Don't forget Terry Gilliam's genius medieval artwork contained there in as well, specifically God's instructions or "blessing" and the movie title fanfare including a line of musicians blowing trumpets with their butts! 😉
It's strange, these drawings tell more than their own stories - it's like seeing into the consciousness of an age, getting a tiny, tiny feel for a larger experience.
Today some people see drawings of strange beings and want to believe it is proof of aliens. But as we see here, people draw all manner of strange things that are purely from their imagination. I think it’s safe to say no one ever actually saw any of these things in real life?
I love this kind stuff, it shows that no matter what the time period is.... people will try to sneak funny doodles ... And I find the complete insanity of medieval art just fascinating. Especially the odd creatures, bizarre interpretation of regular animals, and nonsensical situations (medieval cats, man-faced babies, and animals that look like the result of a game of telephone gone horribly wrong)
The one showing a small tree with penises.. back then people believe that witches clone men's penises in their sleep and have them as pets,so that they could control men's carnal hunger. Sure people back then love to blame everything to women even as simple as Men having their boner. These aren't just nonsense doodles at all.
05:56 I have heard a theory that snails were meant to depict Lombards. The Lombards were a people who were supposed to be a really war like and often acted in an unchristian manner. They fought often as mercenarries and were known to be vicious in battle. As such they were almost universally hated throughout medieval Europe. As an insult they were often called snails. Sadly I cant remember how that originated. But it explains why knights are often seen fighting snails (Lombards) in medieval manuscripts
Monty Python hits yet another level of depth for me. I just thought it was funny to have a vicious rabbit; I had no idea it was a medieval thing. Killer rabbits.
All of a sudden I realise the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog wasn't some completely random thing they threw in the film as just another absurd obstacle on the quest.
"The noise of a fart now, is just as funny as it was in the twelfth century." To be fair, the oldest known joke was about a woman not farting in a man's lap, so... apparently longer than that.
Snails symbolized the Lombards' retreat from Charlemagne by the way they carry their house on their back. When rabbits are depicted participating in human activities these images are called "drolleries" or "grotesque." The most typical form of drollery is the mixed-species beast, such as a fish with a cow's head or a dog with a dragon tail. When rabbits are depicted participating in human activities these images are called "drolleries" or "grotesque." The most typical form of drollery is the mixed-species beast, such as a fish with a cow's head or a dog with a dragon tail.
Don't know where you found these "treasures," but this UA-cam video is certainly a delightful (and scandalous) Christmas treat! Many thanks for the gift that will keep on giving!
it's too long ago to be sure but I vaguely remember a history class in college where the homicidal rabbits were said to represent the peasantry. The implied message being don't think they're completely harmless.
“The men of the 21st C. Seemed to communicate with glyphs titled “soyjak” to communicate displeasure, and a rather smug frog titled “papé” to communicate superiority over an adversary.” - future historians, probably
We do not know why the ancient people put so many images of a frog portraying various emotions but some historians believe that this Pepe figure was worshiped as a god. XD
Worm or any kind of gastropod was a common insult. Creatures without legs were lowest to the ground, and Hell below, therefore were considered the most sinister and impure creatures. It was a serious insult to call someone a snail. That's the theory I was taught, anyway, although it might be from a later period. Anyway, these scribes had some serious talent!
Of all the women in medieval society to pick the...fruit(?)...off of a penis tree, I certainly never expected it to be a nun. Thank you for this most fascinating (albeit wildly entertaining) video. People in the Middle Ages were weird, though clearly no more so than we are.
I had no idea that such artwork was done within otherwise sacred texts. This gives a whole new meaning to the Illuminated Manuscripts though I don't know if this kind of artwork was present there as well. Also this kind of art points to where later painting greats got their ideas. Specifically I'm thinking of Hieronomous Bosch and Peter Bruegel.
The European Bison is not extinct. It was extinct in the wild in 1919. They still had them in zoos and they were also held by private owners. From the 1950s onward they have been reintroduced into the wild. Today they are classified as Near Threaten. That's just one notch down from the top of the conservation scale. So if 6 is perfectly fine and flourishing and 0 is extinct, they are currently sitting at a 5. As of 2019 there were around 7,500 in the wild. Over 25% of which live in Poland.
