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LAW & BEASTS

PHYSIOLOGUS / SOURCE LINEAGE

The animal stories did not come from one book. This page shows the line they travelled, and the other streams that joined it.

RESEARCH LAYER · OPTIONAL READING

SOURCE LINEAGE

You don’t need any of this to enjoy the animals. But when a record says “Physiologus line” or “Isidore”, this is what it means.

NO SINGLE PHYSIOLOGUS

There is no one fixed Physiologus text. There are Greek recensions, several Latin versions, and families of later bestiaries that rework them. Wherever we can, we name the version or family. Where we can’t yet, the record says so.

THE SHORT VERSION

The arrows below show inheritance, compilation and transformation — not a single clean chain of direct copying.

  1. 01

    GREEK PHYSIOLOGUS

    EARLY CHRISTIAN · PROBABLY ALEXANDRIA

    Short chapters on animals, and some stones and plants. Each gives a natural “fact” and then reads it as Christian allegory. No manuscript of the original survives. It is known through later Greek copies and early translations.

  2. 02

    EARLY LATIN TRANSLATIONS

    VERSIONS Y · B · X (ALSO CALLED C)

    Three independent Latin translations, all from the first, oldest Greek recension. Version Y keeps closest to the Greek chapter order. X/C comes from a different Greek branch.

  3. 03

    VERSION B

    THE MOST SUCCESSFUL LATIN PHYSIOLOGUS

    Derived from, or closely related to, Y. About 36–37 chapters. It is one major Latin line feeding later bestiary traditions.

  4. 04

    B-ISIDORE · “B-IS”

    THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE BESTIARY

    Version B chapters expanded with extracts from Isidore’s Etymologiae. In McCulloch’s classification this is the first family of the bestiary.

    JOINS HEREISIDOREEtymologiae · Isidore of Seville · early 7th c.
  5. 05

    SECOND FAMILY BESTIARY

    12TH CENTURY · ABOUT 100–120 CHAPTERS

    A large reorganised expansion. It draws on B-Is and adds Solinus, Ambrose and much more Isidore. Allegory is expanded too, and is still sometimes labelled “Physiologus” in the manuscripts.

    JOINS HEREISIDOREEtymologiae · Isidore of Seville · early 7th c.
    JOINS HERESOLINUSLate antique compiler of marvels
    JOINS HEREAMBROSEAmbrose of Milan · 4th c.
  6. 06

    ABERDEEN BESTIARY

    UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN · MS 24 · c. 1200

    An English Second Family bestiary. Its spine is Physiologus lore (through the B / B-Is line), heavy use of Isidore Book XII, and Solinus, Ambrose and other additions. Most of the images on this site come from it.

TWO DIFFERENT AUTHORITIES
ISIDORE

An encyclopaedia. It explains what a name means and what an animal is like. Seventh century.

PHYSIOLOGUS LINE

Allegory. A natural “fact” followed by its Christian meaning. Older, and many times rewritten.

Bestiaries like Aberdeen fuse the two. When Aberdeen credits a motif to Physiologus, that is evidence for the later layer, not for Isidore.

WHAT THIS CHANGES ON THE ANIMAL PAGES

LAYERS KEPT SEPARATE

PANTHER

Classic Physiologus chapter: the three-day sleep, the sweet breath, the Christ allegory. Isidore has a shorter, different account.

OPEN RECORD · PANTHER →
ROAR ≠ BREATH

LION

Physiologus and the later bestiary give the cubs born dead and breathed to life. Isidore gives the open eyes and the father’s roar.

OPEN RECORD · LION →
NO ISIDORE XII LOCUS

HYENA

Strong Physiologus and Solinus tradition: tombs, both sexes, double-mindedness. No Isidore Book XII entry.

OPEN RECORD · HYENA →
CONTRADICTORY WITNESS

MONOCEROS / UNICORN

Physiologus carries the virgin-capture allegory, and so does Isidore. The surviving Aberdeen De monocero text says the monoceros can never be captured. An earlier unicorn entry is missing in a separate lacuna between f.9v and f.10r.

OPEN RECORD · MONOCEROS / UNICORN →
VERSION NOT YET CITED

PHOENIX

A core Physiologus chapter that later bestiaries inherit and expand.

