Hunting was a favourite pastime of the King and his nobles.

There were two main forms of hunting: falconry and the hunting of animals such as deer and boar (the venison). There were lots of special rules and customs to be followed when hunting. The hunt would normally happen like this The prey or quarry was usually a stag, a doe, or a boar. Hounds were trained to track down the prey by its scent and to obey signals on a horn. The hunt was lead by a huntsman, a member of the kings staff. He would find the prey, and then the king or lord would decide if it was worth hunting. If the lord decided they would hunt it, then the huntsmen would circle the animal and chase it back towards the hunting party. Then the chase began. The nobles and their ladies rode on horseback behind the hounds and chased the prey through dense forests and over ditches. A hunt could last for many hours. When the prey was finally caught and killed, a song was played to honour the dying animal. The hunt was followed by a great feast with the freshly-hunted animals as the main course!

The Medieval Hunt In More Detail

Hunting Equipment The weapons used for hunting were a bow and arrow or crossbow, a lance or spear, and a sword. The hunter would also need a horn to communicate with the other hunters. The hunter also needed his horse, hounds or his falcon. Animals Used in the Hunt The horse was the most important animal of the medieval household. There were different types of horses for different purposes. A special breed called a courser would be used for hunting. It was powerful enough to carry the rider at high speeds over large distances and agile, so it could be ridden over difficult land and fearless enough not to be scared when encountering wild beasts. Hounds or dogs were essential for hunting. Their good sense of smell helped the hunt find the prey or quarry. They would then help to drive the hunted animal out of cover and, when the animal was finally at bay, the dog would either attack, or distract the quarry while the hunters moved in for the kill. Different types of hounds were used for different jobs in the hunt or different sorts of prey. The Quarry or Prey Most of the large animals that lived in the wild could be hunted from deer to badgers. Different animals were hunted for different reasons for meat or fur or for the challenge they were to catch.

The Deer - The king of all the wild animals was the deer, especially the hart (adult male red deer). The hart had to have at least ten tines (points) on its antlers to be worth hunting; a deer with ten tines was called a "hart of ten." The Boar - The boar was a highly dangerous animal to hunt; it would fight ferociously when under attack, and could easily kill a dog, a horse, or a man. It was hunted par force, and when at bay, it might be attacked by dogs but it was more likely to be killed by a hunter on a horse with a spear or lance. Other Animals - Some animals such as foxes, wolves or badgers werent used for food but were still hunted for the sport

The Hunt
Deer could be hunted in two different ways either with dogs (par force de chiens - "by force of dogs"), or with bows and arrows (bow and stable.) Hunting par force was considered the best and noblest form of hunting - the prey was run down and exhausted by the dogs before the kill was made. A Par force hunt had eight main stages. 1. The Quest - Before the hunt started (the day before), an expert huntsman, accompanied by a lymer (bloodhound), would seek out the prey or quarry. By the help of tracks, broken branches and droppings he would try to locate the home of the prey.

2. Assembly - Early on the day of the hunt, the hunting party would meet, examine the huntsman's information and the deer's droppings, and agree on how best to conduct the hunt. This would be a chance for the hunting party to gather, chat and eat breakfast.

3. Relays - When the path of the hart had been predicted, relays of dogs were positioned along it. This way the dogs were not worn out before the hart.

4. Moving - Also called the fynding. A lymer (bloodhound) was used to track down the hart.

5.Chase - This was the hunt proper; the hounds had to be kept on the trail of the deer / boar.

6. Baying - When the deer could no longer run, it would turn round and try to defend itself this was called "at bay." The hounds would be kept back, and the most important man in the hunting party would make the kill, with a sword or spear.

7. Unmaking - The deer was cut up. This was always done in a careful way in a special order.

8. Cure - Lastly, the hounds were rewarded with pieces of the deer or other prey.

Another way to hunt was by bow and stable. It had less status, but could produce more meat. Hounds would drive the quarry, often a large group of animals, to a place where archers would be ready to shoot them. How do we know about medieval hunting? Many books about the art of hunting were written in the Middle Ages often with great illustrations. Gaston Phoebuss book The Book of the Hunt was written in the 1400s and has many wonderful pictures. Try this website www.bnf.fr/enluminures/manuscrits/aman10.htm to see the pictures from Gaston Phoebuss book. The pictures on this Information Sheet are from this site.