This thesis applies Animal Studies theory to a selection of texts from medieval literature and visual culture. In particular, it is concerned with the ways that the ‘fact of interaction’ impacts on an evaluation of non–human animal (NHA) and human–animal relationships. The thesis re–examines a selection of medieval texts by foregrounding the experience of the non–human animal in the human sphere, looking at how the two interact and seeking to emphasise the importance of NHAs. As the thesis progresses, I move from the material (manuscript skin; the flesh of animals in hunting and butchery) to the metaphorical (the use of animal sculpture and religious imagery). Although much of the thesis focusses on the ways in which animals are used in positive or affirming ways, I close with a consideration of the ways creatures were used to spread prejudice. I use a wide variety of sources (pragmatic manuscripts, images, sculpture, religious texts, lay texts, poetry) to demonstrate how far–reaching this concept is, and open up new avenues for scholarship.  The concept of ‘use’ is also key here, as it includes both the pragmatic utilisation of animal bodies, but also the use of animals, as Lévi–Strauss had it, ’to think with’. In sum, I emphasise the importance of non–human animal experience in medieval human experience, and use relatively new critical apparatus from the field of Animal Studies to deepen our understanding of medieval texts.