First of all, I WILL be purchasing a copy of Medieval Cats when it becomes available to do so! What a fun little book full of the best collection of Cat Art from in and around the Medieval era, complete with facts and anecdotes about living with cats in the time period. Be warned there's also descriptions of some of the ruder things done to cats in those years (see: witch accusations) but quite worth it in the end.

The only thing I could have done without really were the lolcat-esque captions (I did my time! I've been on the internet a long time!) but others may find them charming. Additionally, more cats from similar time periods (if not those years specifically, similar eras?) in places outside of Western Europe (with small mentions of Egypt, of course, and the Middle East) would have been an excellent edition. Sequel maybe?

Thank you to NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press | Ten Speed Press for the delightful little book in exchange for review!

Preface: I am a huge cat fan, I own a cat, and I love fun facts so I was excited for this book.

The book started off strong with the author dedicating the book to her cats! She also uses funny chapter titles which were entertaining rather than just “chapter 1.” I had high hopes going in since I assumed it would read like a historical book but was surprised it was more of a quick read that is more akin to a coffee table or novelty gift book.

It was hard to ascertain the organization of the book. I kept trying to find a pattern or determine how the author intended it to be organized and I am still unsure. I think it being organized geographically would have been better suited. I wish it was more organized since it would have vastly improved the reading experience.

Throughout, I found some information lacking….I often was googling things mentioned to gain context. In one instance she alludes to cats being blamed for the black death. But that’s it…she doesn’t explain or cite or add any context. I was screaming while reading like why did she not cite the great cat massacre or add any context  This happened often and made the book feel incomplete. She also states the title of a famous fable but then wont actually say the fable…so why name it at all. It's just not living up to its potential.

There are lots of cheesy jokes and meme like captions for images of cats in medieval art. It’s giving prof who made memes at the beginning of class and put them in a book. Or like trying too hard to be cool or cringe millennial vibes.

I think this book will be one that you see at Indigo in a year on sale for 10$ that you’ll randomly pickup as a gift or for a quick read. In fact I would buy it as a novelty.

Notes:
is a professor of felinology (the study of cats) at Maine University. I was hoping to find if she had research papers or what her accreditations but they don’t show up on Google… perhaps she goes under a different name or I just wasn’t searching very well. I wish I knew her accreditation or just if this book was meant to be a fun project.

I will not be sharing this on my social media since I was not a huge fan of it.

Hear ‘ye, history buffs and cat people! Medieval Cats by Professor Catherine Nappington (must be a pen name…) is an enjoyable, fun, quick read for those who adore cats and like learning fun facts. The content is well organized and curated. I’d recommend this book for armchair historians or young historians to use as a starting point in medieval cat history. Seasoned historians will find they don’t need some provided background information, but may still find some new cat facts, depending on their area of study.
The only thing I desired from the book was more text. It is written like a wine tasting of medieval cat facts, not delving too deep into any one story or topic mentioned on the pages. An interesting topic will be briefly described and then moves on by the next page turn. I think there was room for elaboration on some of the included folklore and stories mentioned. The focus is on curating medieval artwork and illustrations. The captions added to the medieval artworks are somewhat funny, but mostly cringy. If puns and dad jokes are your thing, you’ll enjoy the art/caption aspect of the book. I appreciate the thorough citation of included images but wish that the text also included more in-text citations. Especially because the anecdotes are so short, some included further reading footnotes would have elevated the curation of quick facts.
A few things I learned while reading (that are not huge spoilers) include: cats are arguably more cherished in America than in Britain; Ancient Greeks loved cats; and the Catholic Church did not love cats. One can certainly learn a few things from this book, but it falls short on being laugh-out-loud funny.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free, advanced reader copy e-book! I’m leaving this review for fun, and I’m not getting paid for it.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the kind of book that you dont NEED in your life but WANT. I felt a little happier each time I read a few pages. It will make a brilliant gift for any cat lovers.

This is an EXTREMELY cute read, though quite light on actual historical details -- it's got lots of pictures, and brief quotes or pithy commentary to go with them. If you like cats through history and want to know more, this is at least a great place to start so you can look up some of the pictures, quotes, or terms used.

That said, I definitely side-eyed page one having historical inaccuracies on it right away -- it claims this is a time before cutlery (technically untrue, forks weren't used but eating knives and spoons were, along with picks) or underwear (technically untrue, it just wasn't the form-fitting underwear we have now, but clothing is expensive, of course people wore undergarments between the clothes meant to be seen and their skin, such as braies and chemises). It affected how I read the rest of the book, because I'm not confident that the author was going to do research or be specific where a quippier vagueness could be used instead.

Still, it let me look at so many wonky medieval cats and see a lot of medieval cat quotes, so I can't complain about any of it!

For years, Medieval drawings and paintings of cats have been a source of fascination and fun. Why did these old images of cats looks so off? Had the artists ever even seen cats in real life? Based on all of this, I was excited to read Medieval Cats by Catherine Nappington. It's a quick read - it only takes an hour at most to get through it. It's mainly filled with Medieval images of cats, along with assorted cat facts, quotes, adages, and so on.

On the one hand, I enjoyed learning various trivia about cats, from their biology to the origins of well-known phrases like "the cat's out of the bag" or "cat got your tongue?" I love the folklore and surprising sources of inspiration for some of these, as well as learning a bit of cat-focused history.

However, I wish Medieval Cats had also done more to explain the drawings and paintings of cats featured here. There wasn't really any context given to any of them, besides standard citations of where and when they came from.

