Callan Davies

We can glean information about bear baiting from different medieval sources such as manuscript marginalia or sketches. But there is a lot more to bears in visual culture than first meets the eye.

We’ve been tracking bears in inns, arenas, and marketplaces, but they were also “presented” in royal residences and recreational spaces, including the distinguished Banqueting House.

In 1583, on a cold winter’s night, a great fire swept through the town of Nantwich in the north-west of England…

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join our English and Creative Writing team in the School of Humanities & Social Sciences and join the ‘Box Office Bears: Animal Baiting in Early Modern England’ research team.

What did pet dogs look like and how were they described?  Although the idea of a “pet” does not quite exist in this period, this list contains detailed descriptions of a wide range of Elizabethan dogs owned by men and women of the age.

Last year, we launched our prototype website with an animation about the fire of Nantwich in 1581 and what it meant for the town’s bears. This new post sees the Box Office Bears team discussing “where do animals belong in early modern England?”