„Le Testament de l’âne”: Restoring the Reputation of a Pack Animal and Teaching Humility

In the medieval world, men and animals shared a relation which was closer and more complex than one may think nowadays.For example, it is enough to mention the bestiaries written by the clerics in the 12th-13th centuries, treaties having their origin in the "Physiologus", and which proposed inventories of real and imaginary animals believed to have spiritual and moral connotations.The literature of that time has in turn multiplied the references to the animal world, starting with the epic paradigm, which, like the courtly novel, favoured the mounted warriors.However, the literature produced in urban centers is no less rich, as this analysis of the "Le Testament de l'ne" by Rutebeuf will demonstrate.This fabliau sought both to restore the reputation of a pack animal and to impart a lesson in humility, while also engaging with the theological debates of the 13th century concerning the souls of animals and, more specifically, Christian iconography.