By Malve von Hassell
As a child, I loved the lore and legends surrounding
falcons, in my mind’s eye following the majestic flight of peregrines and
snowy-white gyrfalcons across the hills of Apulia.
Historically, falcons, like other birds of prey,
performed an important service for human beings by helping to get meat on the
table. Originating in Central Asia about 4,000 years ago, the art of falconry
knew no boundaries; cultures in Mesopotamia, Central Asia, the Middle East, ancient
Kiev, and Europe have shaped and been shaped by it.
Falcons were captured in the wild in Scandinavia,
Iceland, Greenland, Norway, and Germany as well as in the Middle East. Falcons
were traded as vastly valuable luxury items, exchanged as gifts, and used as
ransom. Falcons represented an international currency as well as a shared
language of values and ethics, with the art of falconry as a stand in for social
norms and codes of behavior.
In the Middle Ages, the rules of falconry reflected
the social order. Birds of prey from kestrels
and sparrowhawks to gyrfalcons were ranked in a strict hierarchy, specifying
who could own what type of bird. These ranks mirrored and reinforced the human
hierarchy and system of ranks, with women, priests, servants, and children at
the bottom of this social order. Keeping a bird of prey above one’s station was
punishable; it could even mean having one’s hands cut off. Falcons were treated with honor according to
their rank in the hierarchy of birds. This meant ironically that they also
could be punished if they transgressed against that hierarchy, for instance, if
a falcon attacked an eagle, the lord of birds.
The history of falconry is inextricably linked with
that of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, King of Sicily, King of Germany, King of
Jerusalem, and Holy Roman Emperor as well as with his favorite son Enzio, known
as Falconello or ‘the Little Falcon.’ According to a legend, a white gyrfalcon
appeared at every major turning point in the emperor’s life, and his soul was
said to have turned into a falcon upon his death.
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| Frederick II © Malve von Hassell. |
Frederick II was known as ‘stupor mundi’ or the ‘wonder
of the world’ for good reason. Born in Sicily in 1194, he spoke at least 6
languages including Arabic. He was avidly curious about the world, supported
math and sciences, and commissioned translations of scientific works from
Hebrew, Greek, and Arabic. In 1224, Frederick II founded the University of
Naples Federico II, the world's oldest public non-sectarian institution of
higher education and research. The emperor supported the famous medical
university of Salerno, the Scuola Medica Salernitana, remarkable for the fact
that professors and students included both men and women. Frederick II also was
a poet in his own right and founded the Sicilian School of Poetry.
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| Pouilles Castle, Italy. |
Frederick II designed some of his own castles. The
Castel del Monte in Apulia, declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1996, represents
an intriguing blend of elements of the Antiquity, the Islamic Orient, and the
early Gothic. It is notable for the use of the octagon which is recapitulated
in its eight towers and the shape of each tower. The innovative design of the building
included piped water, cisterns, and qanats for transporting water in
underground channels. The precise purpose of Castel del Monte has never been
fully determined. Some historians have argued that it was meant to be a hunting
lodge. The building was only partially completed at the time of the emperor’s
death in 1250.
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| Castel del Monte ©Malve von Hassell. |
The world of Frederick II was rife with lethal
conflicts, and Frederick II himself engaged in acts of outright cruelty and
ruthlessness. Yet, at the same time there is much to admire about this era, and
some have called Frederick II a renaissance man three hundred years before his
time.
Frederick II spent over thirty years writing a book
about the art of falconry, De Arte
Venandi cum Avibus. In his prologue, he apologizes that it took him a long
time to finish this work but that he had some other things to do as well. It is
an astounding compendium that addresses everything from the proper habitat for
birds of prey, their capture, breeding, and training, their feeding and medical
care, and even a chapter on how to release a falcon back into the wild.
The emperor’s writings on falconry could be read as
life lessons. For instance, the discussion of what makes a good falconer, e.g.,
patience, hard work, and the ability manage one’s temper, could apply to anyone
trying to be successful. “A bad temper is a grave failing. A falcon may
frequently commit acts that provoke the anger of her keeper, and unless he has
his anger strictly under control, he may indulge in improper acts toward a
sensitive bird so that she will very soon be ruined.” Lessons on how to treat a
volatile bird of prey with respect and how not to break his spirit are as
important as the lessons on how to treat a bird in captivity and how to go
about releasing that same bird.