The phallus tree was an art motif common in Western Europe during the late Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance.[1] Phallus tree in the Fertility Fresco at Massa Marittima, circa 1265 Its concrete significance is hazy, but it appeared in bronze, illuminated manuscript, and paint; it manifested as bawdy humour, religious parody, political comment. The Tuscan Massa Marittima mural, featuring oversized phalluses, some erect, complete with testes, was Guelph propaganda warning that if the Ghibellines were allowed to take control, they would bring with them sexual perversion and witchcraft.[2]
Very well done. I'd hate to see any of this art being _marginalized_ today. I'd love to see a few more videos about the art that accompanied ancient texts
Awesome video! I've seen many articles about different types of marginalia. Not sure why but I really love them. Sea monsters from ancient maps are just as wonderful.
All this insane Medieval MSS illumination artwork explains a lot from Monty Python and the Holy Grail ... including the Knights Who Say Ni demanding that King Arthur cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with... a herring!
These remind me of the little cartoons in the margins in Mad Magazine in the '70's. My favorite was of a man leaning against a piano with a guy playing the piano. The caption read "Francis Scott Keye writes only hit song!"
I can certainly attest to the homicidal tendencies of supposedly 'cute, fluffy' bunnies. Had I sense enough to heed the sage warnings of Tim The Enchanter, I would not have been attacked by a certain rabbit in Hyde Park, London. If you want the full story... I'm a vegetarian, even vegan for some of my life. I've supported wildlife charities and always turn parts of any garden I've ever owned into little wildlife sanctuaries - but I must smell like a cross between a bale of hay and a pork chop, because throughout life every animal I come near tries to bite or kick me. So unfair. I have to give all animals a wide berth. And it was the valuable lesson learned at Hyde Park that taught me it's best to keep away from everything bar humans (and even some of those have teeth that they're willing to use). One particular day, working in The Dell, Hyde Park, I was astonished to see a small, brown bunny lollop closer and closer to where I was busily hoeing weeds. Not wishing to scare its fluffy 'cuteness,' I made sure I didn't make any sudden moves, letting it venture closer and closer until it stopped by my feet. Now, unless you make the assumption this might have been a wild rabbit, I would like to clarify that this rabbit was not. The rabbits you see in the Central Royal Parks are domestic pets deliberately dumped by their owners because they can't be bothered to look after them any more. As well as rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters all show up with annoying regularity as soon as someone decides that cleaning a cage is too time consuming. Once they have a taste of freedom, they quickly go semi-wild, keeping well away from humans. Back to the story... So, knowing well this was indeed a domestic rabbit recently turned out of its previous home, I gently bent down to stroke its back. It stayed there, sitting still, allowing me to continue to stroke it, some of my workmates stopping to watch and comment as to its tameness. Then, the damn thing suddenly sank its teeth into my wrist. I tried to shake it off. It hung on. I shook it and shook it and eventually it fell off. Then it leapt at me, jumping clear off the ground. I'm only short and I still remember seeing bloodied teeth coming at me. I quickly dodged it. It leapt again and I booted it in the head. It leapt again, I booted it again. It ran off into the undergrowth. I turned around, heart racing, breathing like the clappers, arm bleeding - and my workmates were rolling on the ground laughing hysterically... Thanks guys. I began to start feeling faint (shock), so one of the guys walked me back to the Storeyard, and from there I was transported to the hospital. Now, in those days, you would give information as to the circumstances of your accident at the hospital reception. The fact I had been attacked by a rabbit caused a sensation in A&E, the information popped up on every A&E doctor's computer screen, and I became the subject of great entertainment for the doctor that treated me. You should know - That. Blasted. Bunny. Bit. Me. Right. To. The. Bone.... I still remember the nurse that came in, swabbed the blood away and opened up the cleanly bitten flesh so I could see my own wrist-bone. Ughhhhhhh.... I was cleaned up, patched up, and muffled laughter followed me out of the ward, every doctor grinning from their treatment stations. Two weeks later, returning to The Dell to do some weeding - that rabbit flew out of the undergrowth with a squeal and wrapped itself around the back of my left leg. Fortunately, this time, it's teeth bit cotton and not flesh. I shook the thing off, stamped on its back, and booted it into the bamboo. My vegetarianism was severely tried that day. Now angry rather than frightened, I marched back to the Head Office, told my boss what had happened, and declared I would not return to The Dell until that ferocious beast was dealt with permanently. Dumped pets are a problem for the Royal Parks, and culling is necessary (so if you think your pet will be treated to a life of freedom in a park. Think again, buster. They get destroyed. We can't have vermin eating expensive plants bought with valuable public funds). I had asked for the rabbit so I could eat the thing and have its tail as a trophy, but apparently it had been shot into messy pieces and I was denied an opportunity to gloat. A short while later, I learned that this rabbit had been dumped in the park by a child's mother. It seemed her boy was fond of picking it up by the ears, and it eventually had enough and bit him. It was assumed by my workmates that I must have accidentally brushed this rabbit's ears while stroking it. Fearing I would suddenly pick him up by the ears, the rabbit defended itself in the most horrifying way that I could possibly imagine. However, now my family bursts into laughter whenever the rabbit scene from Monty Python is ever repeated anywhere. I do not laugh. A mere photo-still of that scene is enough to tie a knot in my stomach. Believe me, after my experience, I distrust rabbits. Laugh as you will, but they have teeth like razor blades and know how to use them.