The sea bishop or bishop-fish is a

legendary creature A legendary creature is a type of extraordinary or supernatural being that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), and may be featured in historical accounts before modernity, but has not been scientifically shown to exist. In t ...

first recorded in the 16th century. According to legend, it was taken to the

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

, who wished to keep it. It was also shown to a group of

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

s, to whom the bishop-fish gestured, appealing to be released. They granted its wish, at which point it made the

sign of the cross Making the sign of the cross (), also known as blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is both a prayer and a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. It is a very significant prayer because Christians are acknowledging ...

and disappeared into the sea. Another was supposedly captured in the ocean near

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1531. It refused to eat and died after three days. It was described and pictured in the fourth volume of

Conrad Gesner Conrad Gessner (; ; 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Old Swiss Confederacy, Swiss physician, natural history, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly ...

's famous ''

Historiae animalium ("History of the Animals"), published in Zurich in 1551–1558 and 1587, is an encyclopedic "inventory of renaissance zoology" by Conrad Gessner (1516–1565). Gessner was a medical doctor and professor at the Carolinum in Zürich, the precurso ...

, published in 1551 – 58 and 1587. Cryptozoologist

Bernard Heuvelmans Bernard Heuvelmans (10 October 1916 – 22 August 2001) was a Demographics of Belgium, Belgian-France, French scientist, explorer, researcher, and writer probably best known, along with Scottish-American biologist Ivan T. Sanderson, as a foun ...

believed the report was based on the discovery of a large mutilated Grimaldi scaled squid.Heuvelmans Bernard (2003). ''The Kraken and the Colossal Octopus: In the Wake of Sea-Monsters''. London: Kegan Paul International. 2003. pp. 230-231.

References

* Anon? ''The Reader's Digest Book of Strange Stories, Amazing Facts 1976,'' various contributors * Gesner, C. ''

Historiae Animalium ("History of the Animals"), published in Zurich in 1551–1558 and 1587, is an encyclopedic "inventory of renaissance zoology" by Conrad Gessner (1516–1565). Gessner was a medical doctor and professor at the Carolinum in Zürich, the precurso ...

External links

Sea monsters Christian legendary creatures Medieval European legendary creatures Legendary fish {{legendary-creature-stub

See also

References

External links