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What's the meaning of a knight fighting a snail in medieval book illustrations?


What is the meaning of a glove on the tail of monsters in illuminated manuscripts?Has a book ever caused the ousting of a dictator?Eastern and Southern Europe in the medieval time period?Light cavalry in medieval western Europe?What is the meaning of people “looking elsewhere” on medieval paintings?How accurate is the book “Rifleman Dodd”?Who sold this book in London in the 1930s?How long did it take to bind a book in 13th century England?What is the earliest known book / novel trilogy in literature?Has Matéo Maximoff's book Die Ursitory been translated to English?What is the best book to learn about medicine in medieval times? (research for a novel)













4















Someone sent me this really weird picture of a medieval illustration.



It depicted a knight fighting a snail, and was basically a viral snarky commentary about how weird medieval ideas were.



I tried to figure out what it was about, and seemed to be able to find the original source (by Google image search) to be from.




Knight v Snail III: Extreme Jousting (from Brunetto Latini's Li Livres dou Tresor, France (Picardy), c. 1315-1325, Yates Thompson MS 19, f. 65r)




enter image description here



The page listing it actually had LOTS of images of knights fighting snails, but offered no meaningful explanation of what the point of such imagery was.



So, what was the point? Was the snail a representation of armor? Some weird French food hunting thing? :)










share|improve this question






















  • It's just decorative marginalia. Beyond that, we really don't know. As the page you cited from the British Library Medieval Manuscripts Blog states, "This motif was part of a rich visual tradition that we can understand only imperfectly today"

    – sempaiscuba
    1 hour ago











  • Related question here

    – justCal
    30 mins ago















4















Someone sent me this really weird picture of a medieval illustration.



It depicted a knight fighting a snail, and was basically a viral snarky commentary about how weird medieval ideas were.



I tried to figure out what it was about, and seemed to be able to find the original source (by Google image search) to be from.




Knight v Snail III: Extreme Jousting (from Brunetto Latini's Li Livres dou Tresor, France (Picardy), c. 1315-1325, Yates Thompson MS 19, f. 65r)




enter image description here



The page listing it actually had LOTS of images of knights fighting snails, but offered no meaningful explanation of what the point of such imagery was.



So, what was the point? Was the snail a representation of armor? Some weird French food hunting thing? :)










share|improve this question






















  • It's just decorative marginalia. Beyond that, we really don't know. As the page you cited from the British Library Medieval Manuscripts Blog states, "This motif was part of a rich visual tradition that we can understand only imperfectly today"

    – sempaiscuba
    1 hour ago











  • Related question here

    – justCal
    30 mins ago













4












4








4








Someone sent me this really weird picture of a medieval illustration.



It depicted a knight fighting a snail, and was basically a viral snarky commentary about how weird medieval ideas were.



I tried to figure out what it was about, and seemed to be able to find the original source (by Google image search) to be from.




Knight v Snail III: Extreme Jousting (from Brunetto Latini's Li Livres dou Tresor, France (Picardy), c. 1315-1325, Yates Thompson MS 19, f. 65r)




enter image description here



The page listing it actually had LOTS of images of knights fighting snails, but offered no meaningful explanation of what the point of such imagery was.



So, what was the point? Was the snail a representation of armor? Some weird French food hunting thing? :)










share|improve this question














Someone sent me this really weird picture of a medieval illustration.



It depicted a knight fighting a snail, and was basically a viral snarky commentary about how weird medieval ideas were.



I tried to figure out what it was about, and seemed to be able to find the original source (by Google image search) to be from.




Knight v Snail III: Extreme Jousting (from Brunetto Latini's Li Livres dou Tresor, France (Picardy), c. 1315-1325, Yates Thompson MS 19, f. 65r)




enter image description here



The page listing it actually had LOTS of images of knights fighting snails, but offered no meaningful explanation of what the point of such imagery was.



