Dissertation on Birds of Prey and the Sport - the Falconry Heritage ...

mentions in the Cantari d'A~~ramonte,~ in the same sorts of contexts, as well as being a
measure of wealth and nobility.
Although hunting is practiced in reality with many kinds of hawks and falcons,
only a few are commonly encountered in medieval Italian literature. The most frequent
references are to hawks: the spawiero, or sparrowhawk, is the most common; it seems to
be the default bird in representing love or nobility in Old French, Provenqal, and Italian
literature. The astore, or goshawk, is often seen as well; it is a larger and more fearsome
hawk than the sparrowhawk. Among falcons, the generic falco or falcone is often
mentioned, along with the falcon pellegrino, or peregrine falcon, and the girfalco, or
gyrfalcon, whose relationship to the generic falcon corresponds to that of the goshawk
with the sparrowhawk. Occasionally contrasting with the above birds is the nibbio, or
kite, a type of falcon that is small, and was considered lazy, cowardly, and an ineffective
hunter. The choice of one of these birds over another in poetry seems usually arbitrary,
with a few exceptions. The kite, of course, is used in a negative context. If the poet
wishes to convey a sense of diving and striking swiftly from a great height, the natural
choice is a falcon, which hunts in that manner, rather than a hawk. Likewise, if a poem is
set in a forest, a hawk, which hunts low to the ground in brushy areas, and grasps its prey
firmly in its talons, is more appropriate. Let us now examine these uses of falcons and
hawks.
Despite the strong ties between the south of France and the court of Frederick 11,
and the emperor's obsession with the sport of falconry, falcons and hawks are practically
Edited by Andrea Fasso (Bologna: Commissione per i testi di lingua, 1981).