ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the scientific revival of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the fables and beast satires which provided a means of expression for vigorous political and social commentary. The scientific manuscripts are evidence of a revival of interest in secular learning which began in England in the period of Dunstan and his pupil, Aethelwold, in the second half of the tenth century. The earliest surviving Latin bestiaries are two manuscripts in the Municipal Library at Bern and a third in the Royal Library at Brussels. The conception of the stars as divine animals or animal-shaped spirits had, indeed, penetrated into the West long before the scientific revival of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The beast imagery used by the satirists was drawn partly from the Physiologus tales, partly from the ancient fable traditions and partly from folklore.
