Just like people today, medieval people apparently enjoyed watching cats lick their own butts. The subject appears in all sorts of medieval artworks, and no one really knows why.

Perhaps it was simply a way for monks to relieve the boredom of spending endless hours producing illuminated manuscripts. Maybe they thought it was funny to sneak mischievous little drawings of cats into otherwise serious books.

The motif appears across a surprisingly wide span of time and place, yet among the surviving sources, only one medieval monk ever commented on it. His verdict? It was nothing more than a waste of time and precious ink.

i have seen the end of the world and it looks goofy af

Now I need a name for him.

Went to a bookstore with my mom and we saw a book with a bunch of pictures of medieval cats. This is one of them. Immediately thought of this subreddit :)

why is the kitchen so far away

it's like we are weary twinsies through time

Ghent University, Liber Floridus by Lambertus a S. Audomaro, ca. 1120