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RECREATIONS 621
on the Bayeux Tapestry with a hawk on his wrist
(Pi.
1 36 a).
The Normans and Angevins were no less interested in falconry
than the last
pre-Conquest It king. was indeed a universal
sport,
and the literature of one country was applicable to another.
The most famous, interesting, and comprehensive book was
the treatise written between 1244 and 1250 by the Emperor
Frederick II, who married the sister ofthe English king Henry
IIL Though in the De Arte Venandi cum Av&u$ 9 the emperor
drew chiefly on his own personal experience and observations,
he was at pains to discover developments and particular prac^
tices of other countries; thus he claims to have introduced the
practice of hooding the falcons from the Arabs, and he is aware
of a custom peculiar to England of not shouting when they
lure, that is when they entice the bird back after its flight (non
vociferant in loyratione).
Hawks had to be trained and fed with infinite care and
patience for they were liable to 'bate*, that is to say, become
restless in the hands ofan inexperienced falconer; they needed
regular exercise (PL 136 V) and good and substantial food,
meals ofmeat and poultry. KingJohn, for instance, gave instruct
tions that his gerfalcons were to be given doves and pork, and
chicken once a week* They required specially careful treatment
in the moulting or *mewing* season if they were to be good for
flying after the moult The falconer's was a highly/skilled pro/
fession and tended to run in families; no less than ten members
ofthe family ofHauville were engaged in the business during
the first halfofthe thirteenth century. With the extravagant diet
ofthe birds, with the expense of maintaining so large an estab/
lishment, with the relatively small return of game, it can never
have been, like hunting, a contribution to the economy ofthe
country. It was indulged in purely as a sport, and its popularity
persisted until the advent ofthe shot'gun.
5. The Tournament
The tournament was a sport of knights, and, like everything
characteristic of chivalry, it seems to have originated and de