Medieval Cats: Claws, Paws, and Kitties of Yore [Hardcover]

A hilarious celebration of cats in artwork from medieval times.

Look what the cat dragged in from the Middle Ages—a curious compendium of cats unlike any you’ve ever lapped up before.

For more than a millennium, a myriad of medieval manuscripts and artworks painted a picture of cats as playful and curious but also lazy, selfish, and vicious. Today, these masterpieces live on, shining a bright light on the dark age of cats and telling a hilarious story of their paw-some glory. From bum-licking to cat-fighting to mouse-tricking, Medieval Cats is a hilarious celebration of cats who are up to no good.

Learn cat facts from the Middle Ages and the origins of cat proverbs, and discover poems and excerpts from literature that mention cats. Both humor book and peek into medieval art, Medieval Cats is for cat lovers—and haters—everywhere!Professor Catherine Nappington teaches felinology—the study of cats—at Maine (Coon) University. She lives with her two tabbies in Portland, a city with more than 700,000 cats (true fact), and is the cat-lady capital of the U.S. She doesn't get out much.Introduction

The Middle Ages. What a fun time to be alive! It was an era of sieges and superstition, bloodshed and bloodlines, conquest and chaos. Between 500 and 1500 ce, mythical megastars such as Robin Hood and King Arthur rubbed muddy metaphorical shoulders with real-life legends such as Leonardo da Vinci and Joan of Arc, to name just two heroes of history. It was also a time before cutlery, underwear, and flushable toilets, and, boy, does it show. If the medieval ages were a modern Hollywood movie, critics would call it “the bloodiest action-mystery-thriller-fantasy-horror-romance-drama ever made,” with a thousand-strong cast of lunatics, herelƒr