Armin Prinz (ed.) Hunting Food - Drinking Wine Proceedings of the XIX Congress of the Intemational Commission for the Anthropology of Food (ICAF) Intemational Union of Ethnological and Anthropological Sciences (IUEAS) Poysdorf, Austria, Dec. 4--Dec. 7, 2003 LIT  Cover lliustration: "A wild boar is disembowelled by Azande-hunters in Central Africa" by Armin Prinz lliustration Back Cover: "Disembowelling a wild boar in Poysdorf, Austria" by Ruth Kutalek conference organized with support of: ~lav- "Jo =- po··~~··sooRF DI< W<l"'"''. onJ l<1<1•dlors Omml<hr The Wenner-Gren Foundation • For Anthropologlcal Reseatch.lnc . Gedruckt mit Unterstützung des Bundesministeriums für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur in Wien Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. 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S. only): Rutgers University toll free (888) 999- 6778 Transaction Publishers 35 Berrue Circle e-mail: Ncw Brunswick (U.S.A.) a.nd London (U.K.) Piscataway, NJ 08854 orders @transactionspub. com Content Preface ................................................................................................................................. I Turtle Hunting in the Mexican Pacific Ricardo Á vila, Martín Tena, Igor de Garine ............................................................... 1 The Bad Shot and the Hunting Maiden: Hunting Technology, Gender and Agency Gosewijn van Beek .................................................................................................... 17 Hunting: From Food Needs to Sport Luis Cantarero, Dora Blasco ..................................................................................... 33 Hunter and Dogs in West Mexico Daria Deraga .............................................................................................................. 45 Man and Wild Reindeer in the Tundra and Forest Tundra in the North of Central Siberia: Behaviour During Hunting Vladimir I. D'iatchenko, Francine David, Claudine Karlin .................................... 53 Tasting the Wild: Hunting and Game Consumption in the Central Pyrenean Area from the Early Eighteenth Century to the Beginning of the Second World War Frédéric Duhart .......................................................................................................... 65 The Health Implications of Foraged and Fermented Foods Nina L. Etkin, Paul J. Ross ....................................................................................... 73 Hunting as Social Interaction: Two Cases of European Type Hunting in Mexico Rodolfo Femández .................................................................................................... 83 A Gentleman's Pastime? Pheasant Shooting in England Helen Macbeth ........................................................................................................... 89 Hunting and Wine Drinking in Czech History Jarra Parizkova ......................................................................................................... 103 Hunting Among the Azande in Central-Africa Annin Prinz .............................................................................................................. 107 Hunting under Attack: Hunter-Antihunter Syndrome Monika Elisabeth Reiterer ...................................................................................... 115 Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation María Luz Rodrigo-Estevan, Maria José Sanchéz-Usón ...................................... 133 Women's hunting in Gbaya land Paulette Rou1on-Doko ............................................................................................. 155 "Faire Ribote", Popular Male Hunting and Drinking Parties in the Provence (South ofFrance) Thomas K. Schippers .............................................................................................. 165 The Royal Hunt- Tbe Symbolic Meaning of an Ancient Topos Martin Seyer ............................................................................................................. l71 Hunting among the Bongandu (Ngandu) in the Zaire River Basin Jun Takeda ............................................................................................................... 199 Insects: Cultural Heritage and Traditional Foods in Northeast Thailand Kanvee Viwatpanich ............................................................................................... 219 The Hunter's Status in Nothern Cameroon and New Caledonia Igor de Garine, Michel de Garine-Wichatitsky ..................................................... 235 About the Authors ......................................................................................................... 251 lndex .........................................._. ...................................................................................... 259 Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation María Luz Rodrigo-Estevan, María José Sanchéz-Usón The nutritional, economic and politícal importance of hunting in medieval Aragón is revealed by the development of a legal framework to legislate this activity and its survival until the middle of the 20th century. Our research on hunting in the kingdom of Aragón in the lih-15th centuries is based on the information provided by two groups of legal texts: those for local or regional areas (local charters, town letters, royal privileges, municipal statutes) and those that were applied to all the kingdom after the 13ili centory (general charters passed in the Courts). Comparative studies and the information provided by iconography, archaeology, notarial documentation and literature have permitted us to contrast, clarify and complete the development of our analysis, based on various points: 1) hunting as a natural resource whose exploitation is regulated and controlled by local and state powers; 2) hunting as an activity done from very different perspectives and with plural purposes, methods and valuations, closely related to the position of each person in the hierarchised medieval society; 3) hunting as a method of social control for sorne and of rebelliousness against the established order for poachers; and 4) the supplying and consumption of game as an indicator of diverse food cultures and systems that coexist in the same chronological and spatial :framework. 