GoingToMeet

Interest in (and concern for) the natural environment is not simply a modern phenomenon. Human identities are defined by their relationship with their natural environment, and human lives depend on natural resources. In medieval Europe , the discourse about the natural world was dominated by the Christian religion. However, its foundation was much broader, encompassing a rich and highly varied inheritance from antiquity, including classical natural philosophy, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religious thought, as well as pagan and vernacular traditions which formed the basis for the development of new European attitudes towards nature. In medieval theology, philosophy, art and literature landscapes such as deserts and wildernesses conveyed meanings, and so did the animals, real or imaginary, that populated them.