Rabbits share their history as on-and-off domesticated animals with feral horses. Although living in the wilderness, they were very early on considered a nice supplement and hence “farmed” and domesticated for different purposes

What exactly is the situation with wild rabbits in Europe? In Scandinavia? When did they arrive? And from where? Should they be considered an invasive species?

Ancient Rabbits

When the Romans arrived in present-day Spain, they already encountered rabbits. Varro, for instance, wrote about how he instructed his wife to keep rabbits in her Leparium, i.e., “hare yard,” and fatten them in cages before slaughter (De Re Rustica, chapter 3.12). A particular delicacy was unborn rabbit kits, which were considered a special treat. Pliny the Elder mentioned them as a highly delicate dish (Naturalis Historia 8.55). Nevertheless, the geographer Strabo reports that Roman immigrants to the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, etc.) complained that rabbits were so numerous that they appealed to Emperor Augustus to send a Roman legion to eradicate the animals. Pliny also noted that rabbits had dug tunnels around Tarragona’s fortifications, undermining them completely.

On the other hand, archaeology has shown that the small animal was a favourite delicacy on the Iberian Peninsula and in southwestern France as early as Epipaleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic times, i.e., between 20,000 and 10,000 BC. Archaeologists have thus been able to map that Stone Age people’s hunting of these animals was done with nets. This hunting was common as it did not require as much energy investment as big game hunting. Also, the soft skin must have been a significant byproduct.

The story goes that French rabbits were pushed into Spain during the last ice age, around 18,000 BC, only to re-invade France after the end of the ice age around 12,200 BC, but now with an altered genetic profile. It is this genetic profile that is found in modern European rabbits. So, all things considered, France is the original home of medieval rabbits. However, Spain’s initial significance in this context is not insignificant. Spain comes from Hesperia, which in Phoenician terms meant “the land of African rabbits”.

People have speculated whether rabbits were also known in England in Roman times. Around year zero, Caesar tells about the Celts that they kept poultry and hares for pleasure, although they did not eat them. Now, hares are not easy to tame, and it is generally assumed that these were rabbits. On the other hand, it was not unknown for the Romans to keep hares within designated “hare parks” – the Leparia mentioned above – so rabbits may well have been present in England for over 2000 years, perhaps introduced via the lively shipping in the Antiquity along the Atlantic coast between Cornwall and the Mediterranean. But suppose rabbits were brought to England in this way. In that case, is there a reason not to imagine they arrived even earlier at our latitudes and on soft paws from the south? Perhaps future studies of eDNA will show traces of these delightful little animals far back in Scandinavian prehistory.

Also, recent genetic studies have shown that wild rabbits were domesticated as part of a long process and in different ways.

To conclude, rabbits were certainly prey among hunters and gatherers; they were deliberately transported to islands in the Mediterranean, consumed as unique delicacies and hence, forced to reproduce in cages. Later in the Middle Ages, they were kept as fenced-in animals in natural hills or barrows with self-constructed warrens. Finally, after 1500, they were bred to develop special rabbit types and colours. For this purpose, rabbit breeding in cages was necessary. Today, rabbits have finally taken on the role of bunnies for sweet children.

Trelleborg

The oldest traces of rabbits in Denmark come from Trelleborg around 980, where archaeologists believe they may have been imported from France and ended up in the Vikings’ soup pot near Slagelse. It is conceivable, however, that rabbits had migrated from the south. Simply because they were widespread in the European landscape

For now, we must content ourselves with noting that rabbits in our latitudes were present in the Viking Age and that the word we use in Denmark to designate the animal kanin is derived from the original Latin cuniculus, and not the French rabotte (English rabbit), which originally only referred to young animals (as opposed to the mature animals, which in France are labelled Lapin). In Danish, we encounter the rabbit in writing for the first time in King Valdemar’s Land Register (ca. 1241) as cuning, cyning. The Dictionary of the Danish Language states that this word is derived from Anglo-Saxon coning. And this word is indeed known from English dialects, but the term is also known from Dutch, French, German, Spanish, etc. So the exotic word here is rabbit and not the Latin-derived kanin, which is known throughout Western Europe. Curiously, cuniculus derives from Celtic, meaning dog. Hence, cuniculus was a “small dog”.

