La Litterature Cynegetique

Medieval hunting literature contains a rich tradition of didactic texts on falconry and hunting. Treatises on falconry are known since the tenth century, at first in Latin, and since the 13th century onwards mainly in the vernacular. This is also the time when the first treatises on hunting make their appearance, although they are rarer than the treatises on falconry. This publication of the Typologie presents a survey of the medieval literature on falconry and on hunting, in Latin and in the various vernacular languages, points out some directions for future research, and discusses the critical problems. Finally, the historical value of the genre is presented with regard to various fields: knowledge of medieval environment, study of material culture, economic and social history, lexicography, literary history, iconography (seven miniatures are published in an appendix), history of science and technology.