This is the first volume that explores the changing relationships between humans and animals, both real and fantastic, in medieval France, from a completely interdisciplinary perspective. The authors examine the way the human-animal rapport was imagined, defined and remodeled in thought, culture and artistic production. The distinction between human and animal, fundamental in the Bible and in Ancient philosophy, was challenged throughout the course of the 12th century. This phenomenon can be traced in changes in the terminology used to designate animals, in their representations in the arts and literature, and in the reworking of fundamental texts such as the Physiologus and the bestiaries. The borders between the human and the animal world, based on criteria such as linguistic ability, the capacity to laugh and even legal responsibility, evolved and were fundamentally reconsidered between the 12th and the 15th century. - [Publisher]

Language: French

978-90-420-3865-3