Medieval Hunting Read Online Free Page A

possibilities idleness afforded for dwelling on the sins of the flesh:
    for whan a man is ydul and rechless without travayle and men ben occupyed to be doyng somme þinges, and abideth ther in here oiþer in here Chambre it is a thyng which draweth men to ymaginacioun of fleishly lust an plaisire. . . . 6
    Gentle hunters were instructed in the art of hunting from an early age and The Master of Game advises ‘It wilt tech a man to be a good huntere, first þe must be a childe passid vii. or viii. yere of age or litel elder . . .’. 7 According to Nicholas Orme, the tradition of including hunting in the curriculum of young nobles, particularly heroes, dates back to the epics of the twelfth century. 8 Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan , written in about 1210, provides the earliest available full account of education for a young noble; its requirements include knowledge of tracking and hunting, riding, the military arts and athletics as well as the study of reading, languages and proficiency in music and chess. 9 Horn, a king’s son and the hero of a French poem written between 1150 and 1175, learns ‘to play all the instruments under heaven, to hunt in wood and by river, to manage a horse and defend himself’. 10 In Guy of Warwick , a slightly later French poem of about 1235, Guy, the son of the Earl of Warwick’s steward, the Lord of Wallingford, has a Master to teach him and is given experience in handling dogs and falcons. 11 The education of these fictional young heroes is reflected in that of many historical figures of the late medieval period. Thus, Alexander III of Scotland, aged ten, hunted in Galtres Forest near York in 1251 12 and Henry VI coursed hares and foxes at Bury St Edmunds in 1433/4 when he was twelve. 13 This royal tradition of formalising the subjects included in the educational system was quickly adopted by all ranks of the aristocracy eager to produce educated offspring who would make their way successfully in the world. Thus Geoffrey Chaucer, son of a London vintner, received the education of a gentleman, beginning as a page in the household of Prince Lionel, second son of Edward III. 14 This education inevitably included instruction in hunting and hawking, and his poems, such as The Booke of the Duchesse and The Assembly of Foules contain many references and allusions to both aristocratic activities. Several illustrations in Livre de chasse show Gaston Fébus as Master, instructing young nobles in the arts of hunting. 15 This gentlemanly ideal of educating one’s sons in the correct way continued into the Tudor period and beyond. Henry VIII’s archbishop, Thomas Cranmer, was an active and enthusiastic athlete in his youth and his father:
    was very desirous to have him learned, yet would he not that he should be ignorant in civil and gentleman-like exercises, insomuch that he used him to shoot and many times permitted him to hunt and hawk and to exercise and to ride rough horses . . . after study, he would both hawk and hunt . . . and would sometimes shoot the long bow. 16
    The curriculum for girls was necessarily different in several respects, but in Medieval Children , Nicholas Orme comments that ‘noble and gentle girls needed to learn table manners like those of their brothers, and some of them took part in hunting of a less exacting kind’. 17
    For young men of the upper classes, the three basic accomplishments – facility of address, the practice of religion and mastery of etiquette – were acquired early in life, and were followed by knowledge of literature, music and the visual arts and competence at dancing plus training for war, hunting, archery and indoor games. From hunting children learned several essential skills, including horsemanship and the management of weapons, and gained knowledge of terrain, woodcraft and strategy. 18 For the future ruling classes, the warriors and leaders in war, hunting provided invaluable lessons and