1. Research on hunting in medieval centuries Research on hunting in medieval Spain was increased and intensified after 1980. In that year there were various contributions of peninsular researchers to the intemational congress in Nice La chasse au Moyen Age and Miguel Ángel Ladero published bis work on hunting in the Spanish municipal legislation at the same time. After this the interest in researching and publishing cynegetic treaties as well as the exploitation of other literary, archiva!, iconographic and archaeological sources has pennitted more in-depth research into the economic, social, legal, technical and mental aspect as well as aspects of the history of the countryside. The interest has grown in recent years with specific seminars and congresses being held, such as the seminar sponsored by the University of Valladolid, which led to the publishing of a set of interdisciplinary stodies in 2002 that are included in the volume La caza en la Edad Media, or the meeting that gave place to the publication of the collective work La chasse au Moyen Age. Sociétés, traités, symboles two years previously. Other more multidisciplinary meetings or gatherings related to the environment and eco- history have provided contributions related to hunting in medieval centuries. Examples of this are the Intemational Meeting on History and Environment II 134 María Luz Rodrigo*Estevan (2001), which may be found in the book La construcción histórica del paisaje agrario en España y Cuba, in the Cuadernos del CEMYR (Medieval and Renaissance Research Centre) of the University of La Laguna in 1999 dedicated to the countryside and nature in the Middle Age, and the studies proposed by Julián Clemente in 2001 on the environment in Medieval Spain. In Aragón the main study on hunting, by Maria Luisa Ledesma (199ib), was restricted to a specific area, the Aragonese Extremadura territories and a typology of legal documents such as charters and village papers. Our research (2003) is based on this work and on references included in thematically wider contributions such as those ofGargallo (1997) on Terne! or ofSesma (2001) on the economic exploitation offorests in the south of Aragón. The importance of cynegetic practice in Aragón and in the rest of the Península is fundamentally gauged using norms of the legal system that promoted the settlement and development of Christians in the territory conquered from Islam. There is a diversity of legal texts, e.g. local charters (fueros locales), village papers and royal privileges, that were in control of organising and regulating the human settlements during the repopulation process that carne after the reconquest. The territorial regulations emanated by the Courts or parliament (fueros generales) and the municipalities (estatutos and ordenanzas) acquired greater relevance in the 14th and 15th centuries. The municipalities proliferated from the moment the councils completed the institutional authorisation process and contributed more, making their regulation capacity stronger. All this legislation deals with hunting as an economic activity that must be regulated to define the rights of those who benefit, directly or indirectly, from it. 2. Hunting in medieval Christian society In the Iberian Peninsula, the reconquest and repopulation processes over Islam provoked many distinct changes. The advances in the occupation of space by means of clearing forests and wastelands altered the habitat and the distribution of different animal species. The first fueros and legal regulations talk: about the hunting richness of the Aragonese territory as much in considering big garue hunting (deer, roe deer, mountain goat, wild boar, bear, wild donkey, etc.) as small game hunting (rabbit, hare, partridge, wood pigeon, etc.). According to sorne authors, this abundance of species in such a warrior society as the feudal one led to cynegetic activities gaining in importance as it developed three main functions: training and building the character of knights, distracting and entertaining the royalty and the nobility, and providing income and food to an important sector of the population. Hunting and eating the game caught has traditionally been identified with the rnling group of medieval society - the monarchy, nobility and knights - and Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation 135 with the ownership ofthe horses, dogs and hunting birds necessary for hunting that not everybody could afford because of their expensive prices. The iconographic sources as much as the literature and cynegetic manuals that proliferated throughout Europe in the 14th century associate hunting with an image of noble lifestyle. As in other times and areas, the ideological codes and food that we now know best are those that the ruling classes of medieval Christian society developed. Aragonese monarchs such as Peter IV the Ceremonious (1336-1387) and bis son John l the Hunter (1387-1396) had such a passion for hunting that they outlined large areas of land for hunting and specified regulations that converted this activity into a sport of the privileged. They increased interest for hunting by including falconers, hunters, mounted and dog hunters as specialised technical jobs of importance for the royal family. They openly expressed the ludie and healthy nature of hunting as necessary to endure the stress and responsibility of govemrnent life. 1 But the explanation ofhunting as an activity of initiation and preparation in the art of war is too simple. Neither the equipment nor the different hunting practices -that almost always avoid direct confrontation with the animal- are similar to medieval war techniques. Moreover, the beliefthat the nobility ate a lot of big game is incorrect: zooarchaeological research has shown that the proportion of game bones found in the rubbish dumps ofthe nobility is similar to that found in the rest of medieval dumps; research on courtly literature demonstrates that the abundant presence of game meat at noble tables is not a reality but a symbolic code more similar to the representation of feudal Europe (Guerreau 2000 and 2003); and research on the accounts of nobles and royalty indicate that the majority of game consumed by them did not come from their cynegetic activity but from the market (Serrano 2002: 322) The legal regulations are based on hunting as a professional activity and as an economic resource for rural people. In the areas where important dimensions were reached due to its abundance and diversity -as in the south of Aragón-, hunting was separated from agricultural work and was converted into the profession of a reduced social group. However the majority of regulations affect country dwellers who hunted to increase their subsistence means and diversify their food diet. Current research (Morales 1991 and 1998; Pastoureau 2000; Erias 2002) considers in greater detail the value of animals as a revealing element of the mental universe of those who lived in specific cultural surroundings. There were animals whose consumption was highly valued and the social groups systematically selected them as presents throughout medieval times. As well as the models imposed by the privileged classes and for their preventive medical 1 The "Ordinances ofthe Royal Family of Aragón" in 1344 is found in Savall, Penén (1866). 