Pelican in Rondel Brooch

We are all familiar with a watered down account of how the pelican feeds her young with her own blood. The story as reported in medieval bestiaries is more complex – and more disturbing. In the extended version, the pelican tenderly cares for its hatchlings, but the young birds violently attack their parent, trying to peck out its eyes. The adult strikes back, and slays the young birds. After three days, it regrets its heedless violence, and stabs itself in the breast. The blood that runs out revives the chicks, and the adult dies, having sacrificed itself for its children.

The Christian symbolism of this ornithological drama is easy to understand – and that is the meaning of the pelican in authentic medieval jewelry and other representations. This is copied after a brooch found in Valenciennes and dated to the 15th century. Many brooches with a similar representation of the pelican have been found in England and the Netherlands as well.