Bat, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230
The medieval bestiary records that the bat is not thought to be a good creature. It flies but is not a bird it is a mammal, and it has teeth and does not lay eggs. It does not have feathers it has folds of skin which hold it up as if it had wings. They hang together in clusters clinging to each other (Barber 2008).
Transcription
Translation
accepit. eoquod lucem fugiens crepusculo
vespertino. volatibus irrationabilibus et flexuosis
circumvolat. precepti motu acta et non pennis.
set loco pennarum tenuissimis brachiorum mem-
branis suspensa. Est autem volatile. idemque
quadrupes et dentibus utitur. quod in aliis avi-
bus repperire non solet. Animal muribus simile.
non tam voce resonans quam stridore. Parit ut qua-
A bat is a lowly animal; It took its name from the evening, which, fleeing the light in the twilight of the evening, flies around with irrational and winding flights, driven by the motion of the command and not by feathers, but instead of feathers is suspended by the thinnest membranes of the arms. But it is a bird, and uses the same four legs and teeth, which are not usually found in other birds. An animal like mice, not so much resonating with a voice as with a shriek. It gives birth as a
et illud hoc vile animal; quod sibi invicem adhe-
rent. et quasi specie botrionis; ex aliquo loco pen-
dent. Et si se ultima queque laxaverit; omnes resol-
vuntur. Quod fit quodam munere caritatis. que
difficile in hominibus huiusmodi reperitur. De qua
dicunt quidam quod si de eius sanguine perun-
gatur capillatus; caluescit. In levitico hec avis inter
inmundas que commedi non debent; reputatur.
Quia contemplativus qui doctrinam quatuor evvan-
gelior ad terrena convertit. utens nocte cupi-
ditatis pro die contemplationis; mitandus non
est. Unde ysaias de tenebrosa doctrina hereti-
corum. qui luci veritatis non appropinquant; dicit.
In die illa proiciet homo ydola auri et argenti
sui; ut adoret talpas et vespertiliones. et cetera.
quadruped, not eggs; but chickens; living This vile animal also has that; that they adhere to each other, and hang from some place as if in the form of a cluster. And if the last one had relaxed himself; all are resolved. This is done as a kind of act of charity, which is difficult to find in people of this kind. Of which some say that if the hair is cut off from its blood, it becomes bald. In Leviticus, this bird is considered among the unclean birds that must not be eaten. Because the contemplative who turns the teaching of the four evangelists to the earthly, using the night of desire for the day of contemplation, is not to be feared. Hence Isaiah speaks of the dark doctrine of heretics, who do not approach the light of truth. In that day a man will throw away his idols of gold and silver, to worship moles and bats, and so on.