This book explores views of the natural world in the late Middle Ages, especially as expressed in "Livre de chasse" ("Book of the Hunt"), the most influential hunting book of the era. It shows that killing and maiming, suffering and the death of animals were not insignificant topics to late medieval men, but constituted a complex set of issues, and could provoke very contradictory thoughts and feelings that varied according social and cultural milieus and particular cases and circumstances.
Hannele Klemettilä received her Ph.D. in medieval history from the University of Leiden. She is the author of "Epitomes of Evil: Representations of Executioners in Northern France and the Low Countries in the Late Middle Ages" and several other books on the cultural history of late medieval Europe.
Author(s): Hannele Klemettilä
Series: Routledge Research in Museum Studies, 9
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2015
Language: English
Pages: XVI+250
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Acknowledgements xv
PART I. Introduction
1. Introduction 3
PART II. The Game
2. Fébusian Bestiary 24
3. Noble and Ignoble Endings 48
4. Post-Mortem Products 72
PART III. The Hound
5. Types of Hunting Dogs 100
6. Daily Care and Training of Hunting Dogs 120
7. Canine Ailments, Old Age, and Death 138
PART IV. The Hunter
8. The Career of a Huntsman 166
9. A Path to Paradise: Goals and Benefits of Hunting 187
10. The Good Hunter 206
PART V. Conclusion
11 Conclusion 227
Bibliography 231
Index 243
