The Bishop Fish (episcopus marinus) is a legendary fish from European mythology that reportedly swims in the Baltic Sea. The mythology began to take shape in the 16th century. Allegedly a rare species of Aquarius, he was the male equivalent of a mermaid. Some 16th- and 17th-century naturalists reported hearing tales of this legendary monster. For instance, Pierre Belon, Conrad Gessner, Guillaume Rondelet, and Ulisse Aldrovandi all provided descriptions and drawings of this mythical animal.
The Oldest Account of the Bishop Fish
Cornelius Gerardi Aurelius first mentioned a bishop fish in the Diviesekroniek in 1517, and it was described as a marvelous monster: a fish that behaved like a man in every way except speaking human language. The bishop fish also wore the trappings of a bishop, including the miter and a chasuble that could be raised above the knees.
Even though there are many other takes on the subject, two basic graphic styles have served as inspiration for scholars and writers for almost 500 years. Naturalists, geographers, and other writers in France, the Netherlands, Germany, and England have all later borrowed portions of this story from this one original source from 1517.
Gesner, Aldrovandi, and Paré all cite Guillaume Rondelet’s Occitan prototype from the 1554 Latin translation of a work named The Whole History of Fish (Histoire entier des poissons) as their primary source.
The below model created by François Desprez in 1567 is a bit later version of this creature. This model has more in common with marine life than with humans compared to the original depiction.
Appearance
The bishop fish is a fish who wears a dalmatic and miter and is often pictured holding a crozier. The creature, which is not that sizeable, is typically calm but may cause severe weather when angered. Many 16th-century writers asserted the existence of bishop fish, creatures resembling “bishops of the Roman church found in the ocean“.
The bishop fish was described as a large, scaly fish with pointed lateral fins, a broad back fin that it supposedly used as a cloak, and a pointed crest on its head that resembled an episcopal miter, hence the name.
Several writers, like Rondelet, voiced early skepticism about the published paintings’ veracity and deemed them overdrawn, without outright denying the reality of the bishop fish. Japanese legend also has a creature called Umibōzu, which is similar to the European bishop fish.
Legend of the Bishop Fish
There are accounts of meetings with the bishop fish from the Adriatic Sea, the Red Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the English Channel. These bishop fish were documented in Dutch chronicles, with specific instances in the year 1531 near Elpach in the northern sea and in 1433 in the Baltic Sea near Poland.
1433
In 1433, a Polish fisherman allegedly captured the first bishop fish in the Baltic Sea near Poland. This merman interacted with local bishops, paid homage, and later returned to the water after refusing to be confined in a tower.
The strange creature was first shown to the king. In the meantime, people spoke to the bishop fish in Polish and Latin, but the fish did not respond; he only gazed sadly at them through his huge, see-through eyes. They tried to feed the bishop fish with other fish and meat, but he also refused.
At last, he supposedly convinced an appeal of Catholic bishops to release him on the condition that he be allowed to live on the sea. Eventually, the bishops were able to convince the monarch, and the thankful creature blessed everyone around him with the sign of the cross before disappearing into the Baltic Sea.
1531
According to the historical accounts provided by Praetorius, another merman resembling a bishop was caught in the northern sea in 1531 in Germany and it was later sent to the King of Poland. Despite being offered food once again, the bishop fish refused and eventually died after being held in captivity for two days. Conrad Gessner’s Historia Animalium (History of Animals) depicts this version of the story.
Most of the historical sources often emphasized the veracity of these accounts and cited specific historical references, such as the accounts of Praetorius, Henri Spondanus, and Memorabilibus Wolfii from the 16th and 17th centuries, to validate the bishop fish’s existence and dispel any doubts.
Written by Johann Zahn and published in Nuremberg in 1696, “Specula physico-mathematico-historica notabilium ac mirabilium sciendorum” displays a specimen reported to have been found alive in the Baltic Sea again in 1531. It allegedly starved to death three days after it stopped eating. The “Description of the World” by Johannes Praetorius also makes reference to this occurrence.
Bishop Fish in Other Cultures
Numerous authors and painters, including Praetorius, Heine, Nerval, and Alfred Jarry, have been influenced by the sea bishop. For example, in Germany this creature was known as Meerbischof, in the Netherlands as Zeebisschop, in Poland as biskup morski or ryba biskup, in Mexico as Pez Obispo, in Spain as Obispo del Mar, in China as 主教鱼, and in Japan as 海坊主 or Umibozu (Sea Owner).
What Purpose Did the Bishop Fish Serve?
Similar to the sea monks, the bishop fish was hailed as a prodigy at the time—a marine monster that proved the universe was in “perfect balance”. It testified to the singular symmetry of the world, whereby everything terrestrial has an equivalent in the sea, including the bishops. However, just as Lucas Cranach portrayed the “Donkey Pope” and the “Monk’s Calf,” alterations like this could have been driven by anti-Catholic sentiments as well.
Scientific Explanations
Since the sea bishop has a crest on its head and broad fins, it is often believed to be a kind of big manta ray. It’s not hard to see a manta ray in human form using your imagination. The sightings of angelsharks or other rays also provide the basis for the descriptions of this creature.
Another explanation lies in the incident with Jenny Hanivers. They were even submitted by sailors as evidence of the bishop fish’s presence. Their chasubles were made from dried shovelnose rays that had been sliced open and hung so that the underside faced outward. The nostrils of the rays on the bottom of the body served as the organism’s eyes. When cleaned and cooked properly, a ray’s mouth could look remarkably like a human’s. And with a little creative thinking, their two claspers could even stand in for a pair of feet. This is probably how the medieval people created the bishop fish myth.
Origin of the Myth
In 1431, a bishop fish was given to the King of Poland, but at his quiet request, it was thrown back into the ocean. The same image of a bishop in benediction, drawn by the Academiae Typographus printer Jan Seversz of Leiden, Netherlands, occurs more than three times throughout the work; in particular, it illustrates the bishop fish and the bishop of Utrecht.
Therefore, the rest of the bishop fish tales may be traced back to this original Diviesekroniek story. When the origin of this unique creature is studied, all the narrative elements later adopted by other naturalists, geographers, and several authors point to the source of “Cronycke van Hollandt, Zeelandts, and Vrieslant” by Cornelius Aurelius, also known as “Diviesekroniek,” printed by Jan Seversz of Leiden for the first time in 1517.
Cornelius Aurelius’ description of the bishop fish includes the presentation to the King of Poland, a chasuble that rises up to the knees but not higher, the miter and other episcopal attire and attributes, and its ability to understand humans without speaking. Guillaume Rondelet, who is the source of most references to the bishop fish, mentions correspondence between the physicist Gilbert Hostius in Rome and Lord Cornelius of Amsterdam.
Several 16th-century naturalists, including Guillaume Rondelet, Pierre Belon, Adriaen Coenen (an ichthyologist), and Conrad Gessner, repeated the bishop fish incident with varied degrees of mistake, most notably with reference to the timing of the incident. The priests of Trévoux and Archbishop Carlo Labia came after them, then the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi, French surgeon Ambroise Paré, Henri Spondanus, and so on.
References in Popular Culture
- “Monsters in My Pocket” is a popular toy line that includes a plastic figure of the Bishop Fish with the number #58.
