How to get a pet

A MEDIEVAL pet might be acquired by receiving it as a gift, by purchasing it, or breeding it. There were also less conventional methods, including theft. A court case in 1294 in Chalgrave, England, details how one ‘William Yngeleys complains against John Saly and Christina his sister because they detain a certain cat to William's damage, which damage he would not have willingly born for 6d’. In a thirteenth-century exemplum the Bishop of Paris is forced to arbitrate between two clerics, who both claim a dog as their own, with the first accusing the second of stealing it. The first cleric teaches the dog to walk on its forelegs, but the second steals the dog, renames it and teaches it to walk on its hind legs. The bishop decides to award the dog to the thief, since the dog obeys him, responds to the name he gave it, but ignores the rightful owner.

Pets as gifts

THE most common method to obtain a pet was as a gift. However, it can be difficult to pinpoint which animals exchanged formally as gifts went on to be treated as pets by their new owners; for example, a greyhound might be given with the intention of being used for hunting but might then become a pet. If we confine our attention to animals kept solely as companion pets (lapdogs, caged birds, monkeys) we see that the exchange of pets among the wealthy was defined by gender and status conventions, and generally limited to women and clerics.