Ape, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230

Apes were animals often associated with the Devil who was similar in appearance and had no tail because He was bound to perish eventually. When a monkey gives birth to twins, she holds the one she loves in her arms and the one she despises on the back and when she is in danger and needs to flee she drops the cub she hates. Allegorically, this may be a metaphor for the renouncement of material affections as the only way for man to save his soul in the face of the danger of sin.

Apes were also associated with foolishness and mimicry. Apes mimic human behaviour without understanding its significance and this could be seen as a call for Christians to avoid mimicking vices and engaging in thoughtless actions.

They were also associated with lust, vanity, sin and human basic instincts, owing to their exaggerated and unrestrained behaviour that leads to immoral and lascivious conduct; therefore, Christians were admonished against having sinful desires.

Simie vocantur latino sermone. eoquod multa in
eis similitudo rationis humane sentitur. Hii ele-

Apes are called sīmĭae¹ in the Latin language, for there is great similarity with humans with regard to reason. They are

mentorum sagaces nova luna exultant. media et cava tris-
tantur. Natura simie talis est. ut cum pepererit gemi-
nos catulos; unum diligat. et alterum contempnat. Quod
si aliquando ut insequatur a venatoribus; ante se am-
plectitur quem diligit. et alterum collo portat quem
odit. Simia caudam non habet. cuius figuram diabo-
lus gestat. qui capud habet. caudam vero non habet;
Et licet simia tota turpis sit; posteriora tamen eius satis
turpia et orribilia sunt. Diabolus initium habuit cum
esset in celo angelus. Sed ypocrita et diabolus et do-
losus fuit intrinsecus. et perdidit caudam. quia totus
in fine peribit. Sicut ait apostolus. Quem dominus
iesus christus interficiet spiritu oris sui. Simia grecum
nomen est. idest pressis naribus. Unde et simias dicimus
quod suppressis naribus sint et facie feda. rugis turpiter
follicantibus. Licet et capellarum sit pressum habere nasum.
Circopetici² caudas habent. Hec sola discretio est inter
primas dictas. Zenophali et ipsi e numero simiarum
sunt; in ethiopie partibus frequentissimi. Violenti ad

perceptive about the elements, rejoice at the new moon and grieve at the moon’s waning. The nature of the ape is such that when the mother has given birth to twins, she loves one and despises the other. If she is pursued at any time by hunters, she carries in her arms the one she loves and on her shoulders the one she hates. The ape does not have a tail: the devil is in the shape of an ape, having a head but no tail in truth. Although the entirety of the ape is repulsive, its posterior is disgusting and horrid enough. The devil was formerly an angel in heaven, but he was inwardly hypocritical, diabolical, and deceitful. He lost his tail, for he will perish entirely in the end, as the Apostle says: 'The Lord shall consume him with the spirit of his mouth.' (2 Thessalonians, 2:8).

The word sīmĭa derives from Greek, meaning snub-nosed. Hence, we call them sīmĭae, for they have a flat nose and a revolting face, with ugly wrinkles expanding and contracting. Although it is characteristic of goats to have a flattened nose, the guenons , the apes of the genus Cercopithecus have tails. This is the only distinction between the first ones mentioned. The Cenophali also are numbered among apes: they are very common in the Ethiopian regions.

saltum. feri morsu. Numquam ita mansueti; ut non sint
magis rabidi. Inter simias habentur et spinges. vil-
lose in armis. ac dociles ad feritatis oblivionem;
Sunt et quos vocant satiros³. facie admodum grata.
gesticulatis motibus. inquieti calitores. toto pe-
ne aspectu a ceteris differunt. In facie barba est. latam
habet caudam. Hos capere non est arduum. set pro-
ferre rarum. Neque enim vivunt in altero quam in ethio-
pico loco. hoc est in suo celo

They leap violently and bite fiercely. They are never so gentle, thus not more rabid. Among apes, there are also sphynxes that have hairy arms and learn easily how to consign their ferocity to oblivion.

There is a species called satyrus: this ape is very pleasing in appearance and gesticulates. The ape of the genus Callithrix is restless and almost completely different in aspect from the others. It has a beard on the face and a broad tail. It is not difficult to catch them nor easy to bring them into the open. They do not live in any place other than in the Ethiopian region. That is in their own territory.

Further Reading

David Badke, The Bestiary Blog: Animals in the Middle Ages, Ape, November 6 2023, https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast148.htm

Josh Goldenberg (BA 2012) and Matt Shanahan (BA 2014, Logeion, November 2022, https://logeion.uchicago.edu/

Castiglioni, L. and Mariotti, S. (1996). Vocabolario della Lingua Latina: Latino-Italiano Italiano-Latino. Terza Edizione. Loescher Torino

Matthews, J. and Matthews C., (2010), The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures, HarperCollins UK, London

Curley, M. J., Physiologus: A Medieval Book of Nature Lore (University of Chicago edition 2009)

Rackham, H., M.A., Pliny Natural History Volume III, Libri VIII-XI (London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1949)

Collins, A. H., M.A., Symbolism of Animals and Birds (New York: McBride, Nast & Company, 1913)

Henderson, C., The Book of Barely Imagined Beings (London: University of Chicago Press, 2013)

White, T. H., The Bestiary: A Book of Beasts (New York: G.P Putnam’s Sons, 1960)

Barney, S. A., Lewis, W. J., Beach A., Berghof O., The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Endnotes

1 The term sīmĭae comes from the Greek word σῑμός (sīmós, “snub-nosed”).

2 The term is Cercŏpĭthēcus. The genus Cercopithecus, derived from the Ancient Greek terms κέρκος (kérkos, “tail”) and πίθηκος (píthēkos, "ape"), was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guenon

3 Sătўrus = species of apes described in Medieval bestiaries.

4 Paul the Apostle.

5 The guenons are Old World monkeys of the genus Cercopithecus.

6 It is unclear to what species of apes the text is referring. It might be referring to the yellow baboon, Papio Cynocephalus, which inhabits the forests and savannas in eastern Africa, from Kenya and Tanzania to Zimbabwe and Botswana. It might also be referring to the Cercopithecus cephus, the moustached monkey.

7 Callithrix is a genus of New World monkeys of the family Callitrichidae, the family containing marmosets and tamarins. The genus contains the Atlantic Forest marmosets. The name Callithrix is derived from the Greek words kallos, meaning beautiful, and thrix, meaning hair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callithrix