V., in his celebrated “Institutions,” called “Clementines,” had formally forbidden the monks to hunt, there were few who did not evade the canonical prohibition by pursuing furred game, and that without considering that they were violating the laws of the Church.  The papal edict permitted the monks and priests to hunt under certain circumstances, and especially where rabbits or beasts of prey increased so much as to damage the crops.  It can easily be imagined that such would always be the case at a period when the people were so strictly forbidden to destroy game; and therefore hunting was practised at all seasons in the woods and fields in the vicinity of each abbey.  The jealous peasants, not themselves having the right of hunting, and who continually saw Master Abbot passing on his hunting excursions, said, with malice, that “the monks never forgot to pray for the success of the litters and nests (pro pullis et nidis), in order that game might always be abundant.”

[Illustration:  Fig. 143.—­“How Wolves may be caught with a Snare.”—­Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of Phoebus (Fifteenth Century).]

If venery, as a regular science, dates from a comparatively recent period, it is not so with falconry, the first traces of which are lost in obscure antiquity.  This kind of sport, which had become a most learned and complicated art, was the delight of the nobles of the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance period.  It was in such esteem that a nobleman or his lady never appeared in public without a hawk on the wrist as a mark of dignity (Fig. 147).  Even bishops and abbots entered the churches with their hunting birds, which they placed on the steps of the altar itself during the service.

[Illustration:  Fig. 144.—­“How Bears and other Beasts may be caught with a Dart.”—­Fac-simile of a Miniature in the Manuscript of Phoebus (Fifteenth Century).]

The bird, like the sword, was a distinctive mark which was inseparable from the person of gentle birth, who frequently even went to war with the falcon on his wrist.  During the battle he would make his squire hold the bird, which he replaced on his gauntlet when the fight was over.  In fact, it was forbidden by the laws of chivalry for persons to give up their birds, even as a ransom, should they be made prisoners; in which case they had to let the noble birds fly, in order that they might not share their captivity.

The falcon to a certain degree partook of his owner’s nobility; he was, moreover, considered a noble bird by the laws of falconry, as were all birds of prey which could be trained for purposes of sport.  All other birds, without distinction, were declared ignoble, and no exception was made to this rule by the naturalists of the Middle Ages, even in favour of the strongest and most magnificent, such as the eagle and vulture.  According to this capricious classification, they considered the sparrow-hawk, which was the smallest of the hunting-birds, to rank higher than the eagle.  The nickname of this diminutive sporting bird was often applied to a country-gentleman, who, not being able to afford to keep falcons, used the sparrow-hawk to capture partridges and quail.