So, what was the point? Was the snail a representation of armor? Some weird French food hunting thing? :)







middle-ages europe book






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 1 hour ago









DVKDVK

12.3k555117




12.3k555117












  • It's just decorative marginalia. Beyond that, we really don't know. As the page you cited from the British Library Medieval Manuscripts Blog states, "This motif was part of a rich visual tradition that we can understand only imperfectly today"

    – sempaiscuba
    1 hour ago











  • Related question here

    – justCal
    30 mins ago

















  • It's just decorative marginalia. Beyond that, we really don't know. As the page you cited from the British Library Medieval Manuscripts Blog states, "This motif was part of a rich visual tradition that we can understand only imperfectly today"

    – sempaiscuba
    1 hour ago











  • Related question here

    – justCal
    30 mins ago
















It's just decorative marginalia. Beyond that, we really don't know. As the page you cited from the British Library Medieval Manuscripts Blog states, "This motif was part of a rich visual tradition that we can understand only imperfectly today"

– sempaiscuba
1 hour ago





It's just decorative marginalia. Beyond that, we really don't know. As the page you cited from the British Library Medieval Manuscripts Blog states, "This motif was part of a rich visual tradition that we can understand only imperfectly today"

– sempaiscuba
1 hour ago













Related question here

– justCal
30 mins ago





Related question here

– justCal
30 mins ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















2














This is an example of decorative marginalia, which is quite common on medieval manuscripts. Sometimes the marginalia relates to the context of the subject of that page of the manuscript, but often it appears to have been quite random.



One fairly well-known group that I'm particularly fond of is the so-called animals at war which includes images like this:



animals at war




  • Breviary of Renaud and Marguerite de Bar, British Library, Yates Thompson MS 8, f. 294r

Another famous example is the nun picking penises from a phallus tree in the Roman de la Rose manuscript owned by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris (MS. Fr. 25526, f. 106v). (Available to view as a digitised document on the Bibliothèque Nationale de France's BNF Gallica website)





In general, the meanings that should be attributed to these images is unclear, and you will find volumes of speculation on the subject. However, for the specific group you are interested in, the paper The Snail in Gothic Marginal Warfare by Lilian Randall may be helpful.




The motif emerged in Northern France in the late 13th century, and spread from there to English and Flemish marginalia. Lilian Randall's paper suggests a range of possibilities for interpreting the motif. These interpretations range from the idea of simply fighting the snail as a pest (considering the damage that snails could do to vineyards), to linking the snail with a nickname given to the Lombards (who were frequently disparaged in the early Middle Ages).



She even notes a possible connection a modern version of the Mother Goose rhyme:




"Four-and-twenty tailors went out to kill a snail".





It is clear that Lilian Randall's own preference is for the link with the Lombards. She states:




From the assembled evidence the three questions regarding the origin of the marginal illustration can now be answered as follows: the predilection for the literary snail combat theme can be explained by the manifest current anti-Lombard sentiment; the rapid diffusion of the motif reflects the international character of the Lombards' professional activities; and finally, the concentration of the motif in late thirteenth- and early fourteenth- century manuscripts mirrors the intense reaction to a current development which gradually lost its appeal along with its novelty.





However, it is important to note that she she also concedes that the images could have had multiple meanings in different times and places.






share|improve this answer
































    0














    I just watched an interesting documentary about that subject on Youtube. It seems it's a pun on the Lombards, and their banking business. The pun was on their name and their business.






    share|improve this answer






















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      2 Answers
      2






      active

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      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      2














      This is an example of decorative marginalia, which is quite common on medieval manuscripts. Sometimes the marginalia relates to the context of the subject of that page of the manuscript, but often it appears to have been quite random.



      One fairly well-known group that I'm particularly fond of is the so-called animals at war which includes images like this:



      animals at war




      • Breviary of Renaud and Marguerite de Bar, British Library, Yates Thompson MS 8, f. 294r

      Another famous example is the nun picking penises from a phallus tree in the Roman de la Rose manuscript owned by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris (MS. Fr. 25526, f. 106v). (Available to view as a digitised document on the Bibliothèque Nationale de France's BNF Gallica website)





      In general, the meanings that should be attributed to these images is unclear, and you will find volumes of speculation on the subject. However, for the specific group you are interested in, the paper The Snail in Gothic Marginal Warfare by Lilian Randall may be helpful.




