Crow, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230

The crow, a long-lived member of the Corvidae family, is often considered unclean according to ancient laws. It is known for its ability to reveal ambushes and forecast rain, earning the saying: "Then the impudent crow calls for full rain with its harsh voice." Unlike the easily deceived jackdaw, crows and ravens clearly signal the certainty of events and are vigilant against threats.

The text contrasts this vigilance with human behaviour, urging people to care deeply for their children. It criticises neglectful practices, particularly the abandonment of children by those in poverty and the inhumane acts of the wealthy who eliminate their offspring to protect their inheritance. This raises profound questions about the morality of parental rights and the unequal treatment of siblings.

It challenges the notion that inheritance should divide brothers, stressing that nature provides equally for all and that blood ties should take precedence over material wealth. In essence, it calls for a recognition of the fundamental equality of siblings, regardless of their economic status and advocates for a more humane approach to familial responsibilities and inheritance.

Crows, being scavengers that feed on carrion, were associated with death and decay and mourning. In medieval bestiaries, they symbolised sin and moral corruption, reflecting their role in consuming the dead and their dark, ominous presence. Owing to their black plumage and scavenging habits, crows were often seen as harbingers of doom and misfortune. Their call was believed to foretell calamities or misfortunes and they were sometimes linked with supernatural or malevolent forces.

Cornix annosa avis corvini generis est. et
inmunda est. Unde in lege quicquid corvini
generis est. comedi perhibetur. hec avis nocturnas
insidias et diurnas manifestat clamore. pluvi-
as vocibus portendit. Unde est. illud. Tunc cornix
plenam pluviam vocat improba voce. Et corvus
cornix certum diei iudicium voce indicat. nec

The crow is a long-lived bird of the Corvidae family and is unclean. Hence, in the Law, whatever belongs to the Corvidae family is forbidden to eat. This bird reveals nocturnal ambushes and daytime attacks with its cry and foretells rain. Hence, the saying: "Then the impudent crow calls for full rain with its harsh voice." The crow and the raven indicate with their call the certainty of the day’s judgment and

fallitur ut monedula; et circa homines eorum est ha-
bitatio. et sollerti intuitu ab ictu se precavent.
Discant homines amare filios comitatu sedulo et sol-
licite prosequantur. ne teneri forte deficiant. cibum
suggerant. ac plurimo temporis spacio nutriendi of-
ficia non relinquant. Nam femine nostri generis cito
ablactant etiam illos quos diligunt. lactare fastidi-
unt pauperiores si fuerint. parvos abiciunt et expo-
nunt. et deprehensos abnegant. Ipse quoque divites ne
per plures suum patrimonium dividatur; in uteros proprios
fetus necant. et paricidialibus suis in ipso genitali
alvo pignora sui ventris extingunt. Priusquam au -
fertur vita; quam traditur. Quis docuit nisi homo
filios abdicari. quis reperit tam immicia patrum
iura; Quis inter nature fraterna consortia fratres
impares fecit. Unius divitis filii diversitati cedunt.
Alius paterne totius sortis ac scriptionibus inunda-
tur. alius occulte hereditatis paterne deplorat exhaus-
tam atque inopem portionem. Numquid natura
divisit filiorum merita; Ex pari omnibus tribuit

are not deceived like the jackdaw. Their dwelling is near human beings and they protect themselves from snares, with keen eyesight. Let humans learn to love their children, to watch them with great care, lest they perish from neglect. Let them provide them with food and not abandon the duties of nurturing them for a long time. The women of our kind quickly wean even those they love and refuse to breastfeed them if they live in poverty. They neglect and abandon their small children and when discovered, they deny doing it. The wealthy also kill their offspring in their own wombs so that their inheritance is not shared among many and discard the children of their own womb by concocting murderous plans. They take away life before giving it. Who has taught this, if not humans, to disown their own children? Who has endowed parents with such inhumane rights? Who has made brothers unequal among the bonds of fraternal fellowship? The sons of rich men yield to contradiction: one is entirely overwhelmed by the inheritance and wealth of the father, whereas another secretly laments the drained and impoverished portion of the paternal inheritance. Can it be that nature has divided the inheritance of the sons? Nature equally has shared everything among all and given what they need to be born and to survive.

quod ad nascendi et vivendi possint habere substan-
tiam. Ipsa vos doceat non discernere patrimonio quos
titulo germanitatis equavit. Etenim quibus datur
communiter esse quod nati sunt; non debent ut commu-
niter habeant id quod una substituti sunt invi-
dere.

Let nature teach you not to distinguish by estate those whom the blood ties between two brothers has made equal. Indeed, those who are given equally the necessities of life should not grudge that which they have in common.

Further Reading

David Badke, The Bestiary Blog: Animals in the Middle Ages, Crow, November 6 2023, https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast252.htm

Mynott, J, Birds in the Ancient World (New York: Oxford University Press 2018)

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

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)

Matthews, J. and Matthews C., The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A-Z of fantastic beings from myth and magic (London: HarperElement, 2005)

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

Endnotes

[1] This is a passage by the Roman poet Virgil in his work Georgics, Book I, line 388: “Tum cornix plena pluviam vocat improba voce.” Virgil's Georgics is a didactic poem that discusses agricultural practices and includes observations about nature, including the behaviour of animals as omens of weather changes. The crow's call is here associated with the prediction of rain, a belief that persisted in later folklore and medieval texts.