136 Maria Luz Rodrigo-Estevan 2 treatment (regimina sanitatis), the medieval period combined the pagan legacy of sacrifice and believing the animals had magic and curing powers (wearing protective amulets, ingesting or applying specific animals for healing), with the conceptual constructions ofChristianity (the good reputation offrogs for eating evil insects, or of fish or birds by representing Christians, the church, souls), and the symbolism of the feudal society that values wild animals for being predators, strong and prominent figures of life (qualities attributable to noble warriors who use scenes ofhunting and animals like the wild boar, the bear, the fox or the snake in their iconography). 3. Man and the environment: defensive hunting Untilless than a century ago, the environment was the undisputable prominent figure that obliged society to organise itse1f, in its daily life, in the most convenient way to exp1oit the surrounding area? In 11 th_13th century Aragonese Iegislation, the most vivid image of the countryside is outlined in two directions: on one hand, the worrying reference to natural dangers and to population voids in specific areas; and on the other hand, related to the exploitation of their resources. The fueros list a series of assets and natural species that the clearings and settlements provided for the peop1e who moved there. Together with forests, the habita! of bears and deer, the majority of the Aragonese Mountains were, and still are, scrubland. A rich variety of fauna that included roe deer, mountain goats, Spanish zebras (encebro, an extinct species ofwild horse), wild boar, wolves, and species highly considered as small game such as rabbits, hares, partridges, cranes, duck and wild pigeon tived among savins and kermes oaks. AH these elements constitute the natural richness that the people of the Kingdom of Aragón exploited through a process that generated the structuring of the living areas and that, in an attempt to increase income, headed toward an 2 At the start of the l41k century, Amaldo de Vilanova wrote with the idea of advising and preserving the health of king Jaime (James) II and his court El maravilloso regimiento y orden de vivir (The marvellous regime and order of lí'ving); in the chapter about meat, the Aragonese doctor openly approves the consumption of game mea t. He indica tes the most suitable species in each period of the year, the advantages and disadvantages that eating these animals produces, or the most adequate way of cooking and eating each animal. ''Las anades o ocas i las cercetas o fotjas mejores son en el otoño, mas los cuerpos bien templados jamás deuen comerlas, 1 los que a menudo padecen almorranas, en particular de las que pulsan, conviene que con diligencia eviten la carne de grullas, agrones, ansares viejas, pagos, tordos, mierlas, estomillos, tortolas, tudones y codornices. 1 los que tuvieren los cuerpos bien templados, maior diligencia deven poner en aparejar pam su comida las sobredichas carnes[ ...] El cor~on del ciervo i cesos de lievre i de conejo si se comieren son buenos por su virtud cordial. La lengua solo es buena de temem o ciervo [,..J Las perdices viejas i conejos lo menos deven estar muertos 24 h.oras antes de comerlos. Las grullas y faisanes han de estar en el verano dos dias i en el invierno tres. Los pagos en qualquier tiempo an de estar dos dias y si tuvieren más de un año a lo menos tres dias, Demas desto, es mejor comer las sobredichas carnes bullidas, o en pasteles que assadas. Y fritas si possible es, nunca". 3 That daily organisation is outlined as an authentic war against the environment with the intention offorcing and obliging it to serve men better. This is why a large part of the charter regulations oí medieval times, in force in geographically different areas, are similar. Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation 137 intense exploitation of forested areas, even at the risk of exhausting them. The reduction between the 11th and 13th centuries of the natural habitat of wild animals caused them to frequent populated areas and damage crops and attack livestock and people. The elimination of these pests that invade anthropised areas left its mark on charter and municipallegislations. Wolves were one of t~e worst pests that obliged not only the central administration to intervene but also tbe nobilíty and tbe municipality. Gual (1968:352) mentions the concem of James 11 of Aragón for a poisonous herb, la lopara (wolfsbane), imported from Sicily for tbe extermination of wolves in 1305. Municipal documentation contains abundant references to tbe concession of incentives to individuals, tbe contracting of professional bunters and tbe organisation of neigbbourly beats aimed at tbe elimination of wolves and otber pests that threatened the livestock and people or destroyed the crops. 4 Defensive hunting sometimes provoked problems causing the legal regulations to intervene. The proliferation of boles and traps in inhabited areas was dangerous for people and livestock and the legislation established the relevant responsibility if anybody got injured. Contracting professional wolf bunters was a more suitable solution than covering the mountains with traps (Gómez 2000:119). Promoting the hunting of selected predators by means of financia} incentives served to preserve sorne cynegetic species: men affected the ecosystem by killing the natural predators of deer, rabbits, bares, partridges, eggs, litters and broods. Animals that were economically profitable were protected rather than the pests who destroyed more resources than they produced. The open conflict between men and wolves in- the 15th century in Extremadura or in the León mountains lasted until a few decades ago, almost causing tbe disappearance of wolves in these areas. Wolves and bears have also been severely hunted in tbe Aragonese Pyrenees since medieval times. The protection of bloodhounds that the Jaca regulations (Gómez 2000: 101) considered in 1481 was justified because they scared away puercos, onsos, lobos, car;as e otras salvajinas muytas (wild boar, bears, wolves, hunts and many other wild animals). In the latter medieval centuries, certain privileged groups directed professional hunters' attention to hunting pests with the aim of eliminating them and simultaneously removing their more effective competitors. The reward promised by Alfonso in 1337 to two hunters from Teruel for each eagle killed is a good example: in one of the preferred hunts of the Aragonese monarchy, eagles as much as professional hunters decreased the number of species of garae most appreciated by the royal family (Gargallo 1997: 466). 4 About the e1imination of deer and roe deer for damage caused, see Canellas 1984, doc. 8; Archivo Municipal Daroca: Actas de 1477, f. 129r-132r; 1484, f. 125r.