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I had to grin so much in spite of your tragic injury. Your story is educating, gruesomely bizarre, and exceedingly funny IMO. The conclusion as to why the animal came at you so viciously may exactly be right. Rodents are not suitable pets for very small children, and often they are only active after dark, so sleep deprivation may make them as deranged as we all get under the circumstances (and their teeth are incredibly sharp - a friend's rabbit always was only a hair's breadth from electrocution due to a fatal attraction to live wires as a snack)... Or maybe it was only just at you for your eating its food... Ok, this joke is old, sorry. Did you get tetanus and rabies shots? Rodents and other park-dwelling animals can transmit both diseases, which today are deemed eradicated (one vaccination that really is essential - tetanus!), but can still kill you - and not even the Holy Handgrenade of Antioch can help you against them. [May I throw my hat in the ring with the fact that bumblebees can and will sting? This TMK is not widely known, albeit it is logical, because the females also have a stinger = ovipositor. On a warm day I sat in my car with the windows open, was about to park, and felt something on my thigh. In a reflex I tried to brush it away, when I felt the most excruciating pain. A bumblebee had been caught between my leg and the car door, and in anguish it stung me, as I saw after I had sadly flattened it (but as a bee relative, it was already dead, as bees can sting only once, but wasps have a retractable multi-use stinger). In the about 15 sec that it took to go around and into the house, my upper leg swelled up to its ca. double size, and I had to cut my trousers away to get out of them. Luckily I am not officially allergic to hymenoptera (bees, bumblebees) or vespidae (wasps, the distinction is mandatory, as the venoms are different TMK, and wasps can sting more than once), but have many other allergies, so I was happy when the pain receded after ca. 12 hours, and I did not develop more serious symptoms. When I mention the fact, most people do not believe me, until I share this story, and even then some incredulity remains about what happened, with questions as to how do I know that it was a bumblebee etc. Ironically I was studying biology at the time, and insecta was the current topic, so I knew bl**dy well what had hit me... Nature is not benign or lenient, and something is always (even if inadvertently) out to get you. It pays to pack the HHoA to have it handy! Thank you again, and better luck in the Parks of London!]
List of things 1000 years older than the internet: * Memes * Furries * Weird porn Remember this next time someone tries to blame technology for humans being humans.
marginalia have always reminded of the cartoons drawn in the margins of Mad magazine, there was always all kinds of weird stuff going on though not as weird as the medieval renderings shown here LoL i wonder if thats where the cartoonists drew their inspiration from? if not, it just proves that human nature is consistent throughout history.
My father used to sing a song to me: "Root them out, Get them gone, All the little bunnies in the fields of corn: Envy, jealousy, malice, pride. If you allow them in your heart they'll abide." The idea being that bunnies (vices) may appear innocent and innocuous, but they'll destroy good effort (character). Also, it is implied that through Christ, we are set free to win battles against these things, but we can still allow them to defeat us -- so don't practice or allow self-defeat at the hands of things that should not have power over us.
Cool collection of illustrations. I've seen many of these in other places, most separately in other videos on other topics, but it's fun to see them together. BTW, the European Bison is *NOT* extinct. It's still around and is in the lists as "near threatened". In fact, it was recently re-introduced to the fens of Britain as part of re-wilding project.
There’s a paintings in tombs and on papyrus from ancient Egypt where cats herd geese, antelopes play Senet wirh lions, cats are caring for their mouse masters babies… hippos climb trees to get away from mice , etc…. so this kind of art isn’t new at all.
I just love these insane images :) to me it’s the epitome of medievality (is there such a word? well, nevermind :))… I mean, the very essence, the spirit of that time.
10:10 - European Bison never went extinct. It's still around and doing pretty well. Its last free living specimen was killed in 1919, with less than 50 captive specimens kept in European zoos. Thanks to those surviving animals, its population was reintroduced into the wild. A specie of European wild ox that went extinct was called aurochs and it went extinct in 1627.