Instead, Medieval Cats has many random captions for the images shown here. They're meant to be funny... but I often found the captions to be a bit cringey.

Overall, Medieval Cats is a quick and fun read, but rather lighter on substance than I'd hoped.

This book existed at the intersection of two areas of interest for me- cats and medieval artwork. I wasn’t totally expecting a coffee table book, which makes writing a review a little difficult- but from what was there I think anyone with an interest in cats, medieval artwork (or ideally both) would have a lovely time flipping though this!

A fun satirical romp that had me laughing out loud. A perfect read to balance out more darker things in your tbr. A must read for cat lovers.

If you love ugly cats and weird trivia you're gonna love this book, just don't expect anything more than that.

I came it hoping for a more structured text about the role cats played in medieval day to day life, but all I found was random "cat facts" and bits of scattered history. Sure, most of the things I learned were interesting (and sometimes gruesome), but I really needed more context.

The underlying idea is that cats were both loved and hated. While some people relied on their mousing, others saw them as demonic beasts that had to be eradicated.
I liked the bit from The Book of Kells - "A cat is worth 3 cows if it is able to purr and keep its owner's house, grain store, and kiln free of mice, but only half that if it is just good at purring."
And I was surprised to learn about the link between Pope Gregory IX declaring cats demonic (and the massacre that followed) and the spread of the Black Death (because of the growing rat population). Talk about unintended consequences!

The highlight of the book are the wonderful and silly medieval illustrations. You really can't go wrong there, with or without funny captions. I spent a lot more time admiring the pictures than reading the text, and even found a couple that looked like my cat.

In the end, I'd say this is a good book to gift to your friend that's slowly becoming a cat lady.

Medieval Cats is a fun little romp through cat history. This would make a great coffee table book or conversation starter. Cat lovers will enjoy, and will probably pick up some new fun facts along the way!

A fun quick read. This book was an eclectic mix between medieval history invovling cats, assorted cat facts, and medieval art with meme like jokes. As a cat lover, it was sometimes hard to read through some of the sadder cat history, but an interesting read none the less.

Thank you, NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press | Ten Speed Press for this ARC for review. This little book is hilarious!! It is full of funny cat pictures (why did they draw all the cats so weird and crazy looking?! 😂) and stories from Medieval writings and time period. A bunch of sayings and superstitions about cats can be traced back to this time. Cats have always been both loved and annoying.

This is a fun (and funny) book, perfect for cat lovers and fans of medieval art, history, and literature.

This book is a wonderful ode to felines. The book is full of facts and tidbits about cat's such as the origin of the belief that cats have nine lives. The writing is accompanied by images of felines found in medieval text. This image rang from the humours, such as a human riding a cat like a horse, to the bizarre, such as a half cat half snail creature. If you are a cat lover this book is definitely worth your time just for the pictures alone!

This is my first ever review here and I am delighted it’s about a book with cats… medieval ones, no less! 😻This is filled with funny illustrations, even funnier quotes and plenty of jokes about, well, you know who 😽 (“Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back.”)… that said, there are also some sad parts, so be prepared. This is a fast and enjoyable read and as a vet student and cat lover I am thankful for NetGalley for giving me the chance to share my thoughts on this.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7251890716

This book is created by a cat lover for fellow cat enthusiasts. While the pictures from the manuscripts are organized into themed chapters, I found myself more captivated by the medieval cats and the accompanying interesting facts and humorous commentary.

It’s important to note that the text is minimal, so readers shouldn't expect comprehensive information. Instead, the book serves as a delightful collection showcasing various types of cats. I can easily imagine myself browsing through it with a furry friend by my side, admiring the delightful images.

An absolutely delightful, humorous, and informative history of medieval cats, with lots of references from historical sources, and fun cat facts, including revealing the origins of common sayings, like raining cats and dogs.

I learned quite a lot from this book. The short anecdotes were easily digestible and memorable, and the images were extremely interesting having been taken from medieval manuscripts. A few famous names were dropped too, including Isaac Newton, Shakespeare, and Leonardo da Vinci.

This would be an excellent coffee table book or gift for any and every lover of history and cats! Highly recommend!

Thank you to the author and publisher for this Netgalley ARC.

A few years ago I kickstarted some pins based on illustrations of medieval animals, including a pin of a cat cleaning it's backside in a very classy pose! This cute book has lots of other (some classier) examples of illustrations of cats, along with some history, of cats and of the time. It's not serious book, and it's not trying to be (check out the author's name. Not her real name). It's fun and interesting and just informative enough. This would make a good coffee table book, or a gift for that cat lover who has everything.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A must-have for any cat lover! Medieval Cats is a compilation of anecdotes, poems and art work and more from the middle ages. I especially enjoyed the art work - much of it anthropomorphizing cats. This book will provide hours of entertainment!

Published by Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press and available March 4, 2025, Medieval Cats immediately caught my eye as a medievalist and cat lover. And I really wanted to like this book, but several things hold it back. First and most egregious is its disregard for what the Middle Ages actually is. While the book itself places the Middle Ages between 500 and 1500 CE, which is a good estimate a lot of people use, it then ignores that and includes references to Shakespeare and even Isaac Newton, neither of whom were medieval. The images are properly cited fortunately, but there are no endnotes or other citations (at least in the ARC). I also couldn't find anything about the author (whose name I suspect is a pseudonym) and that bugs me. Overall it's got some good information about cats in the medieval period, but it's also unfocused and falls into the usual "Medieval means anything before the Industrial Revolution" folly so many non-academic things do.