 |
A Guide to Better Medieval Hunting In the medieval days, hunting was both a way to survive and a way to put food on the table. It was also a beloved past-time that was embraced by many. In that regard, you could easily get away with calling hunting a sport. And any hunter will agree that hunting, while rewarding, can also be tedious and difficult. So why not enlist some help? No, we are not talking about hunting dogs, but instead, about raptors - birds of prey. It is an art and a sport known as falconry, and today we will help you understand the sport a little more. Hunting on the Wing First, we ought to define what falconry is. Falconry is a sport in which the falconer (that's the person) utilizes a trained raptor (or bird of prey) to hunt game and bring it back to them. In theory, that sounds rather easy. In practice, it is anything but - we will get to more on that later, though. First, we'll review a bit of history. Falconry dates back as far as 800 BC and beyond, although many theorize that it has its roots in the earliest of hunters, who likely would have followed birds of prey and attempted to take their kills. This helped to ensure a good hunt and eliminated risk of failure on the hunter's part. If true, then it is easy to see how in later years the hunters just eliminated the middle part and instead started breeding birds to do the hunting for them! Another theory is that falconry grew slowly out of a people's desire to embody more of the birds that they respected so much. In mainstream media, falconry is often shown to be a sport of the noble class, and for good reason. Falconry required a great deal of time and money and these were things that the lower classes did not have. However, falconry was not restricted ONLY to the noble class. Lower classes could indeed utilize raptors to help them hunt and even hunt for them, although some texts and resources note that certain raptors were reserved for certain individuals of social rank. Falconry was also not a male-only activity. Many women through the ages were noted falconers, including Anne Boleyn and Catherine the Great of Russia. Even priests, popes, and nuns were credited with being falconers. In fact, an amusing tale claims that in England, nuns were chastised by bishops for bringing their falcons with them into church services! More interesting to note is the high value placed on birds of prey. Kings passed laws against stealing the eggs of raptors from lands that were not your own, and hawks of various sorts were included as precious commodities while conducting trades or giving gifts to fellow nobles and monarchs. |
|
| | | Classic Hunters Arrows with Medieval Tips View Item |
|
Picking a Preferred Raptor Obviously, falcons would be a preferred raptor of choice when it comes to falconry - it is in the name right? Some falcons are a good choice of bird, and as you can imagine, hawks of various sorts are also a solid choice for falconry. For the modern day falconer, the Harris Hawk is a good solid choice that is adaptable, intelligent, and effective. In the medieval days, though, the bird of choice could be quite varied. Hawks and falcons of various sorts were used based on availability, and for the nobility, even eagles and owls were not totally off-limits! Common birds for falconry were goshawks, gyrfalcons, kestrels, tercels, merlins, and lanner falcons (obviously this is not a comprehensive list but just some of the more common ones noted in history). The Book of St Albans offers up a list of what social ranks corresponded to what birds, although the list includes some raptors that were of little use to falconry or were used as prey in the sport. The list is quite fun to read, albeit not quite 100 percent historically factual, especially since some of the higher-up ranks are stuck with some awful birds for falconry. Emperors, for example, are listed as being able to use vultures, which are terrible for the sport and not particularly impressive to see, either. |
|
| | | |
|
Famous Falconers from History Perhaps one of the best known falconers was William Shakespeare. References to the sport and to its birds are found littered throughout his works and plays. Another famous falconer was Mary, Queen of Scots (Mary was the first removed cousin to famous English queen Elizabeth I). It is said that even while imprisoned in England, Queen Elizabeth would let Mary out to fly her merlins. Perhaps one of the most famous falconers, though, was Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick had a particular mastery of the sport and even wrote a book on falconry called "De Arte Venandi cum Avibus", or The Art of Hunting With Birds. The book is praised for its scientific approach and is rigid level of practicality, as well as how effectively it condenses experience into a systemic form for others to use. So You Want To Be A Falconer The good news is that you can still be one. Falconry is still practiced even to this day, and it can be a rewarding experience that not only provides you with small game to enjoy but also puts you into contact with some beautiful species of avian predators. Falconry, however, is not as easy as acquiring a falcon and teaching it to hunt for you. Subtle nuances and differences that vary from species to species, from time to time, from season to season, from location to location make falconry an intricate activity that is difficult to pin down in any sort of "How-To" guide. Truly, modern day falconry is an activity best learned by apprenticing yourself under an experienced Falconer. |
|
| | | |
| |
|
| |
|
| Help Box | Popular Categories | What's New | | |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.