bestiaries >> .
The main purpose of the bestiary was not to teach about the animal kingdom, but to teach people how to lead the life of a virtuous Christian. To make this point as clear as possible, the bestiaries divide all animals into groups of good and evil. Which animal belonged to which group was explained in the text, and through the placement of the animal’s illustration on the page. Good animals were at the top of the page facing right. Evil animals were at the bottom of the page, facing left. Good animals, such as the stag, the [mythical] phoenix and the panther, represented Christ and his followers. Evil animals represented the [mythical] Devil. Here we find the [mythical] dragon, the hyena, the weasel and, of course, the owl.
The antisemitism found in the bestiaries is only one of the many ways that the anti-Jewish agenda of the Church expressed itself in the Middle Ages. This agenda was powerfully codified by the influential Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, when the conditions for Jewish life in Latin Christendom became officially regulated.
The turning point in the popularity of the bestiaries is the Edict of Expulsion, issued in 1290 by King Edward I of England. This edict [allowed the king and nobles to keep Jewish gold, and] forced all Jews to leave the country without exception. England would not have a permanent Jewish population again until the mid-17th century. Soon after the Edict had gone into effect and all the Jews had left, bestiaries all but ceased to be produced.
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Since the Middle Ages, the owl has come to symbolise wisdom. Yet the legacy of the bestiary lives on, and comparing Jews to undesirable animals remains a common antisemitic trope.