Houndsmen and Falconers. Hunters in the Hungarian Royal Court.

The Hungarians were great hunters even before the conquest. We can deduce this from the legend of the miraculous deer, but also from Anonymus' remark (Gesta Hungarorum) that the young people hunted almost every day, so the Hungarian were ahead of all other peoples in hunting. Article 15 of the Golden Bull of 1222 stated that 'the horsemen, houndsmen and falconers should not dare to stay in the villages of the noblemen' ('agazones, caniferi, et falconarii non præsumant descendere in villis servientium'). But who exactly are the houndsmen? Why did Andrew II forbid them alike the horsemen and the falconers to stay in the villages of the nobles? In my study I will give a short overview of the legal status and duties of the houndsmen and the falconers, the beginnings of the Hungarian hunting culture, the early sources of hunting regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]