Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Historical animal studies are a rapidly expanding field of historiography, which also has a place in medieval studies. However, researching animals in the past may be challenging due to the interdisciplinary methodology and a wide range of potential sources. This paper presents a case study on Bohemical travelogues of the second half of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century as a possible source of knowledge about animals and natural history in medieval Bohemia: Bohemical travelogues of the second half of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century. It follows individual occurrences of wild animals in the texts and contextualises them within literary, cultural, and scientific frameworks. Despite the subjectivity of each author, arbitrariness of the narration, and anthropocentric orientation of the travelogues, three categories of animals are often mentioned in their works: pests, exotic and unknown fauna, and hunting animals together with game.
Source: Mediaevalia Historica Bohemica
Author: Zuzana Vařáková
Language: English
Subfield: Classics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4413955516