-126v; 1485, f. 89r., 96v. 138 María Luz Rodrigo-Estevan 4. The creation of reserves and game preservation areas Hunting rights were considered by Romans as natural rights for humans and therefore could be freely practised. From the 5th centmy on, German rights introduced new considerations by admitting the ius prohibendi or right to prohibit hunting. by landowners. The process of Christian expansion against Islam converted this right into a royalty, which is a right of the Crown and which, like many others, could be transferred to other people and institutions through the concession of privileges. This is what happened during the repopulation process of the 11th-13 centuries: hunting became linked to the awning ofland and the property could be regal, stately or municipal (Morales y Morales 2001: 389). Local fueros, town papers and royal privileges allow historians to reconstruct the ownership of forested areas, the fonnation process ofreserves and the progressive reduction offree-hunting areas. In municipal terms, the hunting rights of residents were adjusted to what was established in the privileges, local fueros and municipal regulations. In the beginning, hunting constituted economic exploitation that was free for all residents and the local right only excluded strangers unless they had obtained a municipal licence. This right could be restricted by seasonal hunting - during reproduction periods -, by prohibiting specific methods of hunting and by the existence of reserves (dehesas) economically exploited by the municipality. This implied a series of commitments: the most important was without doubt the obligation to sell the game caught in the local market at prices set by the municipal authorities. This self-supply of local resources conditioned the prohibition of hunting within the municipality for strangers: any "foreigner" was dissuaded from poaching in the local mountains through the imposition of fines and the confiscation ofthe game hunted and the equipment used. The charter regulations of the extremadura lands - with abundant privileges due to them being border areas, and therefore difficult to repopulate - specify the prohibition ofprivate reserves within the alfoz (district) or the municipality. But in the 13ili century the monarchy begao authorising, through personal and group privileges, the creation of reserves and thus the privatisation of natural resources. 5 After the 141h century the municipalities had the power to convert communal land into private land (tierras de propios)' and, tbrough tbe promulgation of regulations, restricted the natural exploitation and penalised hunting without a licence. Small game hunting was also prohibited within the urban area, maybe to avoid injuring people and damaging property, or, as 5 In the politics of privatisation, James II granted Juan Domlnguez of Teruel the right to have a meadow of rabbits and other hunts and prohibited hunting in itwithouta 1icence in 1297. And in 1327 young Alfonso did the same with Jimeno Ortiz, ofTerue! (Gargallo 1990, docs. 91, 180, 392). 6 Gargallo 1990, doc. 326; Campillo 1915:442. Hunting and Hunte!'ll in Medieval Aragonese Legislation 139 Ladero (1980:213) suggests, maybe lo facilitate falconry for the elite and ensure daily food for these birds ofprey. 7 Conflicts over the use of reserves located within areas influenced by different municipalities were resolved by means of inter-municipal agreements or associations. These acts regulated the conditions of the exploitation of communal pastures, wood and hunting and even temporarily suspended legal actions brought against residents who hunted without a licence in areas of the association. 8 The hunting right of the lords -acquired by royal privilege as a reward for collaborating in the repopulation task- was usually given to settlers in retum for economic compensation. The monastery of Veruela (Zaragoza) established the obligation for the residents of Alcalá de Moncayo to pay tithes for hunting bears, wild pigs and deer. The Templars demanded the same of the residents of La Cañada de Benatanduz. 9 As opposed to steep mountains and forests, scrubland areas were preserved for hunting rabbits, much appreciated for their meat and skin, as the Order of Santiago did after 1257 in Montalbán (Sainz 1980: 272). The interest of the monarchy in avoiding the excessive exploitation of their favourite hunting animal resources must be added to these limitations imposed by municipalities and lords. The measures adopted were severe from the end of the 13"' centnry: prohibiting the free exercise of big game hunting. In 1294 James II put guards on the mountains of Cabroncillo, Ademuz, Arcos de Salinas and Camarena to intercept and fine people who killed deer, bears and other game using crossbows or pigas; the only capture still authorised was that of partridges and rabbits, animals less appreciated for hunting by the royal family. Sorne years later in 1303, another royal decree prohibited hunting with a crossbow in Mosqueruela: people who killed wild boar, deer and bears were fined 60 sueldos and for roe deer and wild goats 40 sueldos. A similar order was given to the merino (territorial official) of Teruel to control the poaching of deer and wild boar (Gargallo 1990: docs. 262 and 302). Even so, the Zurita chronicler states the complaints ofPeter IV in 1342 about the reduction ofwild boar dueto the constant hunts in the Moncayo and the Jaca mountains. These restrictions show that the progress in the occupation of areas and the demographic increase were decisive factors in the reduction of the wild fauna. The protective measures mainly restricted the rights of those who hunted daily. That must have given the species a respite but it is difficult to evaluate this with 7 The fine imposed on poachers who hunted in the urban area and its surroundings is increased to 20 sueldos jaqueses (Aragonese coins) in Daroca town in 1488, which were shared by the iurafi (sheriffs), the judicial system and the informer: the economic incentive of sharing a third of the fine of the accused stimulated neighbourly vigilance (Rodrigo 1999, doc. 8). 8 Sorne associations between Molina (Castile), Teruel and Daroca, in Rodrigo 1999, doc. 7; AHPTeruel, Carp. Azul6/15. 9 FAlfambra (Fuero or Cbarter of Alfambra) § 38. Other references on the right to hunt on seignoriallands in Ledesma (1991) docs. 168, 178 (1238), 140 (1198), 157 (1210), 241 (1340); Libro de privilegios de Fraga ..., pp. 102 and 115. 140 María Luz Rodrigo-Estevan the information contained in the written documentation. However, it is clear that these acts, above all, concentrated the benefits ofhunting toa minority. 5. Professional hunting, hunting for enjoyment, common hunting The legislation dedicates sorne chapters to the professional hunters who live off their captures. For small animals, the municipal statutes mention loseros (hunters who use stone traps) who trapped rabbits and bares, and bahurreros (bird hunters) who specialised in hunting birds. For the large species, the fueros regulated the activity of hunters, the redovas ~associations formed for hunting in teams when the season started- and the judges appointed to solve any legal actions conceming hunting. 