Rabbits are actually vicious and have a strict army like ranking system and have battles against each other's warrens. "Watership Down" was a scientific study anthropomorphized for reading interest. There's another,similar famous book about ants. Anyway, if snails represented Lombards and dogs represented a loyalist (or sometimes a specific saint) I'm sure rabbits must represent a nationality or type of person. Lions are England, unicorns Scotland, griffins are Ireland,dragons are Wales...maybe rabbits are France?
Sorry, the projectile crap can be seen at any zoo. Ever watched the rhino? A full body shield isn’t enough…..and they swish their tails furiously. They know what they’re doing
A little clarification about 10:10; the European Bison was indeed hunted to extinction in the early 20th century, but only in the wild. The species survived in captivity and was relatively quickly reintroduced to the wild. The population of European Bisons is, in fact, growing.
Well! This certainly explains Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail rabbit skit. 😂😂😂
Agreed, that was my first reaction to this!
Makes the joke deeper on so many levels now.
It wasn’t just random.
Don't forget Terry Gilliam's genius medieval artwork contained there in as well, specifically God's instructions or "blessing" and the movie title fanfare including a line of musicians blowing trumpets with their butts! 😉
Both the vorpal bunny and the Trojan Hare, I'd say. The Python team were quite well educated, and it shows.
@@myfrestuff3453 Exactly what I was going to say. Never mind the rabbit, the ass trumpets were definitely marginalia!
Historians: “What do the snails mean!? WHAT DO THEY MEAN??? FAMINE!? LUST!?”
Medieval scribes: he he funi snale :)
The nun physically blackeyeing a demon had me laugh. So random yet not from their perspective. Whoever drew that had a lot of aggression built up 😂
She looks so content lol
I believe that's supposed to be the virgin Mary, not a random nun.
I love how chill the guy with the sword in his head is.
'Tis but a scratch.
Now that's something to aspire to!
Butt naught for me
The beast is in the cave.
What, behind the rabbit?
IT IS THE RABBIT!
😅😂
It's strange, these drawings tell more than their own stories - it's like seeing into the consciousness of an age, getting a tiny, tiny feel for a larger experience.
Today some people see drawings of strange beings and want to believe it is proof of aliens. But as we see here, people draw all manner of strange things that are purely from their imagination. I think it’s safe to say no one ever actually saw any of these things in real life?
Breugel seems less avant garde now.
@@alphagt62 Some used this as a coping mechanism of the hard times that were faced in the period, finding beauty in the benign.
I love this kind stuff, it shows that no matter what the time period is.... people will try to sneak funny doodles ...
And I find the complete insanity of medieval art just fascinating.
Especially the odd creatures, bizarre interpretation of regular animals, and nonsensical situations (medieval cats, man-faced babies, and animals that look like the result of a game of telephone gone horribly wrong)
The one showing a small tree with penises.. back then people believe that witches clone men's penises in their sleep and have them as pets,so that they could control men's carnal hunger. Sure people back then love to blame everything to women even as simple as Men having their boner.
These aren't just nonsense doodles at all.
05:56 I have heard a theory that snails were meant to depict Lombards. The Lombards were a people who were supposed to be a really war like and often acted in an unchristian manner. They fought often as mercenarries and were known to be vicious in battle. As such they were almost universally hated throughout medieval Europe. As an insult they were often called snails. Sadly I cant remember how that originated. But it explains why knights are often seen fighting snails (Lombards) in medieval manuscripts
Were they slow in movement, speech or thoughts? 🤔
honestly it could be just a medieval meme.
Yes, I think you are correct. I have read that historic explanation about the Lombards too. 🙂
Monty Python hits yet another level of depth for me. I just thought it was funny to have a vicious rabbit; I had no idea it was a medieval thing. Killer rabbits.
All of a sudden I realise the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog wasn't some completely random thing they threw in the film as just another absurd obstacle on the quest.
"The noise of a fart now, is just as funny as it was in the twelfth century."
To be fair, the oldest known joke was about a woman not farting in a man's lap, so... apparently longer than that.
Medieval Memes 😂
Even in the middle ages they knew about the invincible snail and it's never ending approach
Snails symbolized the Lombards' retreat from Charlemagne by the way they carry their house on their back. When rabbits are depicted participating in human activities these images are called "drolleries" or "grotesque." The most typical form of drollery is the mixed-species beast, such as a fish with a cow's head or a dog with a dragon tail. When rabbits are depicted participating in human activities these images are called "drolleries" or "grotesque." The most typical form of drollery is the mixed-species beast, such as a fish with a cow's head or a dog with a dragon tail.
yeah! Just scrolled down, read it years ago forgot the details. thx
I love all the wacky margin drawings drawn in medieval manuscripts.
