European Falconry
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| English Falconer |
Although
falconry had been introduced to Europe by the 4th Century, it was
not until the 12th Century that falconry grew to an obsession among
nobility. It was Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250), the Holy Roman
Emperor, King of Sicily and Jerusalem that placed falconry on the historical map for Europe. Frederick
II was so passionate about falconry he wrote a book series called The 'De Arte Venandi cum Avibus'. A historically
important work that was written during the Dark Ages:
The 'De Arte Venandi cum Avibus' was the
culmination of thirty years' preparation. It is known from a two-book edition
in both printed and written state, and from a six-book edition that exists only
in (multiple) manuscript form. Books II to VI are devoted entirely to falconry,
treated in great detail. Modern falconers will find that much of it represents
current practices today. There appears to be little in the art as it was
exercised in Frederick's time that he has not carefully described and
systematized.12
In fact, Frederick’s books were
written so scientifically complex and detailed in the tradition of falconry
that Charles Haskins recommended, in his 1921 review of the works that they must
be read by a zoologist and a falconer.13
By the 14th Century, falconry had ascended to the
sport of medieval European aristocrats, the sport for Kings. Only nobility were
allowed to keep hawks. Falconers and the hawks had grown to be one of the most
revered citizens in all of Europe. Some Kings would hire hundreds of falconers,
paying them handsomely, to care for their hawks. In Wales, the King’s falconers
were the fourth officer and were not allowed more than three drams of beer for
fear of intoxication would lead him unable to care for the hawks.14
Nobility
were known to be so obsessed with their birds; they would bring them to Church.
Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) were
the most prized of the falcons and generally only held by Kings. These falcons
were often given as gifts to other countries’ nobility during peace agreements
and diplomacy.15 In addition, a law was created that made it a crime
to steal a bird or eggs from a falconer.16 By 1536, King Henry VIII issued
proclamation protecting the poultry fed to the falconry birds which were
nearing extinction.17 Eventually, this protection extended to the
game fowl such as herons, pheasants and partridge. This proclamation protecting
avian game is an early example of natural resource management.
Sadly, as
the 18th Century approached, falconry had become a dying practice.
The Monarchy kept a small stable of hawks in their mews and falconers to care
for them but in customs and pageantry position only. Without the exception of
an eccentric English falconer, Colonel Thornton, who lead falconry parties in
the Scottish Highlands in the early 19th Century as well as the
aboriginal inhabitants in the remote districts of the Highlands of Scotland,
the sport of English falconry would have been lost into mystery.17
Early American Falconry
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| Hunting in Virginia by early Settlers |
The
first record of falconry in North America was in 1585. Thomas Harriot, one of
Sir Richard Grenville’s colonists of Roanoke Island wrote in reference to
falconry. Again in 1610, William Strachey wrote about the five different hawk
species in Virginia, in which some were exported back to England.18
Because North America lacked the socioeconomical or cultural necessity for the
practice of falconry, the sport remained limited to a few number of groups
throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries. However, as the
1960’s rolled around, falconry in the United States played an enormous role in
raptor conservation.
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| Modern Falconry |
The Fall
from Grace
How deep the national passion had
been stirred by the noble pastime may be estimated by those memories. For the
two hundred years after the last tinkle of bells had ceased in the land, no
living sport exercised from day-to-day, had such a hold on the popular
imagination. The falcon and the falconer had become heroic. – Charles Q. Turner
1898
For thousands of years, the
falconer and raptor reined with high social status and magnificent accessory
but, within a span of only two hundred-fifty years, the disappearance of this
status and reverence has become one of the largest historical mysteries.19
In early 19th Century, as the bells grew silent, the gunshots grew
loud. Game hunting using guns had replaced falconry and the raptors, the once prized
obsessions of nobility, had become vermin. This period marked the disturbing practice
of mass raptor extermination throughout Europe and the United States. Killing
raptors had become a condition of employment for English gamekeepers. The
corpses of the killed were hanged from trees or sent to taxidermists for
displaying. “The bird of kings reduced to a pile of bones hanging from a tree.”20
This era
represented a disappointing time in our history of humanity and respect for the
natural world. As humans, we disregarded traditional culture and ignored the
value of nature for selfish and monetary gains. Not to mention a complete
disregard for the raptors’ intrinsic right to exist in its own right in the
world unmolested. Instead of admiration for the falcon as a skilled-flighted hunter,
it had become a worthy opponent to prove that human skills can kill the most
skilled hunter. Stuffed falcons were placed on display to celebrate these
accomplishments.
The fall from
grace was not unique to Western cultures. In Central Asia, the berkutchi was a
person of high social and spiritual status but that has been lost over the past
several hundred years as well. The region was marked by social and ecological poverty,
in part because of Muscovy and later the USSR, carried profound impacts. The
unique culture of falconry and the local traditions were believed to be outdated
and practicing either was discouraged with persecution. The destruction of the natural
environment, contamination of soils and sources of water reached a pivotal
point; it affected the spiritual sphere and genotype of the indigenous people
of Asia. 21 The once prized culture of falconry became a distant
memory.
However, in
the Middle East, falconry continued to be practiced. During the 19th
and early 20th Centuries, Western writers would refer to the
non-Western cultures as cultures living outside of historical progress.
Falconry did spread to British India, continuing the practice along with its social
hierarchy and reverence that was reminiscent of earlier nobility in Europe.
22
The Anti-predator Movement
During the 19th and
early 20th Centuries a movement was growing, in which, became the
anti-predator movement. Mammalian and avian predators were considered a major
threat to game, livestock and songbirds. This was a time when the traditional ecological
knowledge was changing and a new paradigm emerged. Proponents of the predator
control movement found it to be a rational solution to protect the vulnerable
animals that fall prey to the predators as well as an avenue for humans to
control the dangerous and unruly wilderness. Nature lovers and humanitarians
concerned with minimizing the suffering of the animals killed by predators
further romanticized this movement. The Bureau of the Biological Survey initiated
an anti-predator campaign in 1915. Thankfully, just two years later the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act came into law. 23
Stay tuned...the birth of raptor conservation is next!
Notes
12. J. T. Zimmer.
Review: A Medieval Ornithological Treatise. The Auk 61, no. (1944): 483.
13. Charles H. Haskins. 'De Arte Venandi cum Avibus' of the Emperor Frederick II.” The English
Historical Review. London: Longmens, Green and Co. (1921): 334.
14. Helen Macdonald.
Falcon. London: Reaktion, (2006): 16.
15. William Wood. “Falconry.” The American Naturalist 4, no. 2 (April
1870): 74-76.
16. Ibid, 77.
17. Charles Q. Turner. “The Revival of Falconry.” Outing:
An Illustrated Monthly Magazine of Sport, Travel and Recreation. Volume
XXXI. London: Outing Pub. Co., (1898): 478-480.
18. Ibid., 473.
19. Ibid., 473.
20. Helen Macdonald.
Falcon: 109.
21. Anon. Golden Eagle
22. Helen Macdonald.
Falcon, 95.
23. M. V. Barrow Jr,. “Science, Sentiment, and the Specter of
Extinction: Reconsidering Birds of Prey during America's Interwar Years.” Environmental History (2002): 70.
