#animalhistory is an active hashtag on Bluesky. In the last 30 days, 6 people shared 10 posts with it — around 0 a day. Activity is down 67% versus the previous week, peaking on Sep 5 with 2 posts.
youtu.be
Joschka Meier Paper Alpine Animal Welfare - IMC Leeds 2026
YouTube video by Joschka Meier
Joschka Meier @josserme.bsky.social
If anyone is interested in #animalhistory - or just animals in general - come check out #IMC2026 panel 1505 : imc-leeds.confex.com/imc/2026/mee... The theme is 'protecting animals' which includes in my case maternity leave for horses, sabbaticals for work animals and more! #medievalsky #envhist
Joschka Meier @josserme.bsky.social
There's lots of examples showing that people in the Middle Ages genuinely cared for animals - but that was, unfortunately, not universal. Like some transport horses that were driven so relentlessly across the Alps, that they became so emaciated that they'd be "replaced" after a year. #animalhistory
![A page from my dissertation, the most important quote is this:
«Und also damit innen [Kauf- und Fuhrleuten] das maist und beschwärlichist gewest das sy ire aigne wagen ross piss aufs payn [Bein, d.h. Knochen] abgemörglt [ausgemergelt] und verderbt haben. Auch derhalben ain jar des men [Zugtier] ross ir meinung [Zugtier] widerumben zůersezen haben gebraůcht.»
Excerpts of the rest: "Zu diesen Wissenslücken gehört auch, dass es unklar ist, wie ein ‹typisches› Pferd in einem alpinen Dorf aussah. Wenn Pferde in Quellen aus dem ländlichen Alpenraum erwähnt wurden, beschränkten sich die Beschreibungen meist auf die Frage, ob es sich um ein Acker- oder Saumpferd handelte, oder auf den Gesundheitszustand des Pferdes. So unterschieden etwa Brücken- und Passiertarife häufig zwischen Arbeitstieren auf der Basis von deren Arbeitstätigkeit, wie zum Beispiel im folgenden Auszug aus einer Brückenordnung im Gericht Laudegg in Tirol aus dem Jahr 1446:
[....]
Während der Tarif für Schweine je nach Tiergrösse variierte (der Tarif für «vaisse», also «feisse», Schweine betrug das doppelte von jenem für magere Schweine), bezogen sich die Tarife für Pferde auf die Art ihrer Verwendung als Arbeitstiere, wobei auch etwaige transportierte Güter den Tarif beeinflussten: Ein Saumross mit einer Ladung Salz war nur halb so teuer wie ein Saumross, welches teurere Waren wie Wein transportierte.
In Berichten und Klagen über das Transportwesen gibt es manchmal anschauliche Schilderungen zum Gesundheitszustand von Pferden. Das folgende Beispiel stammt aus einem Bericht über die Situation am Fernpass in Tirol nach dem Bau einer neuen Strasse im Jahr 1545 und kontrastiert diese mit der früheren Lage:
«Und also damit innen [Kauf- und Fuhrleuten] das maist und beschwärlichist gewest das sy ire aigne wagen ross piss aufs payn [Bein, d.h. Knochen] abgemörglt [ausgemergelt] und verderbt haben. Auch derhalben ain jar des men [Zugtier] ross ir meinung [Zugtier] widerumben zůersezen haben gebraůcht.»
[...]»](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2s6j77pqfowb2qrdn7ddza2j/bafkreihuccm4b26nbjwtmv2zqmykb3dcv23ocendmhno5iecl5ad3rqaly)
works.hcommons.org
Joschka Meier @josserme.bsky.social
There've always been people that cared for animals - including in the Middle Ages! This video is about the various ways people protected & cared for animals, even in the face of challenges like iron-eating 🐂 & spontaneous 🐷explosions #skystorians #medievalsky #envhist #animalhistory #earlymodern
youtu.be
www.cambridge.org
niche-canada.org
Cattle, People, and Cold: The Canadian Transatlantic Shipping of Live Cattle in the Late 19th Century
The transatlantic shipping of live cattle from the St. Lawrence during the late 19th century reveals a complex meshwork of human-animal relations, economic priorities, and environmental challenges.
niche-canada.org
Canadian Beavers in the Nordic Countries
In the 1800s, European beavers were nearly extinct, so Sweden’s Skansen zoo imported Canadian beavers instead. Efforts later reintroduced European beavers.
niche-canada.org
The Search for the Animal Corpus
Margaryta Golovchenko reflects on the challenges of tracing human-animal relationships in history, focusing on the tensions between named, intimate animal companions like those of Rosa Bonheur and unn...
niche-canada.org
The Search for the Animal Corpus
Margaryta Golovchenko reflects on the challenges of tracing human-animal relationships in history, focusing on the tensions between named, intimate animal companions like those of Rosa Bonheur and unn...
www.welshcountry.co.uk
Bear Baiting Became More Common Following Norman Invasion
The study by Cardiff University and the University of Nottingham brings together archaeological analysis of bear bones and archival records...
animalhistorygroup.org
10 Year Conference 2026
CALL FOR PAPERS Animal Histories: A Decade with Animals Animal History Group International Conference Online, Friday 11th December 2026 AHG26 The Animal History Group is an international network fo…
Samuel Pepys @samuelpepys.bsky.social
Made my wife get herself ready and so carried her by coach, and showed her the monkeys dancing on the ropes, which was strange, but such dirty sport that I was not pleased with it. There was also a horse with hoofs like rams hornes, a goose with four feet, and a cock with three.
niche-canada.org
New Book: Literature, Science, and Animal Advocacy in Canada: Practical Zoocriticism
Between the Nature Fakers controversy and the legal status of animals as “property” in anti-cruelty legislation, my curiosity was consumed by these fascinating juxtapositions in the history of animal ...
www.e-rara.ch
Thierbuoch : das ist ein kurtze Bschreybung aller vierfüssigen Thieren, so auff der Erden und in Wassern wonend, sampt jrer waren Conterfactur : alles zuo Nutz und Guotem allen Liebhabern der Künsten,...