10 The town papers required the payment of taxes for hunting in the mountains in seignorial areas: which is the case of the venatores (hunters) of Aliaga, who paid 4 sueldos annually to the Hospitalers, and the ballesteros (crossbowmen) of Cantavieja, obliged to give the Templars a quarter of a deer. 11 On the other hand, the importance of the collective of professional hunters made the legislation protect hunting dogs and birds in diverse ways: daily compensation for the hunter whose dog is killed, the obligation for the aggressor to feed or replace the hunting animals that he has injured or killed, the prohibition of robbing the nests ofbirds of prey when they are brooding ... 12 The leasing of the cynegetic exploitation of mountains to professional hunters was a fundamental element in supplying the local market with game meat. The contracts signed were annual and the direct income was low. For example, Daroca city received 90 sueldos jaqueses per year for the lease of the hunting licence for pigeons, little bustards, ducks, turtledoves and quails. Only the lease holder and his hunters could hunt these animals within the municipal limits, any other person would be fined 1O sueldos. In exchange for this concession, the leaseholder had to bring his captures to the market and sell them at prices set by the town. 13 Border societies in general - and especially the Teruel extremadura - were militarised societies whose knights regularly hunted as an occupation, as much in times of peace as during times of battles. The legislators too k note of this and they elaborated a right that dealt with the distribution of hunting between 10 The FTeruel (Fuero or Charter ofTeruel) and the FAlbarracin {Fuero of Albarracln) refer to hunter groups (reclovas, requerías) that have their ownjudges (alcaldes). 11 FAliaga, p. 61. In Cantavieja, the crossbowmen that made a living from hunting in the mountains and who Ji ved in the area but did not own (and, had to bring a quarter of a deer each year to the castle of Cantavieja; similar regulations were set in La Iglesuela del Cid and Mirambel (Ledesma 199la, docs. 168, 182, 195). 12 In Ramos (1925: § 71) daily compensation to the hunter is established for the loss ofhis hunting dog. Cf. Savall, Penén (1866), Libro III, p. 107; Observancias, Libro VII, § 1; FJaca, red. A, § 221, Fferuel, § 458, 459,460, 647, FA!barracln, p. 201. 13 AMD, Actas de 1488, f. 73; Canellas López, Ángel (1989) Monumenla Diplomatica Aragonensia, Zaragoza, Ibercaja, doc. 1174. Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation 141 these knights-soldiers. The person who flushes the animal must share the capture with the person who kills or injures it. The fuero of Teruel, like that of Albarracín, of Cuenca or of Alcaraz, specify the parts of the animal that correspond to the first hunter to touch it with his arrow, spear or lance: if dealing with a wild boar, he receives the head as far as the ear; if it is a deer, bis right is limited to the skin; if it is a wild donkey or encebro, he receives the skin ofthe loins andan unspecified part ofthe meat. In all cases, the rest ofthe kili belongs lo the hunter who flushes the anima1. 14 As well as professional hunting, the legislation makes reference to mounted hunting and falconry by noblemen. Owning horses, birds of prey (goshawks, sparrowhawks, falcons) and hunting dogs (mastiffs, bloodhounds, greyhounds, hounds, cárabas) was not within reach of everyone dueto their high prices on the market. Falcons, dogs and other trained hunting animals were therefore well appreciated presents, and were desired and exchanged between princes and lords, and on many occasions were the cause of disagreements. Moreover, the training and care of dogs and, above all, birds implied a lot of expenses as much in specialised personnel as in food, medicine and equipment. Kings and noblemen could pay these expenses best. In the times of Peter IV, there were eight royal servants in the Aragonese court, each with their corresponding subordinates, to take care of the hunting birds and dogs of the monarchy. Sorne counts and noblemen also had at their service falconers and dog keepers. Despite what is shown in legislative papers and sorne treaties, it must be seen that for the nobility hunting went further than entertainment or training. In the course of hunts, the chronicles state that matrimonies were initiated and agreements signed, economic power was sbown through the best- trained dogs or most expensive equipment. Audience was also given to diverse embassies, illustrious visitors were entertained and those who were unwanted were snubbed; betrayal and ambushes took place, conspiracies were developed, state secrets were revealed and accidents and incidents occurred like those that cost the life of the archbishop of Tarragona in 1435 "que murió desastradamente de una caída de caballo andando a caza" ("who died disastrously by falling from his horse while hunting") or John l of Aragón. It is obvious that the monarchy and noblemen rnade hunting their distraction, passion and workplace, without caring about the expenses incurred or the risk of death that this involved (Rodrigo 2004). But in sorne Aragonese territories, hunting for entertainment was not exclusive to noblemen. The necessity of keeping a horse and arms in the border areas of Calatayud, Daroca, Teruel and Albarracín explained the importance of hunting in the forests and rnountains south ofthe river Ebro (Ledesma 199lb) within another group, the caballeros villanos (commoner cavalrymen). Sorne codes of 14 Sorne rights of sharing the game have been studied by José Vicente Matellanes (Clemente ed. 2001: 335- 356) by highlighting the similarities between the Castilian charters of Aicaraz, Alarcón or Cuenca and Teruel legisla!ion. 142 Maria Luz Rodrigo-Estevan the Aragonese Extremadura attack their cunning, when they applied for compensation for the death of their horses on a military mission when, in reality, the horses had been injured or run to the point of exhaustion while insequendo venaturn, that is to say, on the trail ofbig game. 15 As well as professional hunters, noblemen and knights, the peasants also freely hunted in the communal mountains, fallow lands and croplands, by paying a tax in preserved areas. Hunting was useful as it supplied bornes with food and money; it diversified the diet and complemented family economies through the sale of captures at the local market. Small game hunting was more lega!ly regulated from the middle of the l2'h century until the middle of the 14'" century and at the end of the 15th century, when demographic recovery once again affected the environment. The juicy income that hunting contributed to the local treasury made municipal regulations convert communal areas into reserves, establish hunting periods, limit the use of specific hunting equipment, ban certain hunting methods that were transferred in the lease and effectively pursue poaching. Likewise, the local regulations dealt with any conflicts between hunting and the rest ofthe economic and daily activities developed in inhabited and agricultura! areas. Cereals, vineyards and other crops were protected by means of establishing closed seasons until the harvesting of crops. Without doubt, hunters on foot or on horseback, with dogs and other hunting animals, damaged the field,s when pursuing and trapping animals. However, the periodic repetition of the regulations show its ineffectiveness when trying to stop these extensive practices that were difficult to eradicate. 