In 1542, the great German monk and Protestant reformer Martin Luther lived in a household that included horses, pigs, cows, calves, chicken, pigeons, geese and a dog Tölpel "whom Luther expected to meet in heaven."
Luther believed that animals were witnesses and messengers of God's glory -- an intended worldly presence -- and not simply created for the convenience and sustenance of man, according to Laurie Shannon's analysis in "
The Accommodated Animal."
"Fruits were created chiefly as food for people and for beasts; the latter were created to the end we should laud and praise God."
In his
Lectures on Genesis 1-5, Luther writes that "the mouse, too, is a divine creature... It has a very beautiful form - such pretty feet and such delicate hair that it is clear that it was created by the word of God with a definite plan in view. Therefore here, too, we admire God's creation and workmanship. The same thing may be said about flies."
Shannon's analysis of Luther's comments concludes that "the here-and-now facticity of observed animals grounds their privilege and divine appointment, and their presence as such warrants a spiritual attention."
Cosmopolity in Shakespearean Locales
by Laurie Shannon
University Of Chicago Press, 2012