It is often claimed that the monks brought the art of keeping rabbits to the countries in the early Middle Ages due to the Papal Sea, which in the 7th century classified rabbit fetuses as fish, which is why they might be eaten during Lent. This, however is a fairy tale. On the contrary, the story, which comes from Gregory the Great, is that a certain Roccolenus, who had planned to plunder Tours, died before he could carry out his intention because he had eaten rabbits during the fast. But although the story of the rabbit being declared a fish by the Pope was a hoax, it does not mean that the monks were not active as importers of the idea of keeping rabbits. Most traces of rabbits, however, are not found near medieval monasteries but rather in connection with castles and hunting lodges.

Such rabbits were kept in three ways. Firstly, it was common to designate a field as a rabbit park and fence it with a regular wall. This was called a garenne in French or a warren in English. In Danish, it was called a “rabbit garden”. The second way was to release them in dunes surrounded by marshes or moats, as is known from Amrum in North Frisia in the Wadden Sea. Here the animals are called Amrumer Karnickel. The third possibility was to release them on islands. The latter method is documented in King Valdemar’s Land Register, where rabbits were kept as game on Orø in Roskilde Fjord and Sprogø in the Great Belt. Here, they were hunted with bows and arrows or by keeping ferrets for the purpose.

From a slightly later time, we know about the rabbits on Hjelm in Kattegat, where the king-slayer and his outlaw companions resided in the years between 1290 and 1306. On this fortified island, the medieval rabbit tunnels have been excavated, just as 161 rabbit bones were found in the waste from the castle kitchen.

Rabbit Breeding and Ornamental Animals

Rabbits were, by the way, early considered a delicacy. In 1355, in France, keeping rabbits in rabbit yards became a noble privilege, which was first abolished during the revolution in 1789. Such privileges are also known from England in the high Middle Ages and typically permitted the exclusive right to hunt rabbits, pheasants, partridges, and hares within a given area. Also included was the right to snare or hunt the predators that went after the rabbits, namely foxes, wildcats, martens, and lynx.

Later in the Renaissance, people began to keep them in cages and breed them to make them particularly large and tasty. The first proper rabbit garden in Denmark was established in 1616 by Christian IV at Charlottenlund Castle Garden. Later, Frederick III’s queen Sophie Amalie imported rabbits from Holland, which she placed on an islet in Lake Furesø in a rabbit garden outside the castle Dronninggård, today better known as Næsseslottet. She was familiar with the practice from Northern Germany, where rabbit gardens on islets are known, among other places, from Lake Schwerin. The islet in Lake Furesø was called “Malta,” probably because the island was already known for its rabbit hunting.

Throughout this history, rabbits with a special appearance were bred. Such animals were especially in demand in the early 19th century when rabbits became wild animals that could bring life and colour to the new romantic English garden designs.

Wild Rabbits

The rabbit is a small mammal with upright ears, soft fur of greyish-brown guard hair, and a light grey undercoat. When the rabbit runs, the tail is grey on top and white underneath. The animals live on grasses, herbs, and other coarse plant food such as shoots, bark, and roots. Just like the hare, a close relative, the rabbit eats its own faeces to utilize the plant residue optimally.

It is a social animal that lives in a flock in a warren. At the core is a central and privileged rabbit hole where the dominant couple nests. But there are many passages into the nest and its outliers, and they are equipped with a multitude of openings. Among the animals, there is a strict hierarchy, where the dominant male gets access to maintain a harem overseen by a dominant female. Rabbits are diurnal and nocturnal animals that seek food at dusk in hedges and thickets, where you can see them darting over sticks and stones.

