Lions have featured in European art and religion for centuries, yet there are no lions in Europe. Where did they come from, and how did they become so prevalent in a continent where they don’t even live?
Lions in Europe
To answer, we must look thousands of years into the past. Another species once roamed throughout Europe and Asia up until 6,000 years before the modern lion. The Eurasian cave lion lived in Europe during the Pleistocene epoch, 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago. The oldest known cave lions lived in Italy between 660,000 and 610,000 years ago. Paintings of these ancient lions can be found in caves throughout Europe. The Chauvet Cave in France features more than seventy painted lions.
Archaeologists have long debated over whether modern lions truly lived in Europe, or people just imported them from elsewhere. Lion bones have been found in enough locations and large enough quantities to support the idea that they did live in Europe. By 2012, Nancy Thomas found 100 lion bones in a total of 38 sites throughout southeastern Europe, including Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, the southern Ukraine, and Greece. The evidence shows that lions once lived in these areas, although their presence in Greece is still subject to debate.
Figure 1. An image of a lion and cubs from the Rochester Bestiary, 1225-50. The British Library, Ms. Royal 12 F XIII, fol. 5. Digital image: British library.
Lions of the Middle Ages
Lions were a prominent symbol of Europe’s Middle Ages. Their meaning, often entwined with Christian themes, could be either positive or negative. They were a ferocious, untamed danger. When paired with a sense of justice, that ferocity often represented royalty and nobility – kings, princes and knights. In the late 12th century, they were introduced to the English royal coat of arms, which features eight lions in total. But they also had a negative connotation, and were often associated with certain sins, such as pride.
Lions also featured heavily in medieval art. From embroidery to cathedrals, they were prevalent throughout the continent. Aquamanilia – water vessels used for handwashing in rituals – often took the shape of either lions or griffins.
Figure 2 a and 2 b (left to right). Steeple Aston Cope; Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Aquamanile shaped like a lion; Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lions once roamed southeastern Europe and possibly even Greece. Lions are everywhere in Europe, guarding churches, castles and even people’s homes. Although now gone from the continent, they still play a large role in art, literature and symbolism.
Sources
Header: https://www.archaeologynow.org/blog/lions
https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/the-laudable-lion-of-the-medieval-mind/ (Figure 1)
https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/medieval-mythologies?srsltid=AfmBOorxNWOC6MHzNqBZxdZv0bzl1Z2l7Su8rdVOWLzSkVYU6qEcaDpo (Figure 2 a)
https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/medieval-aquamanilia (Figure 2 b)
https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/lions-europe/
https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/quaternary/pleistocene.php
https://phys.org/news/2024-06-earliest-evidence-cave-lions-southern.html
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/FFE8383A225E9E5ABF3F3BE177C1DBD5/S0362152921000052a.pdf/the-lion-in-medieval-western-europe-toward-an-interpretive-history.pdf
*Published by Eryn Meeker on 08/26/2025*