Amazing channel, the man behind this definitely needs more recognition.
Been binging on these lately.
Great video. I remember reading that the snails were used as a kind of slur for Lombards in medieval marginalia (at least sometimes).
Yes. This is exactly the Christmas video I want to see right now.
LOl I am nearly 60 years old and I still giggle when I hear a fart LOL
Don't know where you found these "treasures," but this UA-cam video is certainly a delightful (and scandalous) Christmas treat! Many thanks for the gift that will keep on giving!
it's too long ago to be sure but I vaguely remember a history class in college where the homicidal rabbits were said to represent the peasantry.
The implied message being don't think they're completely harmless.
Hasn't changed much. They had a psychopathic rabbit and we had bugs bunny.
I wonder if the medieval killer rabbit doodles inspired that hilarious scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
I imagine 1000 years from now, a Vox Cast video on what the meaning of the smug frog and sad man images were.
“The men of the 21st C. Seemed to communicate with glyphs titled “soyjak” to communicate displeasure, and a rather smug frog titled “papé” to communicate superiority over an adversary.” - future historians, probably
We do not know why the ancient people put so many images of a frog portraying various emotions but some historians believe that this Pepe figure was worshiped as a god.
XD
Europeans will be extinct in 1000 years at the current rate of non-reproduction,
@@pablopicaro7649
Europeans need to have sex with non Europeans by that logic then.
And do it a lot.
Im guessing the hatred for rabbits was because they would ruin people’s hard work raising crops, same with snails
Worm or any kind of gastropod was a common insult. Creatures without legs were lowest to the ground, and Hell below, therefore were considered the most sinister and impure creatures. It was a serious insult to call someone a snail. That's the theory I was taught, anyway, although it might be from a later period. Anyway, these scribes had some serious talent!
Of all the women in medieval society to pick the...fruit(?)...off of a penis tree, I certainly never expected it to be a nun. Thank you for this most fascinating (albeit wildly entertaining) video. People in the Middle Ages were weird, though clearly no more so than we are.
Well, maybe they figured the nuns needed/wanted the disembodied penis-fruit more than regular ladies, who probably had access to their own? lol
So technically, Monty Python is historically accurate?!
Yes witches are made of wood.
@@andydavis8437 ...what a mistake. 🔥Make witches of asbestos next time. 😉
Currently decorating my dining room in a sort of medieval style and I'm determined to have a picture of a cat licking it's butt somewhere in there
“Bad Bunny” owes royalties to medieval illustrators😂
The original Killer Rabbits of Caerbannog??
I suspect that the image of the snails may have symbolized how evil can slowly creep up on one.
I had no idea that such artwork was done within otherwise sacred texts. This gives a whole new meaning to the Illuminated Manuscripts though I don't know if this kind of artwork was present there as well.
Also this kind of art points to where later painting greats got their ideas. Specifically I'm thinking of Hieronomous Bosch and Peter Bruegel.
It also disproves the idea of the “Renaissance”
Makes you wonder if they were on acid, shrooms or something 😂
Amazing to realise people went from that to the Victorian mentality. Lol.
Maybe the snail is a symbol of the slow and clumsy Knight in full armour.
And I was wondering about the bloody savage rabbit in one of the "Monty Python" sketches.
So strange, last video I was thinking to myself "I hope he publishes a video about medieval art" and now you did, thats crazyyy
This is an inspiration to bored students everywhere.
5:50 nah it's just knights fighting the french, "you are what you eat"
The European Bison is not extinct. It was extinct in the wild in 1919. They still had them in zoos and they were also held by private owners.
From the 1950s onward they have been reintroduced into the wild. Today they are classified as Near Threaten.
That's just one notch down from the top of the conservation scale. So if 6 is perfectly fine and flourishing and 0 is extinct, they are currently sitting at a 5.
As of 2019 there were around 7,500 in the wild. Over 25% of which live in Poland.
This video really exemplifies that people have been weird since the dawn of man.
This is quite silly indeed
It'd be great to see more videos on Medieval Marginalia/similar bizarre art, such as bestiary art, please!
Agreed. The channel Hochelaga…I think that’s what it’s called, has a bunch of medieval art stuff.
Marginalia, what a great word!
We really take the knowledge and understanding of the world that we have today for granted.
