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[caption id="attachment_1017" align="alignright" width="300"] Noah's ark. Bedford Hours, British Library, Add MS 18850, f. 16v (det.), c 1410-1430.[/caption]The Medieval Animal Data-network organizes as usual two sessions and one round table during the International Medieval Congress (Leeds, 2-5 July 2018).Session108TitleBeautiful AnimalsDate/TimeMonday 2 July 2018: 11.15-12.45AbstractThe qualities of animals play an important role in their medieval textual and visual representations. One of them is their physical and spiritual beauty which is often connected and put into relation to human qualities. The session will concentrate on such beautiful animals in texts and images and the meanings and symbolic character of this beauty.OrganiserGerhard Jaritz, Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, BudapestModerator/ChairAlice Choyke, Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, BudapestPaper 108-aBeautiful Creeps: Insects in Byzantine Rhetoric and Poetry(Language: English)Floris Bernard, Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, BudapestIndex Terms: Byzantine Studies; Daily Life; Language and Literature - GreekPaper 108-bUnicorns: Spiritual and Physical Beauty in Late Medieval Books of Hours(Language: English)Mónica Ann Walker Vadillo, Department for Continuing Education, University of OxfordIndex Terms: Art History - Painting; Mentalities; Religious LifePaper 108-cAnimals and Beauty in Medieval Bestiaries(Language: English)Gerhard Jaritz, Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, BudapestIndex Terms: Daily Life; Language and Literature - Latin; MentalitiesSession308TitleDisabled AnimalsDate/TimeMonday 2 July 2018: 16.30-18.00AbstractRecent advances in animal studies, environmental criticism, animal rights and welfare, as well as animal theology provide inspiration for reconsidering medieval archaeological remains and anthropocentric textual and visual sources to focus on animals. A careful analysis of these sources reveals that pre-industrial societies often had a better understanding of the needs, limitations, and dysfunctions of animals than modern, technologically advanced civilization. This will be shown, on the one hand, from a zooarchaeological point of view and, on the other hand, concerning horses, in medieval Western Europe and China.OrganiserAlice Choyke, Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, BudapestModerator/ChairGerhard Jaritz, Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, BudapestPaper 308-aCare or Neglect?: Medieval Animals and the Osteological Paradox(Language: English)László Bartosiewicz, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitetIndex Terms: Archaeology - General; MedicinePaper 308-bPeredur's Old Horse and Other Dysfunctional Animals in the Mabinogion: Reception, Adaptation, and Pedagogic Potential(Language: English)Anastasija Ropa, Independent Scholar, RigaIndex Terms: Language and Literature - Celtic; Medievalism and Antiquarianism; Mentalities; Teaching the Middle AgesPaper 308-cAppreciation of Disabled Animals: The Perception of Lame Horses in Song-Yuan China(Language: English)Zhexin Xu, Fachbereich Geschichte, Universität SalzburgIndex Terms: Daily Life; MentalitiesSession408TitleBears: A Round Table DiscussionDate/TimeMonday 2 July 2018: 19.00-20.00AbstractThis year MAD has chosen bears as a subject of discussion. Bears occupy an important liminal space in medieval human thought. They were considered wild animals but nevertheless also conceived as sharing human characteristics. The round table will explore the many ways bears were used and regarded by medieval society.Participants include Floris Bernard (Central European University, Budapest), Alice Choyke (Central European University, Budapest), Irina Metzler (Swansea University), Anastasija Ropa (University of Latvia, Riga), and Mónica Ann Walker Vadillo (Old Operating Theatre Museum, London).OrganiserAlice Choyke, Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, BudapestModerator/ChairGerhard Jaritz, Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest[cite]