      The motif emerged in Northern France in the late 13th century, and spread from there to English and Flemish marginalia. Lilian Randall's paper suggests a range of possibilities for interpreting the motif. These interpretations range from the idea of simply fighting the snail as a pest (considering the damage that snails could do to vineyards), to linking the snail with a nickname given to the Lombards (who were frequently disparaged in the early Middle Ages).



      She even notes a possible connection a modern version of the Mother Goose rhyme:




      "Four-and-twenty tailors went out to kill a snail".





      It is clear that Lilian Randall's own preference is for the link with the Lombards. She states:




      From the assembled evidence the three questions regarding the origin of the marginal illustration can now be answered as follows: the predilection for the literary snail combat theme can be explained by the manifest current anti-Lombard sentiment; the rapid diffusion of the motif reflects the international character of the Lombards' professional activities; and finally, the concentration of the motif in late thirteenth- and early fourteenth- century manuscripts mirrors the intense reaction to a current development which gradually lost its appeal along with its novelty.





      However, it is important to note that she she also concedes that the images could have had multiple meanings in different times and places.






      share|improve this answer





























        2














        This is an example of decorative marginalia, which is quite common on medieval manuscripts. Sometimes the marginalia relates to the context of the subject of that page of the manuscript, but often it appears to have been quite random.



        One fairly well-known group that I'm particularly fond of is the so-called animals at war which includes images like this:



        animals at war




        • Breviary of Renaud and Marguerite de Bar, British Library, Yates Thompson MS 8, f. 294r

        Another famous example is the nun picking penises from a phallus tree in the Roman de la Rose manuscript owned by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris (MS. Fr. 25526, f. 106v). (Available to view as a digitised document on the Bibliothèque Nationale de France's BNF Gallica website)





        In general, the meanings that should be attributed to these images is unclear, and you will find volumes of speculation on the subject. However, for the specific group you are interested in, the paper The Snail in Gothic Marginal Warfare by Lilian Randall may be helpful.




        The motif emerged in Northern France in the late 13th century, and spread from there to English and Flemish marginalia. Lilian Randall's paper suggests a range of possibilities for interpreting the motif. These interpretations range from the idea of simply fighting the snail as a pest (considering the damage that snails could do to vineyards), to linking the snail with a nickname given to the Lombards (who were frequently disparaged in the early Middle Ages).



        She even notes a possible connection a modern version of the Mother Goose rhyme:




        "Four-and-twenty tailors went out to kill a snail".





        It is clear that Lilian Randall's own preference is for the link with the Lombards. She states:




        From the assembled evidence the three questions regarding the origin of the marginal illustration can now be answered as follows: the predilection for the literary snail combat theme can be explained by the manifest current anti-Lombard sentiment; the rapid diffusion of the motif reflects the international character of the Lombards' professional activities; and finally, the concentration of the motif in late thirteenth- and early fourteenth- century manuscripts mirrors the intense reaction to a current development which gradually lost its appeal along with its novelty.





        However, it is important to note that she she also concedes that the images could have had multiple meanings in different times and places.






        share|improve this answer



























          2












          2








          2







          This is an example of decorative marginalia, which is quite common on medieval manuscripts. Sometimes the marginalia relates to the context of the subject of that page of the manuscript, but often it appears to have been quite random.



          One fairly well-known group that I'm particularly fond of is the so-called animals at war which includes images like this:



          animals at war




          • Breviary of Renaud and Marguerite de Bar, British Library, Yates Thompson MS 8, f. 294r

          Another famous example is the nun picking penises from a phallus tree in the Roman de la Rose manuscript owned by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris (MS. Fr. 25526, f. 106v). (Available to view as a digitised document on the Bibliothèque Nationale de France's BNF Gallica website)





          In general, the meanings that should be attributed to these images is unclear, and you will find volumes of speculation on the subject. However, for the specific group you are interested in, the paper The Snail in Gothic Marginal Warfare by Lilian Randall may be helpful.




