Dragons in natural history. Medieval & early modern scholars on the existence and nature of dragons.

Medieval Fair Free Lectures Series
Friday, Sept. 20th, 6:15pm – 7:30pm CST (Seating at 6:15pm, Lecture starts at 6:30pm)
Norman Public Library East, Community Room, 3051 E Alameda St., Norman, OK 73071.
If you can’t be there in person, the presentation will also be available on Zoom at https://oklahoma.zoom.us/j/91497925617

Dragons in natural history. Medieval and early modern scholars on the existence and nature of dragons.

Presented by Dr. Rienk Vermij
Professor of the History of Science & Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, University of Oklahoma

Dragons are known from legends, medieval romances, bestiaries, and works of fiction, but to what extent did people think that they were real? Medieval and early modern scholars, pondering the sources, had various ideas. Most authors accepted the existence of some large, snake-like animals, but it was controversial whether such animals could fly or whether they could spit fire. Interestingly, whereas Renaissance scholars exposed many commonly held beliefs (on unicorns, mandrakes, etc.) as errors, the belief in dragons on the contrary got a boost in the early modern period. Whereas early medieval authors had relegated dragons to far-away countries such as India or Ethiopia, by the sixteenth century they were widely held to live in the Swiss mountains. Many people in Europe reported seeing dragons flying in the air. The famous seventeenth-century scholar Athanasius Kircher advanced theories about the origin and procreation of dragons. On the topic of dragons, medieval scholars were often more critical than their Renaissance counterparts.

The Medieval Fair Free Lecture Series is cosponsored by the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies University of Oklahoma.

Come learn more about the middle ages just for the fun of learning! No papers, no test, just interesting information about life long ago.

This event is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Norman Arts Council Hotel Tax Grant Program.