16 In border areas, the law recognised the right of ownership to the hunter who flushed the animal, even though it was later caught in a trap, caught by other hunting birds and dogs, or was killed by another hunter. The theft of game without respecting this right was punished with a general fine and compensation suitable for the animal stolen. The legal rights included big garue and small game hunting. The charters of Teruel and Cuenca punished the stealing of wild boar, deer, wild donkeys (onagrum), bares, rabbits and other similar game. The fine for stealing in the Teruel Mountains was 30 sueldos; to this the fine of 20 sueldos was added for wild horses or equids, lO sueldos for deer, 5 sueldos for wild boar and double the market value for each small garue animal. The act of injuring hunters or their hunting birds or dogs with the intention of stealing their kili was also penalised with the payment of a fine and paying the hunter double the value ofthe game. 17 15 FTeruel, § 460 and 447; FAlbarradn, p. 202. 16 In Laliena, Carlos (1988) Documentos municipales de Huesca (1 100-1350), Huesca, Ayuntamiento, doc. 182: ltem, que tod homme vecino o qualquier otro que Cafará por vignas.favares o campos semprados, si sera de caballo pague de coto X s. y si sera de pie V s. Cf. AMD, Libro de Ordinaciones, 1457, 19 de abril, f. 78r.; Campillo, Toribio (1915) Documentos históricos de Darocaysu Comunidad, Zaragoza, p. 41, doc. 28. 17 These regulations are contained in the Jaca charters (north of Aragón), in subsequent legislative papers (Ramos 1925) and in the regulations ofthe Aragonese Extremadura (south of Aragón). The Castilian charters also include this right (FZorita, §742~743). Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation 143 The Huesca courts passed the De venatoribus charter on the right of the hunter over the kill in an uninhabited area; but if the kili fell in an inhabited area, the hunter only had the right to the skin ofthe animal and halfthe meat. The Fuero ofTemel (§460) specified more details on this case: ifthe pack of dogs entered a village when pursuing a deer but the hunter did not appear, the residents were obliged to keep the dogs and the deer for three days; after three days, the hunter lost the deer but still had the right to the deerskin and to recover bis dogs. Ifthe deer escaped and later died through exhaustion in a populated area, the law, understanding the wildlife as a common asset, established that the animal would be shaÍed between the residents. In this, pregnant women had preference and they received two parts. lf the animal died from dog bites, arrows, or spears, the hunter had the right to al! of the animal after swearing that the dogs and weapons that caused the death ofthe animal were his. The right to ownership of the kill was also recognised for the hunter who set the traps. The law penalised the stealing of animals caught in traps and the capture of badly injured animals that had escaped from a trap. However, when an animal that was being chased by dogs or birds fell into a trap, the right ofthe game was for the hunter not the trapper. Likewise, professional hunters' huts generated ownership rights over the animals captured while using them (FTemel §460): the hut owner could claim half of the animal caught by the hunter who used the hut to conceal himself. 6. Bird nets and hunts: prey, hunting animals, hunting arms and techniques Defensive hUnting, noble hunting, professional hunting, hunting for subsistence, poaching ... Each of these implies different social assessments depending on who was hunting, what was being hunted, why, how, when and where they were hunting. Hunts in forests and open land had a prestige that was bestowed on them for their entertainment, their symbolism of the battle of good against evil and their link to the noble lifestyle. Little consideration was given to setting traps and nets and digging boles in the mountains and in cultivated areas; these were identified with common hunting, 18 not to mention the bad reputation ofpoachers, which still exists. Valuable information is found in legal regulations for research into the most extensive methods of hunting. In general, a rational exploitation of fauna resources was promoted through the authorisation or prohibition of certain hunting techniques and anns. The existence of two different areas -one anthropised where mainly small game lived, and another wild and dangerous 18 Guerreau states two forms of hunting in high-medieval Europe that include the assessment of two opposing areas that are at the same time complementary: forest areas, where kings and aristocrats reserved the exclusive right to hunt, and interior or cultivated areas (Diccionario razonado del Occidente medieval, Barcelona, Akal, 2003:138). 144 María Luz Rodrigo-Estevan where bears, wild boars and deer lived- determined two hunting methods and two very different types of legal regulations. Hunting large and ferocious anirnals implied difficulty and danger. It required adequate physical preparation to be able to withstand the search, chase and confrontation with the animal, the equipment required to confront dangerous situations, the use of hunting animals as well as the collaboration of other people. The bear was the favoured animal of hunts until the !4ili century. Ideologically, bear hunting represented the symbolic componen! of the fight against evil as the bear represented the vices and rnost detested attitudes: it lives in tbe heart of the forest, which was dark and darnp, it behaves proudly and is quick-tempered, violent and a traitor and it has demon-like claws; its life is based on laziness, sleep, wandering and the insatiable appetite for tree strawberries and beehives. But the progressive reduction in forest areas reduced bears to the category of pests and, in the process, they were no longer considered as noble prey and thus