Documents… Unicorns on Pierre Desceliers’ Mappemonde (1546) 11 Jan 2019September 30, 2020 In an earlier post, I discussed why a unicorn appeared on the mappemonde created by Pierre Desceliers. Since then, I reexamined a digital copy of the map and found another…
Primary Sources… The Horn of Windsor 16 Nov 2018September 30, 2020 The Horn of Windsor was a unicorn horn (alicorn) owned by Elizabeth I. The corpus of material surrounding both the Martin Frobisher voyages and unicorns links the Horn of Windsor…
Ancient World… Pliny the Elder on the Unicorn 10 Oct 2018September 30, 2020 Pliny the Elder described the unicorn in his Natural History (77-79 CE). Pliny collected knowledge from the ancient world, covering diverse topics across science, math, and art. Pliny called the unicorn…
Ancient World… The Unicorn in Liber Animalium (1595) 9 Oct 2018September 30, 2020 This wonderful pen-and-ink drawing of a unicorn appeared in the Liber Animalium, a handwritten book containing 245 drawings and descriptions of animals and mythical creatures. An unknown person completed the work around 1595.…
Material Culture… Unicorn Horns at St. Mary’s Church, Utrecht 4 Oct 2018September 30, 2020 Religious authorities displayed what they believed were unicorn horns on the high altar in St. Mary’s church (consecrated 1099 CE) in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Priests used them as candlesticks to represent…
Sound… What Unicorns Sound Like 10 Jul 2018September 30, 2020 We now know what unicorns sound like. Narwhal tusks were often viewed as being unicorn horns (alicorn) during the medieval and early modern periods, in part because they are long…
Documents… “The Man who did not Believe in Unicorns” 14 Nov 2017September 30, 2020 In previous posts I discussed the belief in the existence of unicorns and the medicinal virtues of their horns, however, there were some people in the early-modern period who did…
Documents… Unicorns in Java 27 Jul 2017October 11, 2020 Unicorns were sighted in Java by M. Paulus. His story was published in 1613 by Samuel Purchas' in Purchas his pilgrimage. Title page of Purchas his Pilgrimage (London, 1613) Purchas…
Greenland… More questions about Vikings in Greenland, the Bishop of Gardar’s Crosier,and Unicorn Horns. 20 Mar 2017September 30, 2020 A recent Smithsonian Magazine article explores the decline and disappearance of Viking settlements on Greenland. Previous scholarship argued that the Viking disappearance was caused by a combination of factors including…
Art… The Virgin Bride and the Unicorn 11 Jan 2017September 30, 2020 Around 1494, to celebrate either the engagement or marriage of Matteo di Sebastiano di Bernardino Goazzadini to Ginevra d'Antonio Lupari Goazzadini, artist Maestro delle Storie del Pane painted the portraits of…
Documents… The Unicorn in Fabyn’s Cronycle 11 Nov 2016September 30, 2020 Robert Fabyan (1455? – 1512) was a draper, sheriff, and author of Fabyans cronycle. The Cronycle recounted English and French history covering the time period from the legendary first king…
Documents… Unicorns in Shakespeare 20 Oct 2016September 30, 2020 William Shakespeare mentioned unicorns three times in his plays: Julius Caesar (1599), Timon of Athens (1605), and The Tempest (1610). In Julius Caesar, Decius described how a unicorn could be caught by a…
Uncategorized… The Savages say there be Unicorns – How a Unicorn appeared on a French Map from 1546 23 Sep 2016September 30, 2020 On a map created by Frenchman Pierre Desceliers in 1546, a solitary white unicorn appeared situated between Penobscot Bay and Cape Cod. How did it get there? …
Uncategorized… Unicorns and the Northwest Passage 2 Sep 2016September 30, 2020 In 1576, Humphry Gilbert published A discourse of a discouerie for a new passage to Cataia to drum up the political and economic support he needed to raise a venture…
Uncategorized… Doubting Unicorns and their Horns 27 Aug 2016September 30, 2020 Thomas Browne was an English physician and author. In 1646, he wrote a book entitled Pseudodoxia Epidemica which he subtitled Inquiries in Vulgar and Common Errors where he tackled topics ranging…
Uncategorized… A surgeon’s advice for what to do when you have a patient to treat but you’re fresh out of unicorn horn. 26 Aug 2016September 30, 2020 John Woodall was a surgeon who held a variety of jobs including stocking the medical chests of the ships bound in the service of the East India Company, the army,…
Uncategorized… Of the Unicorns of the Temple of Mecca 2 Aug 2016September 30, 2020 This account arrived to me through a circuitous route - and it may be best to trace to the path of the account's publication to contextualize the relation of…
Documents… The Unicorn in Laurence Andrew’s The Noble Lyfe / Hortus Sanitatis 1 Aug 2016September 30, 2020 Laurence Andrew (fl. 1510-1537) was a printer and translator active in Antwerp. Not much is known about him and many of the works he translated and/or printed have not survived…
Uncategorized… The Unicorn in Clariodus 24 Jul 2016September 30, 2020 Clariodus: A Metrical Romance is a peculiar poem. The author is unknown and the poem was probably based on the French work entitled Cleriadus et Meliadice from c. 1440. The…
Documents… Martin Luther and the Unicorn Horn 30 Jun 2016September 30, 2020 Martin Luther, the leading figure of the Protestant Reformation, spent his last three days on earth working. He delivered a sermon that in part encouraged Jews to convert to Christianity…
Documents… Alicorn 20 Jun 2016September 30, 2020 Sea Unicorns from The History of Barados, St. Christophers, Mevis, St Vincents, Antego, Martinico, Monserrat, and the rest of the Caribby-Islands (London, 1666). One of the first pieces of Anglo-American…
Ancient World… The Unicorn in the Physiologus and Bestiaries 15 Jun 2016September 30, 2020 Medieval Christian scholars across Europe read the Physiologus making the book's circulation second only to that of the Bible.” The Physiologus was based on Indian, Hebrew, and Egyptian legends that later…
Ancient World… Ancient Authorities on the Unicorn 13 Jun 2016September 30, 2020 Many early-modern Europeans believed in the existence of unicorns, in part, due to the writings of ancient authorities. Ctesias (ca. 400 BCE), the Greek physician who served the Persian…
Bible… Unicorns in the Bible 13 Jun 2016October 12, 2020 Updated: October 11, 2020 There are unicorns in the Bible. How did they end up there? Were they real creatures? Did the authors of the Bible actually see them? Unfortunately,…
