1921 OF THE EMPEROR FREDERICK II 355 birds, 1 and orders that all the sparrow-hawks in the county of Molise shall be brought together under a special keeper. 2 When he wants live cranes for training falcons, he commands the justiciars of Terra di Lavoro, Bari, and the Capitanata to have as many as possible caught and sent to the justiciar of the Capita- nata to be kept at the royal residences. 3 Such glimpses of the emperor's daily occupations show his passion for falconry, pursued in the midst of more urgent concerns of state and not merely in the intervals of relaxation at his palaces, and illustrate the devotion of the ideal falconer, who is represented in the 'Be Arte as desiring primarily neither fame nor a plentiful supply for the table, but to have the best falcons. The successful hawker cannot be ' indolent or careless, for this art requires much labour and much study '. 4 Frederick's pride in his mastery of the art is illustrated by the story that, when he was ordered to become a subject of the Great Khan and receive an office at the Khan's court, he remarked that he would make a good falconer, for he understood birds very well. 5 And if we doubt this characteristic tale, we have at least his own prefatory words concerning falconry, nos semper dileximus et exercuimus. Keen sportsman as he was, Frederick II was not the man to lose himself wholly in the mere joy of hawking. His mind had also to be kept busy, his questions answered, his knowledge extended and put in order. The lessons of the Be Arte (scientia huius libri) 6 are essential for the falconer, but it is more than a manual of practical instruction. The first book and the earlier chapters of the second have a systematic and scientific character which give them an important place in the history of medieval zoology, while the whole treatise is pervaded by the spirit of actual observation and experiment. While the author uses the ancients, he is not blinded by them, and does not hesitate to correct them when necessary. So far as the Renaissance is characterized by the spirit of free inquiry and emancipation from authority, the Be Arte lends support to those who would begin the new movement at the court of Frederick II. Charles H. Haskins. 1 No. 3082. 2 No. 3056. 3 No. 2801.
- MS. M, fos. 68-9, ed. Schneider, pp. 107-9.
5 Albericus Trium Fontium, Monumenta, Scriptores, xxiii. 943. 6 MS. M, fo. 68 T , ed. Schneider, p. 108. A a2