not coveted. Something similar happened to the wild boar, which is another animal that transferred its ritual and symbolic meaning to deer at the end of medieval times. Deer is now the favourite game of the nobility (Pastoureau 2000). Wolf hunts were always a matter of self- defence, a need for survival in less-populated areas. The fight against these pests using boles, ditches and traps made the Aragonese regulations establish responsibility for damage caused to the people, mounts and livestock that accidentally fell into these traps. The number of species of small game, birds and mammals is extensive, the most common being rabbits, bares, partridges, partridge chicks, quails, francolins, turtledoves, wood pigeons, little bustards and other wild pigeons, ducks, cranes, owls, tbrushes, sparrows and other small birds. As well as the devices and techniques used by peasants, the nobility and local elite used falconry for hunting small game in the mountains and agricultura} areas that surrounded the inhabited area. Although the mental world of medieval men also required the symbolic role of sorne species of small game, the hierarchy of the evaluation of these animals was marked by the economic value that was obtained for their meat, skin, feathers or bones in the market. Partridges were the most appreciated animals and they were the focus of many regulations: the prohibition of specific hunting methods, the punishment for plundering nests and the establishment of hunting seasons. At the other end of the scale were sparrows, thrushes and other common birds whose hunting was permitted even in the reproduction season, as they were a pest for fruit trees and vegetables. The common pigeon, whose breeding gained relevance in the last centuries of the late medieval ages, stopped being considered small game in legislations and its capture was repeatedly penalised without much effectiveness. 19 19 Romeu 1635:116*118. The Romance version ofthe Charter ofTeruel (§658-659) envisages sanctions of5 sueldos for anybody who killed or hunted pigeons in the vicinity; and 300 sueldos if they were caught using nets over the dovecote windows. Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation 145 The development of small and big game hunting was linked lo the use of other animals whose job it was to make the chase and capture of prey easier. Falconry was based on the use of trained birds. Falcons, goshawks and sparrowhawks received special training that prepared each type of bird for the hunt of specific species. The Aragonese customs registered bomís falcons for hunting bares and partridges; sparrowhawks or kestrels for hunting thrushes, owls, partridge chicks, and pigeon; astos (wild goshawks) and sacres (sakers, falcons similar to the gyrfalcons) were also commercialísed. Around 1436 in Uncastillo, a falcon custom duty was the same price as one for a horse, which gives a good indication of the economic value of these birds (Savall, Penén 1866: 226, 247). Authors like Ladero (1980) think that the restrictivo regulations of small game hunting in urban outskirts was an attempt of the elite to ensure the daily maintenance and training of their hunting birds. This was in keeping with the protection that they received from Aragonese legal regulations. In the wild and in their natural habitat, the regulations penalised the robbing or plundering of nests with eggs and chicks; and when they were captive and trained, it was penalised to injure, pluck, kill or steal others people's birds. 20 Bird hunting counted on the fundamental aid of dogs that flushed the prey. The Aragonese and the Castilian legislations envisaged precepts against stealing, mistreatment and death of dogs. The application of different fines depended on the breed and, as a consequence, the qualities and physical state of these animals. The Fuero of Terne] established a fine of30 Jaca sueldos for anybody who killed or injured greyhounds and mastiffs belonging to others, unless this happened in self-defence; and it set the table of compensations for the owners of dogs attacked by wolves. The references to breeds refer to the existence of breeding, selection and training of dogs for flushing, pursuing and capturing small and big game.Z 1 Ferrets were given special importance, as they were used to chase rabbits and bares from their burrows. They are present in customs registers in the south of Aragón (Sesma 2001), in Arens de Lledó, Fraga and Tarazona. As their price was only 1O sueldos on the market, all hunters could afford to own them. Hunting with a ferret was authorised throughout the Middle Age except in reserves where the contrary was the rule. 22 As opposed to dogs and birds, ferrets were not protected in the legislation for their quality as an aid to hunters. As for the equipment of hunters, the cynegetic treaties specify the clothes and harnesses, very light and different lo that of knights for military action. The 20 FTeruel, § CLTI. About the protection of birds of prey in other peninsular territories, see the studies of Bover & Roselló (Fradejas ed., 2002: 9-23) and ofMatellanes (Clemente ed., 2001:335-356). Sorne captures of trained birds were not intentional but due to finding disorientated goshawks and sparrowhawks; the loss of birds when hunting appears as habitual in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (Monto ya 1993). 21 FTeruel, §CL, CLII; and Charter ofTeruel in Romance version §647-648, 651. The breeding, crossing and training took into account, as nowadays, the aggressiveness, agility, speed, size and stamina of each breed. The most frequently named dogs are mastiffs, cárabos, bloodhounds, greyhounds and hounds. 22 Pino (1996) shows the prohibition ofthe use of ferrets in Castile for killing litters and destroying nests. !46 Maria Luz Rodrigo-Estevan miniatures of the Vidal Mayor and other sculptural and pictural images show crossbows and bows for hunting birds, rabbits and bares; the lance and short spear were more commonly used for killing deer, wild boar and bears at the last moment when the animal was cornered; and the hunting horn was an essential element. In the written documentation, hunting with crossbows is the only one that suffers any restríction. In general, only a minority group used crossbows, bows and lances, as they required skill and their prices were normally too high for the majority of peasants-hunters. They were not considered indiscrirninate or damaging for animal reproduction as other more common hunting rnethods were. However, the tillados or nets- of cords, string and, in the 15th century, wire- did not require much skill and could be obtained at low cost. The restriction of their use is because they caused the indiscriminate hunting of a wide range of species; on the other hand, it was an effective competitor for other more elitist methods like falconry and