One of my most viewed blog posts has been Images of Medieval Cats from the British Library’s collection of exquisite illuminated manuscripts. So here to brighten up your day  are some more Medieval Cats, doing what cats do best – being magnificent.

Detail of a miniature of a rat and a cat from Herbal (Lombardy c. 1440),
shelfmark Sloane 4016 f. 62,  © British Library Board.

Detail of a miniature of a mouse and a cat from Herbal (Lombardy c. 1440),
shelfmark Sloane 4016 f. 40,  © British Library Board.

Cats and rats from Bestiary (England, 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 13th century),
shelfmark Sloane 3544 f. 20v,  © British Library Board. 

Cat and dog from Collection of halakhical works (France, 1392)
shelfmark Additional 18684 f. 53v,  © British Library Board.

Cat and mouse from Codex Justiniani in 9 books,  (England, Central (possibly Oxford), c.1250) shelfmark Harley 3753 f. 28v,  © British Library Board.

Cat from Bestiary (England, S. E. (possibly Rochester), 2nd quarter of the 13th century)
shelfmark Royal 12 F XIII f. 43,  © British Library Board.

Detail of decorated initial ‘Q'(ui) with foliate motifs, clasps, a cock, a dog biting a cat and a cat carrying mice from Moralia in Job, (Germany, W. (Arnstein), 2nd half of the 12th century) shelfmark Harley 3053 f. 56v,  © British Library Board.

Miniature of a gray cat and a white cat, hunting mice from Bestiary, and various theological texts, (England, 1st quarter of the 13th century),
shelfmark Royal 12 C XIX f. 36v,  © British Library Board.

All digital images from the British Library’s Online Images archive appear by courtesy of the British Library Board and may not be reproduced © British Library Board.

Further reading
Katherine Meikle Walker, Medieval Cats, (London, 2011).
Katherine Meikle Walker, Medieval Pets, (London, 2012).

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