page_title: Medieval hunting
section_title: Hawks and Falcons
hierarchical_section_title: Medieval hunting / Equipment / Hawks and Falcons
caption_attribution_description: Codex Manesse, fol. 7r, Konradin von Hohenstaufen ("König Konradin der Junge")
context_page_description: Throughout Western Europe in the Middle Ages, humans hunted wild animals. While game was at times an important source of food, it was rarely the principal source of nutrition. Hunting was engaged by all classes, but by the High Middle Ages, the necessity of hunting was transformed into a stylized pastime of the aristocracy. More than a pastime, it was an important arena for social interaction, essential training for war, and a privilege and measurement of nobility.
context_section_description: Medieval terminology spoke of hawks of the tower and hawks of the fist, which roughly corresponds to falcons and hawks, respectively. The female hawk was preferred, since it was both larger than the male and easier to train. A male saker falcon is approximately two thirds of the weight of a female; falconers call male peregrines tiercels, derived from the Latin word for "third". Hawks were captured all over Europe, but birds from Norway or Iceland were considered of particularly good quality.
  Falconry, a common activity in the Middle Ages, was the training of falcons and hawks for personal usage, which included hunting game. Falcons and hawks have different physical makeups which affects their mode of hunting. Ducks, herons, and cranes were the common game hunted by falcons and hawks. The main differences between the two species of birds lies in their wings and tails. Falcons have long, narrow wings with a long tapered tail. As a result, they fly at incredibly high levels. To kill game, they elevate high up in the sky and then dive at their target. Their dives can go up to 200 mph. They utilized their talons on the downward dive to slash game. Usually their strikes kill the game with the first slash. Hawks, however, have shorter, rounder wings and longer tails. They glide along at lower altitudes. To kill their game, they glide toward their target and then use a burst of speed to close in. They utilize their talons to dig in and clutch onto their game until it is dead. As a result of their makeups, falcons and hawks were utilized by owners for different terrains. Falcons were used in open fields while hawks were used in marshlands and woodland.
  Training a hawk was a painstaking process. It was normal at first to "seel" the bird's eyelids—sew them shut—so that it would not be scared or distracted. The trainer would then carry the hawk on his arm for several days, to get it accustomed to human presence. The eyes would gradually be unseeled, and the training would begin. The bird would be encouraged to fly from its perch to the falconer's hand over a gradually longer distance. Hunting game would be encouraged first by the use of meat, then a lure, and eventually live prey. Such prey included herons, sometime with their legs broken to facilitate the kill.
  Hawks would be housed in mews, a special edifice found in most large medieval households, mostly a certain distance from the main domicile, so that the hawks would not be disturbed. The mews could be rather elaborate structures. There would be windows in the wall, and the ground would be kept clean so that the bird's regurgitations could be found and analyzed.
  Among the species used were:
  Hawks
  Goshawk
  Sparrowhawk
  Falcons
  Gyrfalcon
  Hobby
  Lanner
  Merlin
  Peregrine
  Saker
  Of all the falcons, the gyrfalcon was considered the best one. They were thought of the highest quality when white ones were imported from Greenland. King Frederick II of England considered them the best "out of respect to their size, strength, audacity, and swiftness". Of the hawks, the goshawk was the most highly valued. They were more expensive and brought in more money for training. Goshawks from Scandinavia in particular were highly sought after.
caption: A portrait of Conradin hawking, from the Codex Manesse (Folio 7r).
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