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Menagerie is the term for a historical form of keeping calm and exotic animals in human captivity and therefore a predecessor of the modern zoological garden. more...

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The term was foremost used in seventeenth century France originally for the management of the household or domestic stock, but later primarily for an aristocratic or royal animal collection. The French-language \"Methodical Encyclopaedia\" of 1782 defines a menagerie as an \"establishment of luxury and curiosity.\" Later on the term was referred even to travelling animal collections that exhibited wild animals at fairs across Europe and the Americas.

Aristocratic menageries

A menagerie was mostly connected with an aristocratic or royal court and it was thus situated within a garden or park of a palace. The aristocratic menageries have to be distinguished from the later zoological gardens since they were founded and owned by aristocrats whose intention was not primarily of scientific and educational interest. These aristocrats wanted to illustrate their power and wealth, because exotic animals, alive and active, were less common, more difficult to acquire, and more expensive to maintain.

Medieval period and Renaissance

Already within the Middle Ages, several sovereigns across Europe maintained menageries at their royal courts.
At the beginning of the 12th century, Henry I of England is known to have kept a collection of animals at his palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, reportedly including lions, leopards, lynxes, camels, owls and a porcupine.
The most prominent animal collection in medieval England was the Tower Menagerie in London that began as early as 1204. It was established by King John, who reigned in England from 1199-1216, and is known to have held lions and bears. Henry III received a wedding gift in 1235 of three leopards from Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. The most spectacular arrivals in the early years were a white bear and an elephant, gifts from the kings of Norway and France in 1251 and in 1254 respectively. In 1264, the animals were moved to the Bulwark, which was renamed the Lion Tower, near the main western entrance of the Tower. This building was constituted by rows of cages with arched entrances, enclosed behind grilles. They were set in two storeys, and it appears that the animals used the upper cages during the day and were moved to the lower storey at night. It was opened to the public during the reign of Elizabeth I in the 16th century. During the 18th century, the price of admission was three half-pence or the supply of a cat or dog for feeding to the lions. Animals listed here at the end of the 18th century include lions, tigers, hyaenas and bears. Most of the animals were transferred in 1831 to the newly-opened London Zoo at Regent's Park. The Tower Menagerie was finally closed in 1835, on the orders of the Duke of Wellington. In effect, the Tower Menagerie in London was the royal menagerie of England for six centuries.