The phallus tree was an art motif common in Western Europe during the late Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance.[1]
Phallus tree in the Fertility Fresco at Massa Marittima, circa 1265
Its concrete significance is hazy, but it appeared in bronze, illuminated manuscript, and paint; it manifested as bawdy humour, religious parody, political comment. The Tuscan Massa Marittima mural, featuring oversized phalluses, some erect, complete with testes, was Guelph propaganda warning that if the Ghibellines were allowed to take control, they would bring with them sexual perversion and witchcraft.[2]
As an occasional artist I should add that drawing snails is very easy and satisfying
Very well done. I'd hate to see any of this art being _marginalized_ today.
I'd love to see a few more videos about the art that accompanied ancient texts
I see what you did there😏😆
Yes! Please, more of this Medieval marginalia, and with more complete background info.
Awesome video! I've seen many articles about different types of marginalia. Not sure why but I really love them. Sea monsters from ancient maps are just as wonderful.
Rabbits are surprisingly violent, even to this day!
We've come so far haven't we?...
I think the snails are down to a misprint. It was only later that they quested for the Holy Grail instead of Snail
The chap at 4:31 doesn't look like a bishop to me: surely a king?
So..all in all, the beginning of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” wasn’t really that far off of what manuscripts had in them?!?!?…….lol.
The grandson of a friend of mine used to call farts "bum trumpets." Thinking like a medieval artist.
as i (mis)remember a bit of animation in _...Holy Grail_, a character places a trumpet to his bum and produces a musical note.
@@deboralee1623 There were butt trumpeting angels in Monty Python cartoons.
All this insane Medieval MSS illumination artwork explains a lot from Monty Python and the Holy Grail ... including the Knights Who Say Ni demanding that King Arthur cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with... a herring!
And don't forget those butt trumpeting angels.
Love the bit about the violent rabbits! I still have a scar across my face inflicted by a bunny 55 odd years ago!
That was very interesting and funny. I can't imagine a scribe putting naughty drawings in a prayer book and no one notices or cares?
These remind me of the little cartoons in the margins in Mad Magazine in the '70's. My favorite was of a man leaning against a piano with a guy playing the piano. The caption read "Francis Scott Keye writes only hit song!"
Makes me think that most Midieval minds never got beyond puberty!
Yet they were able to build massive, carved-stone cathedrals and steel forging technology to craft full plate armor suits that arrows bounced off of.
This takes me back to Leviticus something something, when God ordered man to pick fruit from the penis tree
When Adam had only a fig leaf (like depicted in the common paintings), perhaps he needed to pick a fruit of that manhood tree to become a whole man!?
I need more of this kind of content
Many more like this please!
Need to pop down to the Library to "research" some medieval books
I can certainly attest to the homicidal tendencies of supposedly 'cute, fluffy' bunnies. Had I sense enough to heed the sage warnings of Tim The Enchanter, I would not have been attacked by a certain rabbit in Hyde Park, London.
If you want the full story...
I'm a vegetarian, even vegan for some of my life. I've supported wildlife charities and always turn parts of any garden I've ever owned into little wildlife sanctuaries - but I must smell like a cross between a bale of hay and a pork chop, because throughout life every animal I come near tries to bite or kick me.
So unfair.
I have to give all animals a wide berth. And it was the valuable lesson learned at Hyde Park that taught me it's best to keep away from everything bar humans (and even some of those have teeth that they're willing to use).
One particular day, working in The Dell, Hyde Park, I was astonished to see a small, brown bunny lollop closer and closer to where I was busily hoeing weeds. Not wishing to scare its fluffy 'cuteness,' I made sure I didn't make any sudden moves, letting it venture closer and closer until it stopped by my feet.
Now, unless you make the assumption this might have been a wild rabbit, I would like to clarify that this rabbit was not. The rabbits you see in the Central Royal Parks are domestic pets deliberately dumped by their owners because they can't be bothered to look after them any more. As well as rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters all show up with annoying regularity as soon as someone decides that cleaning a cage is too time consuming. Once they have a taste of freedom, they quickly go semi-wild, keeping well away from humans.
Back to the story...
So, knowing well this was indeed a domestic rabbit recently turned out of its previous home, I gently bent down to stroke its back. It stayed there, sitting still, allowing me to continue to stroke it, some of my workmates stopping to watch and comment as to its tameness.
Then, the damn thing suddenly sank its teeth into my wrist.
I tried to shake it off. It hung on. I shook it and shook it and eventually it fell off. Then it leapt at me, jumping clear off the ground. I'm only short and I still remember seeing bloodied teeth coming at me. I quickly dodged it. It leapt again and I booted it in the head. It leapt again, I booted it again. It ran off into the undergrowth.
