Medieval Pig

Examines the role of the pig in medieval society in material and textual sources. <p/>The pig was a common sight in the Middle Ages. They might be eating under an oak tree or out in a field. They might be in the street with the swineherd close behind at their heels. They might be dismembered for sale by a butcher. They might be represented on misericords in a church or cathedral dancing playing the bagpipes or suckling people. Pigs were in all these places. But what was the pig's place? <p/>This book considers pigs in medieval Europe from a number of angles: whether part of the countryside the cityscape on the plate or in the mind. Drawing on a rich wealth of sources both textual and material it examines in particular the paradoxes that the pig presented: both good and bad fecund/fornicator noble/filthy. It uncovers the pig's numerous roles in medieval society how pigs shaped human life and how humans shaped theirs.