Encyclopedia Topics
| Claudius Aelianus | Roman author of On the Nature of Animals |
| Aesop's Fables | Animal tales from the 6th century BCE, which continued to have an influence throughout the Middle Ages. |
| Albertus Magnus | Author of De animalibus, a natural history encyclopedia on animals. |
| Saint Ambrose | Bishop of Milan (374-397), author of the Hexaemeron, a commentary on the biblical account of the six days of creation, that influenced the bestiary. |
| Aristotle | Aristotle (384–322 BCE) was a Greek philosopher and polymath; author of De animalibus. |
| Arnoldus Saxo | Thirteenth century author of De floribus rerum naturalium, a natural history encylopedia. |
| Cecco d’Ascoli | Author of L'Acerba etas. |
| Augustine of Hippo | Early Father of the Catholic Church; held a cautious belief in some of the beast fables. |
| Bartholomaeus Anglicus | Thirteenth century English Franciscan living in Paris, author of De proprietatibus rerum (On the nature of things), a natural history encyclopedia. |
| John Chrysostom | Fifth century Patriarch of Constantinople, incorrectly thought in the Middle Ages to be the author of the Dicta Chrysostomi, a version of the Physiologus. |
| Encyclopedia | A compendium on many topics, including theology, geography, astronomy and zoology. |
| Engelbert of Admont | Abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Admont, author of Tractatus de naturis animalium. |
| Experimentator | The supposed author of a lost text that was quoted by Thomas of Cantimpré. |
| Fiore di virtù | The book of the virtues. |
| Gerald of Wales | Giraldus Cambrensis : Welsh cleric, traveler, author of Topographia Hibernica. |
| Gervaise | Norman poet and cleric; wrote a verse Bestiaire in the Norman French dialect around the beginning of the thirteenth century. |
| Gossuin de Metz | Thirteenth century author of L'image du monde (Image of the World), an encyclopedia. |
| Guillaume le Clerc | Thirteenth century cleric of Normandy, author of a French verse Bestiaire. |
| Herodotus | Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer, author of The Histories. |
| Hugh of Fouilloy | Also known as Hugo de Folieto, this French Augustinian prior of the twelfth century is the author of De avibus, a moralized treatise on birds. |
| Hugh of Saint Victor | Often given credit for the works of Hugh of Fouilloy. |
| Isidore of Seville | Born in the latter half of the sixth century, died around 636 CE, was bishop of Seville and the author of the Etymologies. |
| Italian Bestiary | The bestiary and fable manuscripts in Italian (Tuscan). |
| Jacob van Maerlant | Thirteenth century Flemish poet; author of Der Naturen Bloeme, a natural history encyclopedia. |
| Jacques de Vitry | Author of the Historia Hierosolymitana (also known as Historia Orientalis). |
| Konrad von Megenberg | Fourteenth century German scholar; author of Das Buch der Natur (the Book of Nature). |
| Lambert of Saint-Omer | Twelfth century Benedictine monk and abbot; author of the Liber Floridus, a natural history encyclopedia. |
| Liber rerum | A lost text, the "Book of things" |
| Lucan | Roman poet, author of Pharsalia, a history of the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey. |
| Misericords | "Mercy seats" used by medieval monks; usually carved, often with beast images. |
| Alexander Neckam | Author of an encyclopedia, De naturis rerum. |
| Ovid | First century Roman poet, author of The Metamorphoses, a work often quoted in bestiaries. |
| Philippe de Thaon | Twelfth century Anglo-Norman poet, author of Livre des Creatures and the first French Bestiaire. |
| Physiologus | The original "book of beasts", a moralized Greek text written in Alexandria around the second century CE. |
| Pierre de Beauvais | Also known as Pierre le Picard, author of a French prose Bestiaire in the early thirteenth century. |
| Pliny the Elder | Born 23 CE, died 79 CE. Latin author of Natural History, a compilation of what was known about the world of the first century. |
| Psalter | A type of religious book, sometimes with bestiary or other animal scenes in the margins. |
| Rabanus Maurus | Ninth century abbot and archbishop, author of the natural history encyclopedia De rerum natura. |
| Richard de Fournival | Author of the Bestiaire d'amour (Bestiary of love). |
| Gaius Julius Solinus | Third century, author of De mirabilibus mundi, an encyclopedia of natural wonders. |
| Thomas of Cantimpré | Thirteenth century Dominican writer, preacher and theologian; author of the Liber de natura rerum, a natural history encyclopedia. |