I turned around, heart racing, breathing like the clappers, arm bleeding - and my workmates were rolling on the ground laughing hysterically...
Thanks guys.
I began to start feeling faint (shock), so one of the guys walked me back to the Storeyard, and from there I was transported to the hospital.
Now, in those days, you would give information as to the circumstances of your accident at the hospital reception. The fact I had been attacked by a rabbit caused a sensation in A&E, the information popped up on every A&E doctor's computer screen, and I became the subject of great entertainment for the doctor that treated me.
You should know - That. Blasted. Bunny. Bit. Me. Right. To. The. Bone....
I still remember the nurse that came in, swabbed the blood away and opened up the cleanly bitten flesh so I could see my own wrist-bone.
Ughhhhhhh....
I was cleaned up, patched up, and muffled laughter followed me out of the ward, every doctor grinning from their treatment stations.
Two weeks later, returning to The Dell to do some weeding - that rabbit flew out of the undergrowth with a squeal and wrapped itself around the back of my left leg. Fortunately, this time, it's teeth bit cotton and not flesh. I shook the thing off, stamped on its back, and booted it into the bamboo.
My vegetarianism was severely tried that day.
Now angry rather than frightened, I marched back to the Head Office, told my boss what had happened, and declared I would not return to The Dell until that ferocious beast was dealt with permanently.
Dumped pets are a problem for the Royal Parks, and culling is necessary (so if you think your pet will be treated to a life of freedom in a park. Think again, buster. They get destroyed. We can't have vermin eating expensive plants bought with valuable public funds).
I had asked for the rabbit so I could eat the thing and have its tail as a trophy, but apparently it had been shot into messy pieces and I was denied an opportunity to gloat.
A short while later, I learned that this rabbit had been dumped in the park by a child's mother. It seemed her boy was fond of picking it up by the ears, and it eventually had enough and bit him. It was assumed by my workmates that I must have accidentally brushed this rabbit's ears while stroking it. Fearing I would suddenly pick him up by the ears, the rabbit defended itself in the most horrifying way that I could possibly imagine.
However, now my family bursts into laughter whenever the rabbit scene from Monty Python is ever repeated anywhere.
I do not laugh.
A mere photo-still of that scene is enough to tie a knot in my stomach.
Believe me, after my experience, I distrust rabbits. Laugh as you will, but they have teeth like razor blades and know how to use them.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I had to grin so much in spite of your tragic injury.
Your story is educating, gruesomely bizarre, and exceedingly funny IMO. The conclusion as to why the animal came at you so viciously may exactly be right. Rodents are not suitable pets for very small children, and often they are only active after dark, so sleep deprivation may make them as deranged as we all get under the circumstances (and their teeth are incredibly sharp - a friend's rabbit always was only a hair's breadth from electrocution due to a fatal attraction to live wires as a snack)... Or maybe it was only just at you for your eating its food...
Ok, this joke is old, sorry. Did you get tetanus and rabies shots? Rodents and other park-dwelling animals can transmit both diseases, which today are deemed eradicated (one vaccination that really is essential - tetanus!), but can still kill you - and not even the Holy Handgrenade of Antioch can help you against them.
[May I throw my hat in the ring with the fact that bumblebees can and will sting? This TMK is not widely known, albeit it is logical, because the females also have a stinger = ovipositor.
On a warm day I sat in my car with the windows open, was about to park, and felt something on my thigh. In a reflex I tried to brush it away, when I felt the most excruciating pain.
A bumblebee had been caught between my leg and the car door, and in anguish it stung me, as I saw after I had sadly flattened it (but as a bee relative, it was already dead, as bees can sting only once, but wasps have a retractable multi-use stinger). In the about 15 sec that it took to go around and into the house, my upper leg swelled up to its ca. double size, and I had to cut my trousers away to get out of them.
Luckily I am not officially allergic to hymenoptera (bees, bumblebees) or vespidae (wasps, the distinction is mandatory, as the venoms are different TMK, and wasps can sting more than once), but have many other allergies, so I was happy when the pain receded after ca. 12 hours, and I did not develop more serious symptoms.
When I mention the fact, most people do not believe me, until I share this story, and even then some incredulity remains about what happened, with questions as to how do I know that it was a bumblebee etc. Ironically I was studying biology at the time, and insecta was the current topic, so I knew bl**dy well what had hit me...
Nature is not benign or lenient, and something is always (even if inadvertently) out to get you. It pays to pack the HHoA to have it handy! Thank you again, and better luck in the Parks of London!]
