The years which followed the founding of the University in Prague saw the creation of several Latin-Czech glossaries associated with the Czech scholar Bartholomew of Chlumec (Bartholomaeus de Solencia in Latin, Bartolomej z Chlumce in Czech, fl. 1360), which later proved to be a valuable source for the Dictionary of Medieval Latin in the Czech Lands (Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum)1. Among the thousands of words recorded in these glossaries there are several hundred animal names, which include a special group of very peculiar terms that appear at various points in all the chapters dedicated to animals. The origins and meanings of these words have not been explained until recently, and some of them have remained a mystery to this day. Where do these animal names come from, and how did they enter the Czech environment? ...one source mentioned by Claret is significant. The liber rerum cited at the end of the chapter De bestiis is the encyclopedia entitled Liber de natura rerum, written by Thomas of Cantimpré between the years 1230 and 1245. Of its twenty books, Thomas dedicated six (IV–IX) to the animal kingdom, describing approximately five hundred animals. Among them, we can find all fifty of the unusual names included in Claret’s Glossary. - [Author]

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