a falconer would normally carry the hawk when it's not in use, but this is hunting! source of most OCD behavior in the middle ages- they might pad a shoulder or keep a perch on the saddle- I suggest you check the hawking threads on florilegium.org for medieval info- there shoudl be plenty of resources:)
bad coputer, I know the feeling! Here's one of the more useful links-http://www.matrix2000.co.uk/falconry.htm whichincluded this table, since you were wondering about hawks as display status. They talk about hawks of the tower and hawks of the fist in medieval falconry, and that had to do with what kind of hunting they were used for. Along with other restrictions of sumptuary laws, Rank, as well as use, dictated the type of hawk you could fly, so although a goshawk isn't a high status bird, you're absolutely right that some people would display a particularly fine bird for status. Social rank and appropriate bird.
King: Gyr Falcon (male & female) Prince: Peregrine Falcon Duke: Rock Falcon (subspecies of Peregrine) Earl: Tiercel Peregrine Baron: Bastarde Hawk Knight: Saker Squire: Lanner Lady: Female Merlin Yeoman: Goshawk or Hobby Priest: Female Sparrowhawk Holy water Clerk: Male Sparrowhawk Knaves, servants, children: Kestrel
I think you have an interesting question, so although I don't know anything about medieval falconry offhand, I typed "falconry" into my university library's catalog to see what's been written about it. There's tons--and interestingly a lot of the hits are from art history books, talking about depictions of medieval hawking. Studying some things in that vein I'm sure could tell you a lot about your questions. I guess I'm asking if you want some bibliography? :)
T h White wrote a book - The Goshawk - about training his goshawk using medieval methods - that might help you. Part of the training is to carry them on a glove for long periods - and the kind of bird you had was an indication of status. I doubt if carrying them would be a sign of status - clothes would indicate that If you are in the UK, there are falconry clubs you could consult. Training methods are beginning to chnage, but they would be able to answer your questions
They didn't prevent them from depositing waste, and it wasn't something that bothered people much. In later centuries gates were put up in English churches mostly to keep dogs from peeing on the actual altar; and there were complaints about people flying their birds during Mass to catch sparrows that had wandered into church. This was in the early 15th century; earlier centuries had had the same behaviour but it didn't worry anybody.
AFAIK, when the bird wasn't actually being used in a hunt, it could be kept as a status symbol on a perch (much the kind of thing falconers use today at shows) within the lord's house/castle. Not all the time as this would make the bird agitated, but if the lord wanted to impress someone, he could have the bird placed on its perch in the hall or whatever to show it off. On the perch it didn't matter if it went to the toilet - medieval floors were often covered with rushes that would be swept up and replaced. So yeah, if a lord was particularly attached to a bird, he could keep it year-round. btw don't know if your other research has turned this up, but the colour of the bird was indicative of status - for the gyr falcon, black birds were rarest and most prized, followed by white birds, and the common grey bird was least prized (though still an expensive symbol).
I believe the rushes were actually used to make mats, not just placed on the floor. The mats were replaced every so often.
And I haven't read of black gyr falcons or gray ones; I've only found information about the white birds. I don't think my character will have a gyrfalcon, though - the place she's in doesn't really have the right climate to easily catch one.
If her hawk ever flew off, or died, and she was in the right climate for a gyrfalcon, I imagine she would probably try to catch one (or, er, have falconer catch one for her) rather than going for another goshawk, though.
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Here's one of the more useful links-http://www.matrix2000.co.uk/falconry.htm
whichincluded this table, since you were wondering about hawks as display status.
They talk about hawks of the tower and hawks of the fist in medieval falconry, and that had to do with what kind of hunting they were used for. Along with other restrictions of sumptuary laws, Rank, as well as use, dictated the type of hawk you could fly, so although a goshawk isn't a high status bird, you're absolutely right that some people would display a particularly fine bird for status.
Social rank and appropriate bird.
King: Gyr Falcon (male & female)
Prince: Peregrine Falcon
Duke: Rock Falcon (subspecies of Peregrine)
Earl: Tiercel Peregrine
Baron: Bastarde Hawk
Knight: Saker
Squire: Lanner
Lady: Female Merlin
Yeoman: Goshawk or Hobby
Priest: Female Sparrowhawk
Holy water Clerk: Male Sparrowhawk
Knaves, servants, children: Kestrel
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Part of the training is to carry them on a glove for long periods - and the kind of bird you had was an indication of status. I doubt if carrying them would be a sign of status - clothes would indicate that
If you are in the UK, there are falconry clubs you could consult. Training methods are beginning to chnage, but they would be able to answer your questions
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Though it has the potential to be hilarious if it happened the wrong moment. Like when she's trying to use her hawk to look impressive...
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And I haven't read of black gyr falcons or gray ones; I've only found information about the white birds. I don't think my character will have a gyrfalcon, though - the place she's in doesn't really have the right climate to easily catch one.
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