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Dear Frans you are of course quite correct - the image of the 'little foxes' who spoil the vinyard is deployed most famously by St Bernard of Clairvaux (see on this, amongst other things, Beverley Kienzle's essay in Carolyn Muessig, ed., Medieval Monastic Preaching, Brill 1998). However, the cat is *associated* with heretics - at certain points - in the way described in my previous message. For some examples, one could look at the various documents translated in W.L. Wakefield and A.P. Evans, eds, Heresies of the High Middle Ages (Columbia UP, 1991). cheers john arnold On Wed, 14 Apr 1999, Frans VanLiere wrote: > I seem to remember that the traditional image for a heretic in the > Middle Ages is a fox, not a cat. This alluding to the Song of Songs > (SoS 2, 15, "Catch the foxes .. the despoilers of vineyards") and > Judges 15, 4, where foxes are tied tail to tail ... This is one of > the earliest conspiracy theories I can think of, to assume that > actually all heresy was somehow connected. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%