User:Dumelow/Polar bear of Henry III



The white bear of Henry III

Background
Although earlier monarchs had kept exotic animals at the Tower of London it was Henry III (reigned 1216-1272) that established the Royal Menagerie on a permanent footing. The first animals kept in the menagerie were three "Leopards" (the term was more fluid in the medieval era and probably referred to lions) gifted to Henry by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1235 upon his marriage to Henry's sister Isabella of England. From then until 1834 animals were kept in the menageries continuously until 1834, when concerns over welfare of the animals led to its closure.

Gift
An animal, described as a "pale" or "white" bear was gifted to Henry by Haakon IV of Norway in 1252. The species of the animal is not known definitively but it was most likely a polar bear. Polar bears were known as white bears in Britain before the 19th century (and to sailors as sea or water bears). Alternative explanations such as unusually coloured specimens of the Eurasian brown bear would not have been considered sufficiently regal a gift. The light-coloured Syrian brown bear is a possibility but Haakon around this time also gifted a "white bear" to Frederick II, who reigned in Sicily and would have had ready access to these animals.

--- Norwegian and Batlic populations of polar bears had been exterminated by the 10th century.

Haakon had brought the territories of Iceland and Greenland under Norwegian control. The bear was placed in the menagerie of the Tower of London and the sheriffs ordered to feed it (though their payment of four sous a day proved hardly sufficient). The sheriffs were also ordered to make a muzzle and chain for the animal so it could swim, bathe and fish in the river Thames. The animal was accompanied by a Norwegian handler to whom the sheriffs also had to provide clothing. The bear proved a popular attraction with onlookers gathering for his daily excursions to the Thames and was surpassed in the menagerie only by the arrival of an elephant in 1255. The name of the bear is not known. It was a symbolic gift as the white bear was an important royal symbol in Norse history, similar to leopards and lions of the English crown. The menagerie later held other bears.

Not native to Iceland or Scandinavia so would have been brought from Greenland or arrived on drifting ice.

Upkeep
Henry's white bear was occasionally led around the tower grounds.

Henry had been shocked at the expense of keeping the bear so delegated its upkeep to the sheriffs of London.

Henry was concerned that his payment for upkeep was insufficent and so wrote the order that it was to be allowed to fish in the Thames. Traffic had to be halted to allow the keeper to walk the bear to the river where he would swim and take sturgeon or salmon for food. It was so popular that many pubs took the name "The White Bear" after it.

At the same time the order was made for swimming in the Thames the payment by the sheriffs for upkeep was changed to six pence per day.

The order for upkeep came at a time when Henry was short of money and on poor terms with the city over his demands on them.

The first order to the sheriff amde by the king on 13 September 1252 at Bury St Edmunds and communciated to the sheriffs from Windsor on 29 September. he muzzle order was made at Windsor on 30 October 1253.

Legacy
Another white bear was present in the menagerie by 1549 which may also have influenced pub names James VI and I received two polar bear cubs in 1609 and kept them in his bear garden.

The white bear also appeared on 17th-century token coins issued by traders in Bride Lane (off Fleet Street), and may possibly be inspired by the bear.

The tower records note payments for the transport of another white bear named Lynn in 1287. This is presumed to have been shipped from a place of the smae name, perhaps Lyngen Fjord in Norway and been caught in Svalbard. It was likely a replacement for Henry's bear.