the cat’s tower besieged by the mice

book of hours, London ca. 1320-1330.

British Library, Harley 6563, fol. 72r

bowl of milk! 

‘Trivulzio Book of Hours’, Flanders ca. 1470.

Den Haag, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, SMC 1, fol. 110v

monkeys nursing a kitteh 

see also the eternal love of the primates

‘Trivulzio Book of Hours’, Flanders ca. 1470.

Den Haag, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, SMC 1, fol. 110v

bathing cat - medieval French proverb ‘aussi aise que ung chat qui ce baingne’ 

book of hours, Rouen 15th century.

Paris, BnF, Nouvelle acquisition latine 3134, fol. 18v

King Solomon’s cat 

‘The king sat to sowper and othre, wyth whom sat marcolph, and had alle pryvely put into hys sleve thre quyk myse. There was norysshyd in the kinges house a catte, that every nyght as the king sat at sowper, was wont to holde betwyxt hyre fore feet a brennyng kandell upon the tabyll. Thanne lete marcolph oon of the myse go out of his sleve. As the catte that saugh, she wolde have lept aftyr: but the king gave hyr a wynke or countenaunce, that she bode stylle syttyng and removyd not. And in like wyse dede she of the secunde mowse. Thanne lete marcolph the thrydde mowse go, and as the katte sawe he cowde no lenger abyde, but kaste the kandell awaye and lept aftyr the mowse and toke it. And as marcolph that sawe; sayde to the king. Here I have now provyd before you that nature goth afore lernyng. The king sat to sowper and othre, wyth whom sat marcolph, and had alle pryvely put into hys sleve thre quyk myse. There was norysshyd in the kinges house a catte, that every nyght as the king sat at sowper, was wont to holde betwyxt hyre fore feet a brennyng kandell upon the tabyll. Thanne lete marcolph oon of the myse go out of his sleve. As the catte that saugh, she wolde have lept aftyr: but the king gave hyr a wynke or countenaunce, that she bode stylle syttyng and removyd not. And in like wyse dede she of the secunde mowse. Thanne lete marcolph the thrydde mowse go, and as the katte sawe he cowde no lenger abyde, but kaste the kandell awaye and lept aftyr the mowse and toke it. And as marcolph that sawe; sayde to the king. Here I have now provyd before you that nature goth afore lernyng.’

Hans Vintler, Die pluemen der tugent, Vienna 1450.

Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. s. n. 12819, fol. 130r

bagpipes cat 

book of hours, Paris ca. 1460.

NY, Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.282, fol. 133v

wild cats

Gaston Phoebus, Le Livre de la chasse, Paris ca. 1407.

NY, Morgan, MS M. 1044, fol. 27r

a bit blasphemous cuteness overload 
Virgin Mary breastfeeding the baby Jesus - monkey giving a bowl of milk to a baby kitteh

see also: cuteness overload 1475-2011

and a baby kitteh feeding

‘Trivulzio Book of Hours’, Flanders ca. 1470.

Den Haag, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, SMC 1, fol. 110v

Saint Mark writing the Gospel (the most important detail)

‘London Rothschild Hours’ (‘Hours of Joanna I of Castile’), Ghent ca. 1500.

British Library, Add 35313, fol. 16v

hey cat. stop licking your butt on the Book of Maccabees or you’ll get an arrow!

see also: Gospel Cat and Apocalyptic Cat

below the cat: 1Maccabees 16:18-20 ‘Et scripsit hæc Ptolemæus, et misit regi ut mitteret ei exercitum in auxilium, et traderet ei regionem, et civitates eorum, et tributa. Et misit alios in Gazaram tollere Joannem: et tribunis misit epistolas, ut venirent ad se, et daret eis argentum, et aurum, et dona. Et alios misit occupare Jerusalem et montem templi’ (‘And Ptolemee wrote these things and sent to the king that he should send him an army to aid him, and he would deliver him the country, and their cities, and tributes. And he sent others to Gazara to kill John: and to the tribunes he sent letters to come to him, and that he would give them silver, and gold, and gifts. And he sent others to take Jerusalem, and the mountain of the temple’)

Biblia Porta, France 13th century.

Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Lausanne, U 964, fol. 376r

rodent’s revenge

Bestiary, England 13th century.

British Library, Royal 12 F XIII, fol. 43r&43v

marginal kitteh

above Acts 10:38-39 ‘[et sanando omnes] oppressos a dyabolo, [quoniam Deus erat] cum illo. Et nos testes [sumus omnium quae fecit]’ (‘and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did’)

lectionary, Cambrai ca. 1266.

Cambrai, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 190, fol. 72r

butter-churning monkey and the butter-licking cat

book of hours, France ca. 1475-1499.

Paris, Bibliotheque Mazarine, ms. 502, fol. 39r

hudy-gurdy cat 2

see also: much cuter hurdy-gurdy cat

book of hours, France 15th century.

New York Public Library, MA 47, fol. 29r

medieval OMG cat

Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, Affligem 12th century.

BnF, Latin 15675, fol. 8v