Tomáš Krivjanský: FALCONRY – Past and Present
Genghis Khan´s invasions between the years 1209 - 27. The following Mongolian invasions 1228 - 78.
Central Mongolia unified by Genghis Khan in 1206.
Pic. 69. Conquests of Genghis Khan (born Temujin) and the Mongols.
captives and left the lands behind them wiped out. In the year 1232, Genghis Khan called his army leaders and viceroys to Bukhara to tell them of an agenda unknown to the world before the empire’s administration. He managed to create an effective organisational structure, and when he died in the year 1227, Mongolian conquests continued. They defeated Kievan Rus and overthrew the Hungarian king (pic. 69). We are interested in this commander — one of the biggest mass murderers in history — mainly because he, too, loved hunting with birds of prey. It is believed that 7,000 falconers worked in his court.
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen – “The Falcon Emperor” (1194 – 1250) The oldest textbook of hunting with birds of prey in Europe probably dates back to the 13th century: “De natura avium et de arte venandi cum avibus” (On the Nature of Birds and the Art of Hunting with Birds). Its author is a pioneer of scientific ornithology and the most important falconer of the Middle Ages, Roman emperor and German king, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (December 26th 1194 – 1250), also known as the “Falcon Emperor” (pic. 70 – 81). The emperor held a strictly scientific approach while elaborating this work. He was not only one of the top experts on falconry but also an excellent philosopher, natural historian and ornithologist. He critically analysed past knowledge and verified it through experimentation. Based on verified information, he came to original conclusions. He blew the seemingly untouchable principles of scholastic thinking conforming to Aristotle into pieces.
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Pic. 70. German Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194 – 1250), also known as the “Falcon Emperor”.
Paradoxically, the author, the title, the number of parts, and the publishing and print dates of this work, are disputed by scholars in different ways. Disagreements over stating the author: - Brüll and Trommer only identify Frederick II to be the author.
History of Falconry (cca 4,500 years)
Pic. 71. The seal of the university established by Frederick II.
- According to Fiodorov and Malov, the author is Frederick II, however, the manuscript was amended with the notes of his son Manfred. - Sternberg states that Frederick II and his son Manfred are actually co-authors. Pic. 73. Portrait of Frederick II.
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Pic. 72. Bust of Frederick II.
Disagreements over the title: De arte venandi cum avibus (Brdička 1966, Myslivost no. 3, p. 64). De natura avium et de arte venandi cum avibus – On the Nature of Birds and the Art of Hunting with Birds (Sokolnictví – Sternberg, 1969, p. 14). De arte venandi cum avibus – On the Art of Falconry Hunting (Naše poľovníctvo – Molnár, Teren and co. 1984, p. 307). De natura avium et de arte venandi cum avibus – On the Nature of Birds and the Art of Hunting with Birds (Sokoliarstvo staré, prastaré umenie lovu s dravými vtákmi – Šomek, Bratislava 2004, p. 8). De arte venandi cum avibus – On the Art of Hunting with Birds (Sokolnictví – Brüll, Trommer, 2003, p. 13). De arte venandi cum avibus (Sokolnaya ochota – Fiodorov, Malov, 2005, p. 16 and Gorbatov’s drawing on p. 19). Disagreements over the number of parts: Sternberg states on Sokolnictví from the year 1696 on page 15: “From the six parts, the first one deals generally with ornithology of waterfowl, wading and terrestrial birds, the second one describes falconiformes, the third one deals with training of hunting
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