Доклады Клауса ван Айкельса (Бамберг): "Elephants as diplomatic gifts and representation of royal power in medieval Europe" в "Символическом Средневековье" и "Das sexuelle Begehren und die Grenzen des Erlaubten im Mittelalter" в Германском историческом институте

Аннотация доклада:

Elephants were animals of high prestige and held an eminent place in medieval bestiaries and other learned texts on animals. Considered to be strong and chaste, they often served as a model for Christian values and perseverance. Knowledge about real elephants, however remained limited, since only few living specimen arrived in Europe (one during the reign of Charlemagne, two during the  13th century). In the 15th century the European expansion brought more Elephants to Europe and also the first eye witness account of wild elephants in their natural surroundings. The lecture will explore how elephants served as diplomatic gifts and how knowledge about elephants evolved, including a glance on ivory and the question whether it was common knowledge that ivory was made from elephant tusks.