171.htm> [accessed 22/12/17]

[27] Salisbury, J., The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages (London: Routledge, 2012), p.62

[28] Salisbury, J., The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages (London: Routledge, 2012), p.63

[29] Salisbury, J., The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages (London: Routledge, 2012), p.62

[30] Salisbury, J., The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages (London: Routledge, 2012), p.63

[31] Salisbury, J., The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages (London: Routledge, 2012), p.62

[32] Salisbury, J., The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages (London: Routledge, 2012), p.66

[33] Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King, trans. by Holoch, G., (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011), blurb.

[34] Resnick, I. M., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Catholic Historical Review, 98.3 (2012) pp.528-529

[35] Resnick, I. M., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Catholic Historical Review, 98.3 (2012) pp.528-529

[36] Arithharger, ‘The Bear – Symbology During the Middle-Ages’, Whispers of Yggdrasil (2017) <https://arithharger.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/the-bear-symbology-during-the-middle-ages/> [accessed 16/12/17]

[37] Ibid.

[38] Resnick, I. M., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Catholic Historical Review, 98.3 (2012) pp.528-529

[39] Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King, trans. by Holoch, G., (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011), p.83

[40] Resnick, I. M., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Catholic Historical Review, 98.3 (2012) pp.528-529

[41] Arithharger, ‘The Bear – Symbology During the Middle-Ages’, Whispers of Yggdrasil (2017) <https://arithharger.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/the-bear-symbology-during-the-middle-ages/> [accessed 16/12/17]

[42] Collins, A. H., Symbolism of Animals and Birds Represented in English Church Architecture, (New York: McBride, Nast & Company, 1913), p.16

[43] Bethune, B., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Maclean’s, 124.44 (2011)

[44] Bethune, B., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Maclean’s, 124.44 (2011)

[45] Bethune, B., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Maclean’s, 124.44 (2011)

[46] Resnick, I. M., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Catholic Historical Review, 98.3 (2012) pp.528-529

[47] Resnick, I. M., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Catholic Historical Review, 98.3 (2012) pp.528-529

[48] Ferguson, G., Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (USA: Oxford University Press, 1966), pg. 12

[49] Ferguson, G., Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (USA: Oxford University Press, 1966), pg. 12

[50] Arithharger, ‘The Bear – Symbology During the Middle-Ages’, Whispers of Yggdrasil (2017) <https://arithharger.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/the-bear-symbology-during-the-middle-ages/> [accessed 16/12/17]

[51] Waddell, H., ‘Vita St. Columbae, c.15’ Beasts and Saints (Toronto: Constable & Co., 1934), reproduced by The Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration <http://www.orth-transfiguration.org/resources/library/writings-of-the-saints/st-columbanus-543-615/> [accessed 03/01/18]

[52] Waddell, H., ‘Vita St. Columbae, c.15’ Beasts and Saints (Toronto: Constable & Co., 1934), reproduced by The Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration <http://www.orth-transfiguration.org/resources/library/writings-of-the-saints/st-columbanus-543-615/> [accessed 03/01/18]

[53] Waddell, H., ‘Vita St. Columbae, c.15’ Beasts and Saints (Toronto: Constable & Co., 1934), reproduced by The Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration <http://www.orth-transfiguration.org/resources/library/writings-of-the-saints/st-columbanus-543-615/> [accessed 03/01/18]

[54] CatholicSaints.Info, ‘Saint Columbus’ (2017) <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-columbanus/> [accessed 05/01/18]

[55] Alexander, D., ‘Monks and Animals in the Medieval Wilderness’, Saints and Animals in the Middle Ages (Boydell and Brewer, 2008) pp. 38–56

[56] Alexander, D., ‘Monks and Animals in the Medieval Wilderness’, Saints and Animals in the Middle Ages (Boydell and Brewer, 2008) pp. 38–56

[57] St Gall’s Church, ‘The Bear of St Gall’ (n.d.) <http://www.carnalea.down.anglican.org/St_Galls_Church/St_Galls_Bear.html> [accessed 04/01/18]

[58] St Gall’s Church, ‘The Bear of St Gall’ (n.d.) <http://www.carnalea.down.anglican.org/St_Galls_Church/St_Galls_Bear.html> [accessed 04/01/18]

[59] Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, ‘St. Euphemia the All-Praised’ (n.d.) <http://www.antiochian.org/node/16741> [accessed 19/12/17]

[60] Collins, A. H., Symbolism of Animals and Birds Represented in English Church Architecture, (New York: McBride, Nast & Company, 1913), p.18

[61] Collins, A. H., Symbolism of Animals and Birds Represented in English Church Architecture, (New York: McBride, Nast & Company, 1913), p.19

[62] Fox-Davies, A. C., A Complete Guide to Heraldry (London: T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1909), p.198

[63] Fox-Davies, A. C., A Complete Guide to Heraldry (London: T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1909), p.198

[64] Hall of Names, ‘Heraldry Symbols and What They Mean’ (n.d.) <https://www.hallofnames.org.uk/heraldry-symbols-what-they-mean#Bear> [accessed 06/01/18]

[65] Arithharger, ‘The Bear – Symbology During the Middle-Ages’, Whispers of Yggdrasil (2017) <https://arithharger.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/the-bear-symbology-during-the-middle-ages/> [accessed 16/12/17]

[66] Arithharger, ‘The Bear – Symbology During the Middle-Ages’, Whispers of Yggdrasil (2017) <https://arithharger.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/the-bear-symbology-during-the-middle-ages/> [accessed 16/12/17]

[67] Bethune, B., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Maclean’s, 124.44 (2011)

[68] Bethune, B., review of Pastoureau, M., The Bear: History of a Fallen King (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) in Maclean’s, 124.44 (2011)