The pleasure of hawking. Latin treatises on falconry of the Middle Ages between tradition and practise

The Latin treatises on falconry encompass a fairly extensive form of literature which flourished between the 10(th) and 14(th) centuries, and whose outstanding work is the monumental De arte venandi cum avibus of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. Most of the texts are, however, short treatises on the treatment of sick hunting birds and therefore are more closely relevant to veterinary medicine. This article provides a summarized presentation of the Latin literature on falconry and relates the following three aspects: a survey of this form genre according to manuscripts and texts including an updated bibliography a presentation of the contents (ornithological, technical, hygienic, and therapeutic information) a discussion of the practical character. The treatises on falconry provide a case in point to study the importance and the purpose of the technical literature of the Middle Ages. Although they were basically texts having the practical function of promoting a certain technique, their literary character is more pronounced than one would expect. They can not be described as purely practical texts.