Three Medieval Cats and Their Mice

Wordless Wednesday

 Long before Tom and Jerry of cartoon fame, cats and mice began appearing together in art. Here are three examples from medieval manuscripts.

Miniatures of cat and mouse, and a mouse,

in a Theological Miscellany by Peraldus. England, c. 1236–1275.

Public Domain, via the

 British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts.

A cat with a mouse in the margin of the “Harley Hours”

(a Book of Hours). England, c. 1275–1300.

Public Domain, via the

 British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts.

Detail of a cat holding a mouse on a page

from the Codex Justiniani.

Central England, possibly Oxford, c. 1250.

Public Domain, via the

British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts.