Thank you to Ten Speed Press and author Catherine Nappington for this pre-reader galley of Medieval Cats: Claws, Paws, and Kitties of Yore. I was drawn to this title and its content by the prevalence of quirky cat medieval marginalia posted on Instagram from archives and special collections across the world. Unfortunately, this title was not for me, and it’s been added to my DNF list.

The tone Medieval Cats is silly and playful, and it would likely be a perfectly giftable, goofy, coffee-table book for a cat lover in your life.

I enjoyed the illustrations selected throughout the book, but the prose was thin. I found myself craving a more cohesive academic cultural exploration of the symbolism and vilification of cats throughout the medieval period. At times, the book repeated common misconceptions about the Middle Ages without challenge. The cats in these drawings win the day, but I wasn’t compelled to finish the text.

The book is a hilariously weird compendium of cats from medieval manuscripts and artworks. Unsurprisingly, cats in the Middle Ages were like cats of today. While playful and affectionate, they were also mischievous, lazy, and sassy. Medieval Cats depicts furry fiends doing typical feline activities. They lick their butts, catch mice, and judge humans with serious side-eye.

While all that is to be expected, artists in the Middle Ages also portrayed cats engaging in human behavior. Illuminated manuscripts show cats playing musical instruments, reading, and dressing as nuns. Much of this iconography was common back in the day and certainly has meaning behind it. But to modern viewers, it’s equal parts amusing and just plain weird.

Author Catherine Nappington supplements the artwork with fun cat facts, proverbs, excerpts from literature, and historical tidbits. She gives us a peek into the lives of medieval cats and their owners.

Medieval Cats is a fun, easy read. It’s not a scholarly treatise on felines in the Middle Ages, but rather a fun collection of artwork and tidbits about cats from primary sources. The balance between visuals and text is just right. The book makes a lovely gift for cat lovers (or haters) and medievalists alike because its informative and accessible to all readers. It’s short, sweet, and to the point.

Medieval Cats is also quite funny. I actually laughed out loud many times. Nappington pays attention to detail, with humor infused into everything. For example, the table of contents is called “Ye Olde Contents” and the chapter titles are equally hilarious: “Catt Satteth upon the Matteth,” “Get Thee to a Cattery,” “Nippeth and Nappeth,” and “The Catt Outteth the Baggeth.”

Additionally, Nappington includes amusing titles for artworks accompanied by made-up quotations from the cat’s perspective. Perhaps my favorite image in the whole book (because it’s so freaking weird) has the following caption, “Sorry, Jesus, but my bum’s not gonna clean itself! / “Christ in Majesty (while a cat licks its bum), MA 112, f.7r, Germany 1440-1460.”

I also appreciate Nappington’s commitment to citing her sources. From the artworks to the literary and historical documents, everything contains bibliographic information. This lets me know she did her homework, but it also provides me with with the necessary information should I want to access the original sources.

Recommendation: Medieval Cats is a light-hearted, humorous compendium of cats doing weird shit in the Middle Ages. For those of you who are scholars, I encourage you to pick up the book and enjoy it for what it is. It’s not an academic piece of literature, but it does have hilarious historical information and tons of citations to original source material.

Medieval Cats by Catherine Nappington had such an intriguing premise, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The concept — exploring the role of cats in medieval society — sounded fascinating, but the execution felt a little dry.

There’s plenty of historical detail, and I could tell the author did her research, but the writing leaned too heavily on facts and lost some of the charm I was hoping for. I wanted quirky cat lore, funny anecdotes, or even some heartwarming tales about these medieval felines — but instead, it read more like a textbook.

That said, the illustrations were a definite highlight! The medieval-style artwork sprinkled throughout the pages was gorgeous and added some much-needed personality. I just wish the narrative had matched that same energy.

If you’re a hardcore history buff or obsessed with medieval culture, you might enjoy this one. But if you’re looking for a more engaging, lighthearted read about cats, this may not be the purr-fect fit.

For centuries, man’s best friend has been the dog, but don’t tell your feline friends that. In ancient times, cats were revered as idols, but something changed during the medieval period. For a thousand years, from 500 to 1500, cats were vilified and believed to be working with witches and the devil—a harsh assessment for small, fluffy cats, which we consider pets nowadays. So how were cats portrayed in medieval art and literature? Catherine Nappington hopes to give her readers a glimpse of feline art and literature in her book, “Medieval Cats: Claws, Paws, and Kitties of Yore.”

I want to thank Ten Speed Press and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. I have been a cat owner most of my life; my current cat is an orange tabby named Colby, so when I saw this book title and subject, I thought it might be a light-hearted read.

Since this book is relatively short, I will keep this review short. In essence, this is a picture book full of illuminated manuscripts, witty sayings, and some interesting facts. While I did find the images interesting, the captions tended to be a bit distracting, and the fact that it was not in chronological order irked me (a personal pet peeve).

Overall, it was a fun read. I feel like it's not really a nonfiction book that you are used to, but it would make a great gift for a medievalist who is a cat lover in your life. If this sounds like you or a loved one, I would suggest you read, “Medieval Cats: Claws, Paws, and Kitties of Yore” by Catherine Nappington.

Very tongue in cheek, this book follows the checkered history of our feline friends from pedestal to dungeon. Sadly, the times when humans (silly creatures that they are) have vilified moggies, dare I say, even treated them in the most abhorrent way, it was the humans who suffered even more. Take the Plague. Kill the rat catchers and let the rodents proliferate. Did they learn their lessons. Alas, no.

The book is filled with stories of how kitties fared during the time frame. Humans should have gotten the message from the Egyptians. Worship us as gods or pay the price. Overall, it is a quick and fun read filled with lots of feline trivia. Four purrs and two paws up.

Catherine Nappington’s Medieval Cats was a hilarious read. I had a great time reading the quotes and stories about cats while looking at all the crazy medieval art. It warmed my heart reading about people from hundreds of years ago dealing with the same cat behavior I deal with today. From cattitude to zoomies to butt licking all our favorite, and not so much, behaviors get a mention. One picture is of a manuscript with cat paw prints in ink on it. This brought to mind all the times my cats have stepped on my laptop while I am working. Same struggles, different tech. The art is exactly what I expected it to be so no complaints there.
A quick note about the elephant in the room. Yes, there are some rather unhappy stories about cats presented in a humorous manner. I don’t mind dark humor and the way it was presented in this book didn’t bother me. This will be up to the reader’s own taste and sensitivities though. It is something to keep in mind if you are going to buy this for yourself or another cat lover.
All in all, I found Medieval Cats to be a fun, fast read. I imagine this would be the perfect coffee table book depending on what size the physical version is. I recommend it to anyone that likes cats and the crazy art styles from the medieval period. The only caveat being some readers might be upset by some of the stories due to mentions of cat harm.
Thank you to NetGalley, Clarkson Potter, Ten Speed Press and Catherine Nappington for providing me with an copy of this hilarious book.

Catherine Nappington has assembled a fascinating collection of images, quotations, and commentary in her book, Medieval Cats.

Subtitled “claws, paws and kitties of yore” this book takes a look at one of our favourite domestic animals, the cat, and charts how the feline was viewed and presented in the medieval age.

It’s a wide-ranging text, taking in rich and poor, religious and secular, and a variety of countries where the cat was feared or revered. Mice-catching abilities rub shoulders with the witch’s familiar; cats are pictured with the highest and lowest in the land.

This is a book for both art lovers and kitty obsessives. Informative, amusing, and full of colourful plates and illustrations, Medieval Cats will be a popular gift for those who pamper and enjoy their little friends.

The number of cats seen in illustrated manuscripts of the period doing naughty things is fascinating. Even The Book of Kells, in Ireland, has a whole section devoted to them.

Cats as servants, playful companions, and even deities, are explored in the pages of this clever book. Even a set of fables and proverbs puts them in the centre. The works shared are often bawdy and crude, and set aside those of reverence.

Medieval Cats is ultimately a hilarious celebration of the cat, with tongue-in-cheek comment on illustrations and facts and figures on the little animal that deigns to share our homes and lives.

I got this book for review on netgally.

It was a fun and entertaining book. It had pictures and some quotes on medieval cats and some further information but I wouldn't really call it an non fiction. More like an entertaining picture book. 3.5 stars.

Malcolm Croft (under the pseudonym Catherine Nappington) has produced a compendium of cat illustrations from ancient manuscripts. It's then peppered with a variety of regurgitated facts and captions of a sub-Facebook levels of humour.

There are a few hundred pages of illustrations for you to flick through - but they're all devoid of context. As sumptuous as the images are, they're surround by commentary which wouldn't be out of place on a disused Tumblr blog. There's also a lot of discussion about the various ways cats were tortured and killed.

It is hard to know who this book is for. It is written in such a simplistic tone that at first I thought it was targetted at the children's book market. And yet, despite reading like a kids book, there are numerous references to drugs - with captions suggesting cats are tripping on catnip, or have the fear, or that their mice have been spiked.
Illustration of a cat carrying a penis in its mouth. The caption reads "Get your own damn penis!"

Yeah. OK. There's only so often you can smirk at an illustration of a cat licking its bum before the joke wears thin.

Academically, it isn't brilliant. It says that the poem Pangur Bán was written around the year 900CE - it's actually from the 9th century. It suggests that the proverb "Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back" is from the Middle Ages, but it is a 20th century invention. It also repeats the discredited idea that Newton invented the cat-flap. There's a bizarre claim that the pub name "The Cat and Fiddle" is a reference to Catherine of Aragon - despite the pub name predating her by more than a century. Similarly, the quote "Even the smallest feline is a masterpiece of nature" is given as Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1530. The only problem is, there's no evidence he said that. Oh, and he died in 1519

I think a few of the image references might be duff, but it's hard to say. Although each illustration is given a provenance, none are clickable. Can you find out more about an image using just the reference "Nicolaus de Lyra super Bibliam, Italy, Latin MS 162, f. 252v, 1402"? I couldn't.

Most of the images are from European works with only a couple of illustrations from Islamic sources. There is a rich history of cats appearing in Japanese and Chinese texts of the same period - but this book ignores them.

It almost dives into interesting territory by giving us factual snippets:


The Book of Kells, has a whole section on kitties called the Catslechtae. It outlines the medieval code of conduct for owning a cat.

Sadly, there is no further information forthcoming. Surely the Catslechtae must have been at least one interesting law to discuss?

The illustrations are gorgeous - but there's absolutely no explanation of them. Why were the cats inserted? What was the symbolism? Do cats appear more than other domestic animals? No idea. Take this caption of "Rocket Powered Cats":
Illustration of cat with a bomb strapped to it running towards a flaming castle.

This is actually a fascinating example of cats and other animals being used for warfare. The book could have shown dozens of contemporary examples but it just moves on to the next illustration and half-hearted commentary.

If you look at the pictures, and ignore the text, it is a diverting enough book.

Personally, I'd recommend you read Lolcats of the Middle Ages or Cats get off the page from the British Library.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

As a cat lover this book was the perfect read for me. It showed the history of cats that I didn't know before.

I requested this book on NetGalley with Kathleen Walker-Meikle's "Medieval Pets" in mind, with perhaps larger illustrations and some cute, humorous but accurate context. What I wanted, I suppose, was potentially a great gift or coffee table book. Everyone I know is a cat lover! What I got was a rushed, chaotic meme dump.

I'm not looking for a full volume on the folklore of medieval cats. I understand it's meant to be casual, but c'mon, a quick wiki search would've fixed such a lazy introduction. I howled because I didn't know where to begin with: "Alas, as the medieval age evolved across Europe, cats soon transmorgified into agents of evil in league with the devil...according to the stupid and superstitious." Please note that cats as "familiars" was strictly a British concept and 1000 years of history is not the "Middle."

The rest is a slapdash collection of marginalia. The inconsistently-resized pictures, pasted on beige space, are featured with uninspired text underneath. Text like "Look what the cat dragged in - ME!" and "Whoa! These mice were spiked!" Reading about the plague will make you cringe less. Honestly, these cats are hilarious by themselves, without the commentary, and full page illustrations to flip through would've been fun!

There are excerpts from medieval poetry, songs, proverbs and fables, which is why I powered through these 200 pages. But even these pushed my limit, because many of them were noticeably not medieval, i.e. Miguel de Cervantes. The chapters are separated by theme?, but since the introduction mentioned the evolution of cats, you'd think what is shown would be in chronological order? Overall, it will keep your attention for a couple minutes, maybe get a quiet chuckle out of you, but it's definitely not worth $16.

Endlessly adorable, I can't wait to get a physical copy as a coffee table book! Great for any cat and art lover.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my review
This book wasn’t what I thought, more coffee table book than book book. It’s cutesy and fun for sure, but I’m a little disappointed because it isn’t what I wanted it to be.
It’s a specific sort of millenial-y kind of humor that you’re either going to like or hate, but the images are super high quality and varying which I loved.

thank you to netgalley and ten speed press for the arc!

this isn't a bad book. I think a lot of coffee table book lovers or cat ppl would love a cute book of cat facts and pictures from illuminated manuscripts! I enjoyed that we bounced around between some quotes/facts from egypt and other european countries, but overall it left me wanting a lot more.

i'm no (real) medievalist but come on. the amount of introductions to arthurian tales and historical accounts and then the author finishes a paragraph with ellipses or "it goes on a bit" really bothered me. assume we want to know more!! if I've learned anything from studying medieval texts, it's that they're quite inaccessible to find and read (especially in plain modern translations). please at least give options to read more! I think genuinely I'd just be the type of reader to enjoy this author's dissertation or go to one of her classes.

I really wanted to love this book, I'm an art history student who is owned by several cats, so in theory it should be perfect for me

But, there's a slightly odd tone to it, a little too whimsical and "lol cat death" makes me wonder who the target audience is?? I certainly couldn't buy it for fellow cat lovers, and why would a cat hater want to read it?

Sadly I think it misses the mark, I did enjoy the medieval cat pictures but...

Filled with images from medieval manuscripts and quotes about cats from across the centuries, Catherine Nappington’s Medieval Cats is a delight for cat lovers of any era. Nappington, a professor of felinology, is no stranger to the unpredictable nature of cat behavior, and so has a tongue firmly in cheek with the myriad facts and comments that fill pages of this book. Each medieval illustration is accompanied by a humorous aside that the cat in the picture might have had in mind, while the rest of the book contains historical quotes and fun facts about cats throughout history. This book was fun to read, and the medieval manuscript illustrations show that our love for cats is not just a modern fad.

My only critique is that many of the quotes were not, in fact, medieval, as some of them came from 19th-century writers (thus are firmly in the modern era), and some of the fun facts are not wholly factual (for instance, there were not roving bands of satanists roaming the European countryside in the medieval period), but as a book meant to be light-hearted and fun, I can overlook a few medievalisms.

This was bad. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, but definitely more than a bunch of dumb captions for supremely bad paintings of cats with a few quotes thrown in.

The images are reminiscent of that lion that got stuffed by somebody who had never seen a lion before. They tried, but did not succeed.

There are multiple mentions of killing cats, including skinning and burning alive.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy.

how does one rate a coffee table book of cat pictures and quotes? i had a fun time flipping through so 3 stars seems fair

i enjoyed all the many illustrations of cats in manuscripts and appreciate the level of dedicated research this must have taken from the author

pet peeve: we have moved past the need for "people who lived before us were sooo dirty and weirddd haha right?" in the intro. i get that this is aimed at the general public but could've taken a different angle to hook attention imo

all around cute book, a reliable gift for cat lovers and medieval aficionados alike!

arc review | medieval cats
3.5 ⭐️
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For more than a millennium, a myriad of medieval manuscripts and artworks painted a picture of cats as playful and curious but also lazy, selfish, and vicious. Today, these masterpieces live on, shining a bright light on the dark age of cats and telling a hilarious story of their paw-some glory. From bum-licking to cat-fighting to mouse-tricking, Medieval Cats is a hilarious celebration of cats who are up to no good. Learn cat facts from the Middle Ages and the origins of cat proverbs, and discover poems and excerpts from literature that mention cats. Both humor book and peek into medieval art, Medieval Cats is for cat lovers—and haters—everywhere!
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This was a fun read! I learned some historical facts about cats — some good, some AWFUL — and got to see beautiful artworks from the Middle Ages. You can definitely read this in one sitting! I think it’s purr-fect for history lovers, art lovers, and cat lovers!

This was a riot!! And informative but never boring. After reading just a few pages I pre-ordered a copy for my husband who loves history and cats for his birthday, haha.

What a fun coffee table book you could pick up and read a few pages when you need a cat fix or if you just need to laugh.