Speculum stultorum {The Mirror of Fools} is a brilliant medieval Latin beast poem describing the quests, dreams, and thoughts of the donkey Burnel. Speculum stultorum satirizes religious and educational institutions and personal relations. It was written in England late in the twelfth-century. Little is known about its author, who is variously specified as Nigellus Wireker, Nigel Whiteacre, Nigel of Langchamp (also Nigel Longchamp and Nigel de Longchamps), and Nigel of Canterbury. The poem consists of 3900 lines of mainly elegiac couplets. It survives in forty manuscripts. Speculum stultorum was highly popular among Latin readers in Europe from the 14th century to the Reformation.
In the medieval Latin Mirror of Fools (Speculum stultorum), the donkey Burnel, seeking a longer tail, consults doctor Galen. Foolish men behave similarly. … Read the post Mirror of Fools: the eminent doctor Galen on short tails and penises