Although I understand the middle ages' worldview was entirely christian and thus tracing the evolution on the symbolic perception of animals would involve traci

Although I understand the middle ages' worldview was entirely christian and thus tracing the evolution on the symbolic perception of animals would involve tracing it through christian authors I'd contest that to fully understand the origin of this symbolism one has to broaden the view a lot further than St. Augustine... 2nd 3rd century christian texts and thought emerge from a very very cosmopolitan world where pagan conceptions of the nature of reality (i.e. neoplatonism, orphism, chaldean theology) are mixing with the newly emergent jewish sect that we'll later call christianity, and even with new jewish apocalyptic and esoteric thought.