I was today years old when I learned about the origins of the Monty Python rabbit reference 🐰
List of things 1000 years older than the internet:
* Memes
* Furries
* Weird porn
Remember this next time someone tries to blame technology for humans being humans.
Inspiration for Sergio Arogones perhaps 🤔?
I'd love to see more videos depicting and explaining super strange artworks like these
"He really had a daring talent." - William. Love these Illuminators!
The farting bull with a kill radius of *three acres*
marginalia have always reminded of the cartoons drawn in the margins of Mad magazine, there was always all kinds of weird stuff going on though not as weird as the medieval renderings shown here LoL
i wonder if thats where the cartoonists drew their inspiration from? if not, it just proves that human nature is consistent throughout history.
My father used to sing a song to me:
"Root them out,
Get them gone,
All the little bunnies in the fields of corn:
Envy, jealousy, malice, pride.
If you allow them in your heart they'll abide."
The idea being that bunnies (vices) may appear innocent and innocuous, but they'll destroy good effort (character). Also, it is implied that through Christ, we are set free to win battles against these things, but we can still allow them to defeat us -- so don't practice or allow self-defeat at the hands of things that should not have power over us.
Well this is sure different It shows no matter the time people had a sense of humor
Cool collection of illustrations. I've seen many of these in other places, most separately in other videos on other topics, but it's fun to see them together. BTW, the European Bison is *NOT* extinct. It's still around and is in the lists as "near threatened". In fact, it was recently re-introduced to the fens of Britain as part of re-wilding project.
Thanks for this video. I laughed out loud & really enjoyed it a lot!
I love medieval art, well done, BTW the image @ 6:31 I believe is saying that even a knight must fight snails in the garden.
They were just as nuts and weird as we are. And 1000 years from now, human/AI cyborgs will look back on us and say exactly the same thing.
You've probably also heard of Fables Of Lafontaine, where anthropomorphic animals are often depicted. 🙂
There’s a paintings in tombs and on papyrus from ancient Egypt where cats herd geese, antelopes play Senet wirh lions, cats are caring for their mouse masters babies… hippos climb trees to get away from mice , etc…. so this kind of art isn’t new at all.
That was cool, thanks!!
0:48 that guy will hate to come back to life today and find lightbulbs exist
Don't mind me. I'm just here continuing my Medieval Madness binge.
I mean I think we need more of these lol
When It comes to the snails?. I thought is was a representation of the Lombards . Interesting.
Thank you.
Any art work from the original versions of some childrens stories? The ones which were actually quite gruesome?
I just love these insane images :)
to me it’s the epitome of medievality (is there such a word? well, nevermind :))… I mean, the very essence, the spirit of that time.
Look up Sheila Na Gig from Ireland. Ladies doing a not-so -lady-like thing!😄👍
If I may, there seems to be some confusion about rabbits versus hares. The latter are fierce.
I guess everyone who's complaining about today's toilet humor and fart joke mentality should get a load of THIS😮🤷🏼♂️🤓😎✌🏼
Just what you need on Christmas eve
10:10 - European Bison never went extinct. It's still around and doing pretty well. Its last free living specimen was killed in 1919, with less than 50 captive specimens kept in European zoos. Thanks to those surviving animals, its population was reintroduced into the wild.
A specie of European wild ox that went extinct was called aurochs and it went extinct in 1627.
Rabbits are actually vicious and have a strict army like ranking system and have battles against each other's warrens. "Watership Down" was a scientific study anthropomorphized for reading interest. There's another,similar famous book about ants.
Anyway, if snails represented Lombards and dogs represented a loyalist (or sometimes a specific saint) I'm sure rabbits must represent a nationality or type of person. Lions are England, unicorns Scotland, griffins are Ireland,dragons are Wales...maybe rabbits are France?
@TeleegramMedievalMadness I'm not sure what you mean *head scratch* lol But thanks for making my life happier 🐇🐌
I can only imagine what people from the distant future are going to say about our memes.
LOL!!! Please more videos like this!!!!!
Errr --- tanks, but no tanks. Vid's a hoot though... Tanks.
toilet humor will keep existing for as long as culture does
The Bonacon sounds like me after a particularly spicy Vindaloo
Sorry, the projectile crap can be seen at any zoo. Ever watched the rhino? A full body shield isn’t enough…..and they swish their tails furiously. They know what they’re doing
A little clarification about 10:10; the European Bison was indeed hunted to extinction in the early 20th century, but only in the wild. The species survived in captivity and was relatively quickly reintroduced to the wild. The population of European Bisons is, in fact, growing.
This channel needs to blow up
The forerunners of MAD magazine.....