On average, rabbits have three to four litters a year. Each litter consists of two to ten kittens, which are nursed for a month, after which they must fend for themselves. The mother animal only visits the nest once daily to nurse them. The rest of the time, they are left to seek each other’s warmth in the litter. Large litters, however, are no advantage unless they are born early in the year. Here, the need for warmth is balanced by the fact that the mother’s milk has to stretch to the many young. Birds of prey gladly take the large individuals, while foxes and martens are fond of the young.

Rabbits live in groups of 1-5 males and 1-8 females. The groups are hierarchically organized, which, however, primarily comes to expression within their gender groupings. Although they live in mixed-gender groups, the social dynamics thus do not unfold between the sexes. Male rabbits dominate the competitors by patrolling and displaying aggressive behaviour or – more rarely – instigating direct combat. Female rabbits dominate through often despotic behaviour, which, among other things, is expressed by the dominant in a mother group mating with the dominant male rabbit and, therefore, having access to the innermost and warmest burrow.

In contrast, the less fortunate members of the mother group often have to make do with colder and more peripheral holes. Some studies suggest that these less fortunate mothers organize themselves more egalitarian. The animals are very territorial and, therefore, kick out the younger male rabbits as soon as they are sexually mature at three to four months. Afterwards, the migrants try to seek admission to the neighbouring group.

In Denmark, there are large populations of wild rabbits in Southern Jutland as well as in the islands of Fanø, Lolland, Bornholm, Funen, Fænø, and Endelave. The wild rabbit is not red-listed. On Endelave, you can visit “The Rabbit Island”and experience the animals jumping around your feet. The rabbit population of perhaps 50.000 individuals derive from six animals imported in 1924. Occasionally – every 8 to 10th year – they are in danger of dying out as they get hit by myxomatosis, a virulent virus, which in its European strain may kill 60 – 95% of a rabbit colony. Observations have shown that the rabbits there provide a widespread ecosystem service on Endelave where they roam the earth, creating fine possibilities for Andrenas or ground-nesting bees. Also, butterflies and birds nesting on the ground gain better conditions. Finally, the wild rabbits feed numerous predators like foxes and birds of prey. Biologists consider them an important element for the wildlife on the island. 

In 2010, a Finnish environmental expert wrote in an official report that “Conflicts still arise when it comes to eradicating attractive invasive species such as the lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus) and the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), which are not native to Nordic nature”.

However, the story of the European rabbits tells us how truly nonsensical it is to regard them as an invasive species. Yes, they have been farmed, kept, bred and petted. But they also live wildly, as they have done since their early introduction to the Iberian Peninsula before the latest Ice Age. From here, they spread slowly across the continent to furrow their way into the barrows and hills of yesteryear.

The Easter Bunny

During the Middle Ages, the rabbit or hare gained a symbolic value as a sign of renewal and goodness. Often, a white rabbit was posited at the feet of the Virgin, symbolizing her victory over lust while at the same time fulfilling her role as the Mother of God. While a newborn lamb was considered the proper centre of the Easter dinner on Sunday, the rabbit was often substituted for this in Germany (and probably elsewhere among less wealthy commoners in wider Europe.) For many people, the rabbit must have played a definite role as a lifesaving protein source at the end of the harsh winter and the even more relentless Lenten with its strict dietary restrictions. To be precise, rabbits were there for the taking from March onwards, pace the lord and his prerogatives.

Likely, these symbolic interchanges forged the mythological and artistic motif of the rabbits or hares catching the hunter or his dog to restrain and condemn them. We find this topic in medieval sculptural decorations and manuscripts such as prayer books.

Whatever the explanation, rabbits were precious offers on the market and sold in the Middle Ages for the same price as a suckling pig and twice that of a chicken, a traditional summer delicatessen.

Rabbit Pâté

A staple on the medieval menu was the medieval pâté, where a mixture of minced meat and spices was filled into a pâté mould lined with pie crust (use your usual recipe).

