20 Bizarre Examples Of Medieval Marginalia

Yo, medieval scribes: no one's going to read the text you so painstakingly lettered if you continue to draw weird and dirty pictures in the margins. Well, I guess you're all dead, so we can't fix this now, can we?

1. A penis tree

culture-et-debats.over-blog.com / Via gotmedieval.com

From a 14th century copy of Romance of the Rose.

2. A monkey with an arrow stuck in its butt

gotmedieval.com / Via gotmedieval.com

From Bibliothèque Mazarine MS 520.

3. Ass arrows, again

Via laphamsquarterly.org

From the Rutland Psalter, c. 1260.

4. An inappropriate rabbit

tumblr.com / Via kardiologn.livejournal.com

From Breviary, Use of Verdun c. 1302-1305.

5. Another inappropriate rabbit

gotmedieval.com / Via bigshoediaries.blogspot.com

From Bodleian Library’s MS Douce 5.

6. This obviously boneless individual

Flickr: tonyynot / Via mediumaevum.tumblr.com

7. An ape bludgeoning a man with an axe

Via mediumaevum.tumblr.com

8. Whatever's going on here

Via janiek.wordpress.com

9. Creative, naked nose picking?

flickr.com / Via Flickr: medmss

From Book of Hours, Walters Manuscript W.102, fol. 92v.

10. A man voiding his bowels

Via andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com

11. An amputee brawl

gotmedieval.com / Via gotmedieval.com

From Bodleian Alexander (MS Bodl. 264).

12. Ape sodomy

gotmedieval.com / Via gotmedieval.com

From Bodleian MS Douce 6.

13. The guy on the left

img.gawkerassets.com / Via io9.com

From The Vows of the Peacock c. 1350.

14. Ass trumpets

Via io9.com

From The Vows of the Peacock c. 1350.

15. Man riding a head toward a naked woman

Via janiek.wordpress.com

16. Hellbarrows

blogger.com / Via gotmedieval.com

From The Taymouth Hours.

17. Nom nom nom

blogger.com / Via gotmedieval.com

From The Taymouth Hours.

18. THIS GUY

tinyurl.com / Via bodleian.ox.ac.uk

From Codex, with gloss of Accursius, MS Canon. Misc. 495.

19. Babies torturing a naked man

tinyurl.com / Via bodleian.ox.ac.uk

From Breviary, Carthusian use. MS. Canon. Liturg. 410.

20. A snake man playing the bagpipes with his anus

gotmedieval.com

From Pierpont Morgan Library’s MS G24.