I've heard it said that the monks who wrote these manuscripts and inscribed their snail battles, did so as a means of presenting their piety.

In order to understand this one must realise that a monk had very few real enemies in the world - they were above these worldly pursuits. But, monks still had to eat, and tend their gardens in order to do so - and what likes monks gardens more than the monk does?

Why, snails of course.

So when monks were not bent over, copying ancient secrets for future generations to pore over, they were to be found in their gardens, eradicating their mortal enemy the snail, lest the monk be forced to starve to death. To a monk in a tower, engaged in little other than intellectual pursuits, the mightiest foes indeed were the little creatures who could starve the inhabitants of the mightiest holy towers.

So, that's why there are so many snails in the footnotes and margins of history. Because they were the mightiest foe for such humble folk to imagine...

That's very poetically written but I think you might be neglecting the fact that one of the monk's primary duties was (and still is) to lead a life of prayer, and in their worldview this is very much an ongoing spiritual battle against Satan and all his demons who are continuously attempting to overthrow the kingdom of God, mostly by tempting the people of the surrounding lands into sin or by allowing their opponents to prevail. Snails are a real threat too, but by no means the only enemy in the mind of an actual practising monk.

> an ongoing spiritual battle against Satan and all his demons who are continuously attempting to overthrow the kingdom of God, mostly by tempting the people of the surrounding lands into sin or by allowing their opponents to prevail

Sure, but that's all make-believe; snails are real.

> Sure, but that's all make-believe

Not from the perspective of many (but not all) monks. I think you're having a theory of mind failure here.

Depending on your religion, they might be equally real. The threat posed by snails might be more immediate, though.

Who's to say the snails aren't agents of Satan? These monks may be fighting actual demons in their gardens.

It's not like old Scratch is a stranger to using animal proxies. His first documented appearance has him in snake form.