Were there camels in medieval Britain? A brief note on Bactrian camels and dromedaries in fifteenth-century Kent — new post by me :) https://www.caitlingreen.org/2018/09/were-there-camels-in-medieval-britain.html …pic.twitter.com/kruNREqTub
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Interestingly, the rulers of both Scotland and Ireland also possessed camels in the early 12th century, according to the Annals of Inisfallen: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100004/text066.html …pic.twitter.com/AKlRHrVrri
Whether camels ever made an appearance in 11th-century England is uncertain, but William the Conqueror seems to have kept camels in Normandy at least… (Image: Duke William & two Bactrian camels on the 11thC Bayeux Tapestry)pic.twitter.com/2ZIa01FLrq
In 1235 the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II sent a camel to King Henry III of England 'as a token of the continuation of his regard', & Henry's son Edward I kept a camel at Kings Langley Palace, Herts, for the amusement of his children (pic=man riding a camel, 13thC, Kent).pic.twitter.com/rx0Sdh8FHj
Edward II also kept a camel at Kings Langley Palace—his camel-keeper was called Ralph Camyle & the animal's feed included hay, beans, barley & oats, with the area of the royal park responsible for producing the camel's fodder apparently being subsequently known as 'Camylesland'.pic.twitter.com/cZEWRgjr77
In January 1393, Richard II and his wife were gifted a camel and a pelican by the people of London and Richard granted John Wyntirbourne 'the keepership of the king's camel' for life (pic: MS Harley 4751, f. 24, http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=16576 …).pic.twitter.com/Y8SXXpluPo
In 1443, Henry VI is recorded as having received 'of late three camels and an ostrich from Turkey' from an Italian merchant named Nicholas Jone of Bologna; he rewarded him with a state office (Image: a gold camel on the Erpingham Chasuble, embroidered in 15th-century England).pic.twitter.com/cP9feMhcgI
In 1472, Edward IV sent a camel to Ireland; this may well have been one of the six Bactrian camels and dromedaries brought to England in 1466 by the Patriarch of Antioch 'in honor of the king and queen' (Pic: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2nc4AQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA396&pg=PA396#v=onepage&q&f=false …).pic.twitter.com/Q8afBDVU6b
King Arthur riding a camel on a glass roundel of c. 1500: http://www.caitlingreen.org/2018/09/were-there-camels-in-medieval-britain.html …pic.twitter.com/MMPEERFxt7
A miniature of a camel from a manuscript probably made for King Edward IV of England, 1461–83, the king in whose honour six camels were paraded by the Patriarch of Antioch in 1466 (MS Royal 15 E III, f. 200).pic.twitter.com/GEiBJf3F3x
Worth recalling that there seem to have been camels in Roman Britain too, seehttps://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/928363213015658498 …
Camels were not the only exotic animals to be found in medieval Britain; for example, an elephant was presented to King Henry III of England in 1255 by King Louis IX of France and was kept at the Tower of London (CCCC MS 16, f. ivr) https://theparkerlibrary.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/matthew-paris-and-the-elephant-at-the-tower/ …pic.twitter.com/nPX0eySDGp
There are also medieval elephant remains known from Chester, radiocarbon dated to AD 1290—1410https://twitter.com/cwacmuseums/status/940295256339288064 …
Lions and cubs, from an English bestiary, c.1200–1210: http://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2014/11/a-royal-beast-and-the-menagerie-in-the-tower.html … Henry I owned lions in the early 12th century and the remains of lions — probably from the medieval Royal Menagerie — have been found at the Tower of London, dated AD 1280–1385.pic.twitter.com/jmbWsN4dyc
Skull of a Barbary lion, Panthera leo leo, dated to 1280–1385 and found in the Tower of London's moat in 1937: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/barbary-lion-skull-from-the-tower-of-london.html …pic.twitter.com/zCiEgjkqMM
The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II not only sent a camel to King Henry III of England in the 1230s, but also 3 'leopards', sometimes thought have actually been cheetahs (Image: a drawing of a cheetah wearing a collar, c.1400–1410: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=717251&partId=1 …).pic.twitter.com/9Cdqjimcdc
There is also good textual and archaeological evidence for the presence of Barbary macaques from North Africa in Britain & Ireland, including bones from medieval Southampton, London & Carrickfergus, see http://www.caitlingreen.org/2018/02/barbary-ape-wroxeter.html … :)pic.twitter.com/NH7QAbuBMV
Returning to camels, worth noting that they seem to have been used as beasts of burden and tools of humiliation in early medieval Europe: https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/736624442328092672 … :)
Although camels are not recorded from pre-Conquest Britain, Aldhelm—Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey & Bishop of Sherborne—is said to have made use of a camel as a pack animal when travelling back to England from Rome in the late 7th century… http://www.caitlingreen.org/2016/05/camels-in-early-medieval-western-europe.html …pic.twitter.com/ilh0F9uOhA
Of course, not impossible that camels were present in Anglo-Saxon England & just not recorded; def were camels in 10th-century German & Polish menageries, as well as in 9thC Carolingian Francia (Pic=camels in the Old English Hexateuch, written in Late Saxon England, c.1025-50).pic.twitter.com/c9dWo67RrZ
In this context, worth noting that there do seem to have been menageries in Anglo-Saxon England; not only are peacock remains known from two sites (one Middle Saxon, one Late Saxon), but there's also some documentary evidence from the 10th century: https://twitter.com/Diane_Watt/status/1041665982631223296 … :)
An early 8th-century Anglo-Saxon coin with an image of a crested peacock on the reverse, minted at Hamwic (Southampton) and found on the Isle of Wight: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/911246 …pic.twitter.com/1k2h2ouTRr
A kneeling camel misericord carving (c.1390), in the Church of St Botolph, Boston, Lincolnshire: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hunky_punk/15411603161 …pic.twitter.com/CzL0b7cY4n
Some 11th-century camels, from MS Cotton Tiberius B V, part 1, f. 80, possibly made at Canterbury in the mid-11th century: http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=cotton_ms_tiberius_b_v!1_f080v …pic.twitter.com/iKxKOsk74a
A 15th-century carving of a camel from Old Molton Priory, Yorkshire: https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=4613 …pic.twitter.com/wGYBKN35Xd
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