![]() On the right, two ladies are hawking: one falconer recalls her hawk by swinging a lure, and her companion holds a long staff meanwhile, two hawks swoop down on a wild duck sitting in a pond. On the left, two ladies are hart hunting on foot: one holds two leashed hounds and blows a hunting horn while the second thrusts a cross-hilted hunting spear into a hart held by her hound. A miniature from the Romance of Alexander in the Bodleian Library (main picture above) clarifies this issue. Given the overwhelming corpus of illustrative evidence, it is fallacious to accept images of ladies hawking as 'reality', while dismissing all, or most, of those of women hunting as 'unreality'. Although it has been argued by more traditional historians that many of these images are satirical, representing the 'world upside-down' notion so beloved of contemporary male commentators, a significant number undoubtedly portray what women were actually doing in the countryside. Women are often depicted in images alongside men, usually as their companions, assistants or, significantly, as learners but they are also shown hunting and hawking alone, or with female companions. Newly interpreted evidence drawn from art historical sources – particularly illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, paintings, carvings, engravings and prints – shows that women from all ranks of society were engaged in hunting in all its forms: aristocratic ladies pursued deer on horseback with hounds, and shot driven game while peasant women netted birds, ferreted rabbits, and poached and distributed venison. Aristocratic ladies pursued deer on horseback with hounds, and shot driven game ![]()
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