          The motif emerged in Northern France in the late 13th century, and spread from there to English and Flemish marginalia. Lilian Randall's paper suggests a range of possibilities for interpreting the motif. These interpretations range from the idea of simply fighting the snail as a pest (considering the damage that snails could do to vineyards), to linking the snail with a nickname given to the Lombards (who were frequently disparaged in the early Middle Ages).



          She even notes a possible connection a modern version of the Mother Goose rhyme:




          "Four-and-twenty tailors went out to kill a snail".





          It is clear that Lilian Randall's own preference is for the link with the Lombards. She states:




          From the assembled evidence the three questions regarding the origin of the marginal illustration can now be answered as follows: the predilection for the literary snail combat theme can be explained by the manifest current anti-Lombard sentiment; the rapid diffusion of the motif reflects the international character of the Lombards' professional activities; and finally, the concentration of the motif in late thirteenth- and early fourteenth- century manuscripts mirrors the intense reaction to a current development which gradually lost its appeal along with its novelty.





          However, it is important to note that she she also concedes that the images could have had multiple meanings in different times and places.






          share|improve this answer















          This is an example of decorative marginalia, which is quite common on medieval manuscripts. Sometimes the marginalia relates to the context of the subject of that page of the manuscript, but often it appears to have been quite random.



          One fairly well-known group that I'm particularly fond of is the so-called animals at war which includes images like this:



          animals at war




          • Breviary of Renaud and Marguerite de Bar, British Library, Yates Thompson MS 8, f. 294r

          Another famous example is the nun picking penises from a phallus tree in the Roman de la Rose manuscript owned by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris (MS. Fr. 25526, f. 106v). (Available to view as a digitised document on the Bibliothèque Nationale de France's BNF Gallica website)





          In general, the meanings that should be attributed to these images is unclear, and you will find volumes of speculation on the subject. However, for the specific group you are interested in, the paper The Snail in Gothic Marginal Warfare by Lilian Randall may be helpful.




          The motif emerged in Northern France in the late 13th century, and spread from there to English and Flemish marginalia. Lilian Randall's paper suggests a range of possibilities for interpreting the motif. These interpretations range from the idea of simply fighting the snail as a pest (considering the damage that snails could do to vineyards), to linking the snail with a nickname given to the Lombards (who were frequently disparaged in the early Middle Ages).



          She even notes a possible connection a modern version of the Mother Goose rhyme:




          "Four-and-twenty tailors went out to kill a snail".





          It is clear that Lilian Randall's own preference is for the link with the Lombards. She states:




          From the assembled evidence the three questions regarding the origin of the marginal illustration can now be answered as follows: the predilection for the literary snail combat theme can be explained by the manifest current anti-Lombard sentiment; the rapid diffusion of the motif reflects the international character of the Lombards' professional activities; and finally, the concentration of the motif in late thirteenth- and early fourteenth- century manuscripts mirrors the intense reaction to a current development which gradually lost its appeal along with its novelty.





          However, it is important to note that she she also concedes that the images could have had multiple meanings in different times and places.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 51 mins ago

























          answered 1 hour ago









          sempaiscubasempaiscuba

          51.8k6178225




          51.8k6178225





















              0














              I just watched an interesting documentary about that subject on Youtube. It seems it's a pun on the Lombards, and their banking business. The pun was on their name and their business.






              share|improve this answer



























                0














                I just watched an interesting documentary about that subject on Youtube. It seems it's a pun on the Lombards, and their banking business. The pun was on their name and their business.






                share|improve this answer

























                  0












                  0








                  0







                  I just watched an interesting documentary about that subject on Youtube. It seems it's a pun on the Lombards, and their banking business. The pun was on their name and their business.






                  share|improve this answer













                  I just watched an interesting documentary about that subject on Youtube. It seems it's a pun on the Lombards, and their banking business. The pun was on their name and their business.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 13 mins ago









                  JosJos

                  9,33012246




                  9,33012246



























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