Medieval animal books, also called ‘bestiaries’, were a kind of predecessor of today’s animal encyclopedias. Unlike today, however, they did not distinguish between real animals and mythical creatures. Nor did they focus on the ‘zoological’ behavior of animals, but on what humans could learn from them. In this workshop, you will dive into the world of these books and explore this somewhat foreign way of thinking, trying to decipher it. In medieval manuscripts and early prints we will decipher short excerpts in original writings, some of which are over 1000 years old. In the second part of the workshop it’s your turn: with pen and ink you describe your own animal. Of course, you can’t miss the matching picture!