The content is prepared from 1 dl pine nuts and 1 dl raisins, which are gently fried in butter until golden. This mixture is added to a bowl where you have already worked a mixture of 1/2 kg coarsely chopped rabbit, 4 eggs, 2 dl chopped cheese, ¼ tsp ground cloves, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground pepper, ½ tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp sugar or honey, and 2 tsp salt.

The pie or pâté is baked for about an hour at 160º C. If the pâté is covered with a pastry lid, as in a pie it might be glazed with a splash of almond milk mixed with a little saffron and salt. If the pâté is open, it should be covered with aluminium foil to prevent it from drying out.

One particular and popular version was on the menu in Germany after the Reformation set in. The reason, of course, was that fasting during Lent was abolished, creating a cultural opening for setting the rabbit of hare paté on the menu.

The post-reformational version derives from the numerous books with recipes published in the late 15th and early 16th century. In this version, 350 gr of chopped meat from a deboned rabbit is mixed with 125 gr of chopped pork and a futher 500 gr striped bacon, and two eggs. Add to this mixture crumbs from a small piece of bread and some milk. Season with salt, pepper, ground ginger, nutmeg, 30 gr of raisins and a tbsp of sweet wine. The crust is made from 500 gr flour, 75 gr lard, 4 tbsp water, four eggs and 1 tsp salt. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours at 160 – 175º C as the oven heats.

Rabbit Stew or Checonys in Cyrip

The best way to prepare rabbits, however, is to simmer them in a pot – preferably in a hay box. The rabbit is salted and cut into smaller pieces, after which it is slowly cooked in a good broth to which a couple of slices of bacon, whole cinnamon, whole cloves, and whole peppercorns (possibly cubeb or Java pepper) have been added. The rabbit should not cook too long, as it quickly turns dry. The rabbit is taken out of the cooking broth, which is strained of spices and seasoned with sweet wine (vin santo, tokaji, sauterne, or whatever you have). To this, raisins, prunes, apple pieces, and possibly some chopped ginger are added. When the raisins and prunes have swelled, the soup is thickened, and the rabbit is served with the stewed fruits in the sauce accompanied by a delicious bread. If the sauce is too sweet, it can be seasoned with a little wine vinegar. In the Middle Ages, the sauce would have been served aside.

The recipe dates from the 14th century and is found in many versions in various cookbooks.

FEATURED PHOTO:

Wild Rabbit from arter.dk CC BY Jesper Michael Møller

SOURCES:

Alle Tiders Kaniner – Kaninen i Danmarkshistorien gennem 800 år
Af: Peter Dragsbo
Tiko Media 2018

Way of the Rabbit
By Hawthorne Mark (Author)
Changemakers Books 2021

Kanino-Fortællinger. Om Endelaves natur og historie set fra Kaninoruten. 
Foreningen Endelave Natur og Miljø 2024

Rabbit genome analysis reveals a polygenic basis for phenotypic change during domestication
Af Miguel Carneiro et al
Science Vol 345, nr. 6200

Rabbits and the Specious Origins of Domestication
By Evan K. Irving-Pease, Laurent A.F. Frantz, Naomi Sykes, Cécile Callou, and Greger Larson
Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 33, Issue 3, March 2018, Pages 149-152

The rabbit and the medieval East Anglian economy
By M. Bailey
The Agricultural History Review, vol. 36, no. 1, 1988, pp. 1 – 20.

Social Structure and Stress in the Rabbit Warren
By R. M. Lockley
Journal of Animal Ecology, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Nov., 1961), pp. 385-423 (41 pages)

Norden Natur – frem mod 2010, Marja Pylvänäinen
Nordic Council of Ministers, 2010

Recipees from:

Zu Tisch bei Martin Luther
Von Alexandra Dapper
Lndesamt für Denkmalpflegeund Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt/Theiss 2008.