Morten St George Theory

[Morten St. George]

Morten St George: This is a scene from the American swamps, not a European thermal bath!

I've never identified this particular pool scene as a bathing scene, and I don't think other researchers have either.

Medieval manuscripts are full of pictures of monsters, beasts, and other crittery things in water. I don't see why this has to be Florida, when it could be anywhere that mythical beasts exist.


By the way, the lowest critter, second from the right, is drawn in the same style as the drawings of one of the illustrators from the Diepoldt Lauber studio. It's not quite as facile, not quite as expert, but it's drawn the same way.

Oh, I assumed that "thermal areas" referred to thermal baths because, in most of the drawings, these gals are clearly bathing, so doesn't that have to be the idea?

Beyond the predator animals, there are other scenes supporting the concept of swamp life, such as the collection of rain water, washing off the silt, floating on their backs on top of the swamp lilies, sleeping in a tree hut, using a stick to measure the depth of the water so as not to step into a hole, or whatever.

I never said Florida. The trees here don't look high enough and it's also doubtful that the medieval reach of the spotted jaguar came this far east. I was thinking closer to Louisiana on the north side of the Gulf of Mexico.

Then again, we don't know what some of these places looked like seven hundred years ago. I saw a medieval weather map indicating that the temperature around the Gulf was hotter back then than it is today. The fact that the gals are running around naked implies a warmer climate than what it normally found in Europe.

The Cathar women were clearly educated and familiar with all the fairy tales. They put a lot of imagination into their drawings but these still reflect the reality of swamp life.

I'm not sure which critter you were referring to as second from the right. If it's the hybrid spotted jaguar / alligator, does the Diebold Lauber drawing show the spots?

It seems Diebold Lauber postdates the VMS, so what point are you trying to make?