One of the biggest sources of grief in Frederick II’s
life was the imprisonment of his son Enzio by an enemy of the emperor, the city
of Bologna. Enzio was 31 when he was captured and 54 when he finally died in
prison, despite numerous attempts to free him. Enzio like his father was a
member of the Sicilian School of Poetry and wrote a collection of profoundly
moving sonnets while in prison.
It flies far away to claim its dominion,
sailing to its castle in the middle of the blue sea,
the little falcon, and the sky overflows with joy.
With historical figures like that and their
association with falconry in the 13th century, a work of fiction practically
writes itself. Meanwhile, the challenge in writing a story that would introduce
this fascinating era to young readers is to not get carried away in adding too
many historical details. I admit I got carried away.
The Falconer’s Apprentice
By Malve von Hassell
In this story of adventure and intrigue,
set in the intense social and political unrest of the Holy Roman Empire in the
thirteenth century, a 15-year old orphan embarks on a precipitous flight across
Europe to rescue the falcon Adela. Andreas, assistant to the head falconer in a
castle in the north of Germany, is appalled when his young lord imposes the
death sentence upon a young peregrine falcon. In deciding to hide and
ultimately escape with the falcon, Andreas breaks several laws of medieval
society—failing to obey a direct edict from his lord and stealing, both subject
to severe punishment. A crotchety falconer, a secretive trader and his feisty
daughter, a mysterious hermit, a young king in prison, an aging emperor, and an
irascible Arab physician are among the principal characters encountered by
Andreas in the course of his journey.
Written for readers age twelve and above,
this coming-of-age story conveys life in medieval Europe, with bedbugs next to
silver chalices, food ranging from the moldy to the sublime, and intellectual
sophistication side by side with rank superstitions. Original poetry by King
Enzio, imprisoned in Bologna, and writings about falconry by Emperor Frederick
II of Hohenstaufen are incorporated into the novel. The eight parts of the
novel reflect the eight octagonal towers of the Castel del Monte, a critical
turning point in the protagonist’s life.
Pick up your copy
The Falconer’s Apprentice
Malve von Hassell
Malve von Hassell is a freelance writer, researcher,
and translator and holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the New School for Social
Research. Working as an independent scholar, she published The Struggle for Eden: Community Gardens in New York City (Bergin
& Garvey 2002) and Homesteading in
New York City 1978-1993: The Divided Heart of Loisaida (Bergin & Garvey
1996). She has also edited her grandfather Ulrich von Hassell's memoirs written
in prison in 1944, Der Kreis schließt
sich - Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft 1944 (Propylaen Verlag 1994). She has
taught at Queens College, Baruch College, Pace University, and Suffolk County
Community College, while continuing her work as a translator and writer. She
has self-published a children’s picture book, Letters from the Tooth Fairy (Mill City Press, 2012) and her
translation and annotation of a German children’s classic by Tamara Ramsay, Rennefarre: Dott’s Wonderful Travels and
Adventures (Two Harbors Press, 2012). The
Falconer’s Apprentice (namelos, 2015) was her first historical fiction
novel for young adults. There are two forthcoming historical fiction novels,
one set in Jerusalem in the time of the crusades, Alina: A Song for the Telling (BHC Press, 2020), and one set in
Germany in 1645 and 1945, The Amber Crane
(Odyssey Books, 2020). Currently, she is working on a biographical work about a
woman coming of age in Nazi Germany.
Sources [in
the public domain]
The Art of
Falconry by Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, edited and translated by
Casey A. Wood & F. Marjorie Fyfe Stanford, California: Stanford University Press,
1943, p. 151.
Poemi Italici e
Canzoni di Re Enzio, Giovanni Pascoli, IV Edizione, Nicola Zanichelli editore,
Bologna 1928. [translation of poem excerpt by Malve von Hassell]
Images
Gyrfalcon in
flight
[https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-rare-gyrfalcon-falco-rusticolus-flight-against-blue-sky-image50474335]
Frederick II
[Image IMGP4033,
drawing, owned by me]
Castel del Monte
[free/no
permission required]
Layout of Castel
del Monte
[image IMGP4032,
drawing, owned by me]
Beautiful beginnings to wonderful scenes and a well deserved award for your interesting and highly anticipated blog!
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