OPEN RECORD · PHOENIX →
UNVERIFIED · SEE NOTE

BASILISK

Our summary groups it with the core chapters. That is not yet verified, so the record’s Physiologus layer stays open.

OPEN RECORD · BASILISK →
ILLUSTRATED PHYSIOLOGUS IS RARE

Most famous animal pictures, including the ones on this site, come from bestiaries that absorbed Physiologus material. They are descendants, not Physiologus manuscripts.

GOING DEEPER · THE MANUSCRIPT TAXONOMY

GREEKThe Greek tradition: the oldest layer

Francesco Sbordone (1936) established the modern classification of the Greek Physiologus. Later work, by Caroline Macé and others, revises it.

  • First recension (Phys. Gr. I): the oldest, and the one that matters for later transmission.
    • Redaction α: essentially one Greek manuscript, Π (Moscow, State Historical Museum, Sinod. gr. 467), plus a few related witnesses.
    • Redaction β: the majority of Greek manuscripts.
  • Later Greek recensions (Byzantine, pseudo-Basilian) exist but are secondary for the Latin bestiary line.

The Latin translations depend on the first Greek recension, not on the later Byzantine ones.

LATINThe three early Latin versions
VERSIONKEY FACTSNOTABLE EARLY MANUSCRIPTS
YClosest to the Greek chapter order (manuscript Π). About 48–49 chapters. The oldest Latin witnesses.Bern, Burgerbibliothek 611 (early 8th c., the oldest Latin Physiologus manuscript) · Munich, Clm 19417 · Munich, Clm 14388
BThe most successful version in the Middle Ages. Derived from, or closely related to, Y. About 36–37 chapters.Bern, Burgerbibliothek 233 (early 9th c.) · Montecassino 323 · Oxford, Bodleian Auct. T.2.23
X / CA separate translation from a different Greek branch. Only two main witnesses. Illustrated early.Bern, Burgerbibliothek 318 (9th c., the Physiologus Bernensis, an important early illustrated copy)
LATERLater Latin developments that feed the bestiary
  • B-Isidore (B-Is): Version B chapters expanded with extracts from Isidore. McCulloch’s first family of the bestiary.
  • Dicta Chrysostomi (DC): an independent reworking based on B, often attributed in the Middle Ages to John Chrysostom. Strong German and later French tradition.
  • Second Family bestiary: the 12th-century expansion of about 100–120 chapters, drawing on B-Is, Solinus, Ambrose and further Isidore. Aberdeen MS 24 belongs here.
  • Other branches (the H-version, the Transitional family, the Third Family) exist but are less central to the Aberdeen line.
WITNESSESEarly Latin manuscripts worth knowing
  • Bern 611: the earliest substantial Latin Physiologus (Version Y, early 8th c.).
  • Bern 318: early illustrated X/C version.
  • Bern 233: an important Version B witness.
  • Brussels, KBR 10066–77: mixed / Version A material, often cited in older literature.
  • Vatican, Pal. lat. 1074: an early B-Isidore type.

Later illustrated bestiaries (Aberdeen, Ashmole 1511, Harley 4751, Bodley 764 and others) are descendants, not pure Physiologus manuscripts. Several are in our manuscript collection.

EDITIONSModern editions and overviews
  • Greek: Sbordone (1936), with later revisions by Macé, Offermanns and Kaimakis.
  • Latin Y: Carmody (1941).
  • Recent overview: The Multilingual Physiologus (Brepols, 2021), and Emmanuelle Kuhry’s panorama of the manuscripts, which lists about 153 Latin and bestiary witnesses by version.

These are listed as orientation. Their contents have not been checked passage by passage for this site.

THE RULES WE FOLLOW
  1. Never treat “Physiologus” as one fixed text. Name the version or family when possible: Y, B, B-Is, Second Family, Dicta Chrysostomi.
  2. Isidore is not the Physiologus. A motif a bestiary credits to Physiologus is evidence for the later layer, not for Isidore.
  3. Illustrated Physiologus manuscripts are rare. Most famous animal pictures come from bestiaries that absorbed Physiologus material.
  4. Where a manuscript names its own source, as Aberdeen does for the panther, say so on the page.
HOW WE KNOW · SOURCES
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