Falconry in the Mediterranean Context During the Pre-Modern Era

Falconry has been the pursuit of kings, emperors, emirs, khans, merchants and travellers for over 2000 years. It has provided subjects for literature and art, and been discussed in works of zoology, medicine, and law. The papers in this volume originated in a conference held at New York University at Abu Dhabi, and discuss issues on medieval falconry around the Mediterranean. This includes treatises on hawks and falcons, in Spain, the Levant, Byzantium, the Arabic Middle East, and a comparison between European and Arabic manuals. Other contributions consider falconry in Arabic poetry, in Provençal and Italian literature, in little known Neo-Latin poetry, in painting. There is place for legal aspects, with regulations concerning falconry in Jewish law, and for concrete realities: the spread of falconry from Central Asia to Europe as documented by archaeology, falconry at the Sforza court of Milan and the trade of the highly prized gyrfalcons. Through these case studies, the Mediterranean appears as a space of exchange and mutual influence.