ZB Zürich (NEBIS). Gessner, Conrad: Thierbuoch : das ist ein kurtze Bschreybung aller vierfüssigen Thieren, so auff der Erden und in Wassern wonend, sampt jrer waren Conterfactur : alles zuo Nutz und ...
Joschka Meier @josserme.bsky.social
Selection of non-fiction that left a distinct impression on me: The Rhine: An Eco-Biography, 1815–2000 by Mark Cioc Die unzähmbare Gürbe (small river, big floods) by Melanie Salvisberg Works of Roger Sablonier & Jon Mathieu Ruralia commoda by Pietro de' Crescenzi Thierbůch by Conrad Gessner
![The dataset consists of a collection of over 1'600 sources, that were gathered and analysed for the research project “Living Landscapes: Environmental Adaptation and Resource Management by the Alpine Population, 1400–1550” [...].
This project investigates the rural Alpine region from Valais to Tyrol and South Tyrol during the Late Middle Ages up to the beginning of the Early Modern Era to shed light on how people and animals lived in and used alpine spaces and how the natural environment, in turn, influenced their lives. These questions are explored through an examination of the collective and communal use and management of space and resources, with a focus on the closely interlinked topics of transportation, livestock husbandry, and the Alpwirtschaft, which were of paramount importance to Alpine communities. The research project also looks at social and environmental history more broadly including topics like intra- and inter-municipal conflicts and cooperation, labor practices, the acquisiton and transmission of knowledge in village communities and human-animal relationships.
[...] The dataset and the collections created from it are an extensive and representative selection of relevant sources from all source editions and archival holdings used in the research project. Their publication not only serves as a reference for the dissertation resulting from the research project but is also intended to provide other researchers with easy access to the project’s research data and the interesting sources from the rural Alpine area. [...]
Detailed descriptions, summaries, copies, images, and/or transcriptions are available for all sources, which, due to factors such as the amount of work required to prepare them for publication, image rights, and similar considerations, cannot be published at this time.
However, this information can be requested and shared on a case-by-case basis and all interested parties are encouraged to reach out](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2s6j77pqfowb2qrdn7ddza2j/bafkreibllq4idkqojvsfpdfdd3yjrtseag4ybbvog5s5w4tow35icat6ta)
![These are collections of sources (or rather the corresponding information), which contain the themes that are mentioned in title of the collection. More information on these themes, collections and their significance can be found in the dissertation. They have been published indivually on Zenodo to ensure clarity and to facilitate efficient access:
Sammlung Amtszwang [obligation of villagers to assume an office if elected, wether they wanted to or not] Version 1.0.0, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21722273
Sammlung Auenschutz [protection of river meadows] Version 1.0.0, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21722479
Sammlung Bluembsuech [grazing in forests] Version 1.0.0, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21722604
Sammlung Feuerprävention [fire prevention] Version 1.0.0, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21722703
Sammlung Gemeine Arbeit [communal work duties] Version 1.0.0, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21722764
Regarding this topic, as well as the important role of women in carrying out communal work tasks, see: Meier, Joschka Sergej: Toil and Trouble: The Labour, Duties and Rights of Women in Alpine Communities in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. In: Journal of Medieval History 52/3 (2026): 331-352, here p. 339-346. DOI: 10.1080/03044181.2026.2616283.
- cooperative grazing practices
- hay regulations
- how long cut lumber may sit unused
- numerical alp rights
- horses in Raetia
- areas to protect livestock against the sun and insects
- wolves and bears
-provisions to put rings into pig's noses
- sheep
-rights to seek refuge from snow and storms with livestock
- pigs
- laminitis prevention
- condemning profit at the expense of the community
- scales
- ways which were only used during winter
- literally winter livestock, the amount of animals someone could feed with their own produce
- access to water for livestock
- communal) breeding animals
- water hygiene
Due to character limits I unfortunately can't provide alt text for the entirety of what's visible in the picture](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2s6j77pqfowb2qrdn7ddza2j/bafkreic5vdwhoatvsg5nmgp3spvbunhughldjfgij7kvyah4duoq2jqqdm)
Joschka Meier @josserme.bsky.social
Too hot to think or write, so I worked on publishing the dataset of my research instead. Turns out it's pretty chunky! 1'000+ pages of sources about life in the Alps from the 13th to the 17th cent. Hope it'll help others, so that they don't have go through as many editions & archives as I did
niche-canada.org
In Praise of Dogs
Dogs performed vital labor in the Hudson's Bay fur trade, using their cooperation and choices to shape human colonial relations.
niche-canada.org
The Bow Valley and 'People' Without a History
Multispecies ethnographies offer a way to approach the world from a "more-than-human" angle.
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