crossbow hunting. Traps, snares, stones and holes that were camouflaged under nets or branches were used for small game hunting. For rabbit hunting, the hale was covered by a flat stone (losa) that tilted and made the rabbit fall into a hale; it was later collected alive by the losero (hunter who uses stone traps). Legislation tried to preserve the rights of the trappers and the other hunters at the same time. There are regulations that punish the intentional disarming of traps, snares and stone traps (FTeruel §460). Other legislations deal with the stealing of animals caught in traps or badly injured in traps. And others state the obligation of livestock owners to rebuild traps that had been accidentally set off by their animals. To defend the rest ofthe mountain users laws like the one of 1247 were made. This fixed the obligation of the trappers to compensate any injury to horses or dogs used for hunting if they had previously told the trapper about the hunt taking place where he had set his traps (Savall, Penén, 1866: Lib. III: l 07a). Other decoys and methods required greater ingenuity of hunters. Partridge hunting is the most documented in this sense. Apart from the use of diverse lures, 23 the nocturnal use of fire to scare and chase the partridges towards a previously set net was generalised. The method was simple but very effective, thus it was prohibited in many places (Pino l996:ll5). The habit of walking amongst quadrupeds that partridges have caused the invention of hunting using an ox disguise (Salvador 1993). The disguise consisted of an ox head, red clothes and bells, which fooled the partridges and permitted getting clase lo them and herding them little by little lo the place where the net was set. But the most complex techniques and tricks were used in the hunts. The least aggressive method for the environment, the corre can (hunting with dogs ), was the only method that was not restricted in Aragón in the 15th and 16th centuries 23 The Books of Collidas of Caspe register the moving of male partridges and partridge chicks as lures. A charter passed in the Aragonese Courts in 1461 prohibited hunting partridges and francolins with lure. (Savall, Penén 1866: Lib. lli: 107b). Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation 147 but it required dogs with stamina that could follow scent well. Monte de noche (night hunting), currently restricted, did not require the attendance of many hunters or helpers and its success was based on the knowledge of the places where animals went to eat or drink at night. 24 The search method, called in cynegetic literature concierto, vocería, busca y armadas, (gathering, voicing, search and anning) was, undoubtedly, more cornplex due to the rnaterials and people that it required. The final image of the hunter killing his prey had two basic iconographic representations: the hunter standing and on horseback. Lancing the animal while standing, as drawn in the Fuero ofTeruel, was highly risky while a hunter on horseback had more advantages. The hunting territory was sometimes outlined by cuts in the vegetation or with nets; in the case of scarcity of game, sorne lords set animals loose in these areas, converting the hunt into exciting noble entertaimnent (Pino 1996:112). 7. Vetoes and closed seasons. Economic or ecological question? The intervention of the monarchy, the lords and the settlers in the process of occupation and modification of the territory that followed the Reconquest generated dialectic continuity between man and nature, regulated by charters (fueros) at the beginning. Since the 13th century, the State as much as the municipalities insisted on regulating the contlicts of interests developed in a growing world, where the expansion of agricultura! land and livestock, the desire to max.imise the feudal income and the requirements of the market system caused the reduction in the size of forests. This threatened the species that lived there and the people who survived due to their precarious economies. The actions taken were intended to guarantee the free use of the mountains and municipal properties for the rural and urban communities. But the survival of the feudal system stimulated other measures that contented the aspirations of the monarchy and the lordly elites by extending the reserves and, as a consequence, increasing the income derived from the management and exploitation ofthe mountain. The legislative interest in preserving natural areas resulted in the penalisation of the most aggressive, exhaustive and destructive behaviour. The authorities knew as well as others that the uncontrolled exploitation of forests and mountains provoked the seasonal exhaustion of resources and, consequently, hunger, illness and death to the people who lived or based their economies on the exploitation of these areas. Three methods of action were developed to avoid this: fixing closed seasons, limiting those cynegetic practices that did not pennit the selection of the animals caught and establishing vigilance methods against poaching (Rodrigo 2003). 24Ramos (1925) §134; Savall, Penén (1866), Libro III, p. 107 and Observancias: Libro III, §9. 148 María Luz Rodrigo-Estevan Since the beginning of the 13th century, the seasonal suspension of hunting of specific species in the Aragonese mountains -extended between February and September- ensured three primordial aspects: the reproduction and breeding"of animals, the ecclesiastical precept of abstinence from meat and the preservati~n of agricultura! production, decreasing the losses of cereals and vineyards caused by hunters and dogs in the persecution and capture of rabbits and 25 hares. The closed season was sometimes partial and it affected specific groups of hunters: trappers, crossbowmen, etc. The reduction of cynegetic resources ended up imposing permanent closed seasons that completely prohibited, at the end of the Medieval Age, the use of certain hunting methods tbat threatened the survival of sorne species (Rodrigo 2004). Frorn the end oftbe 13ili century, tbe legislation reports abusive captures of rabbits, bares and different types of wild pigeons. The reason is specified in the documentation: daily consumption of these species by common people. The measures taken consisted of prohibiting the "bad arts" that caused excessive injuries and deaths. These are still forbidden today: taking eggs frorn nests of quails, partridges, francolins and other birds; hunting when it has snowed, as it is easier to follow the animal tracks and they cannot escape or take refuge. 26 The sanctions -confiscating hunting equipment, handing over the animals which were caught and paying quantitative fines- did not stop the poachers during the economic crisis that had started al the end of the 13'h century and reached its peak during tbe Black Death (1348). The general laws of the kingdorn supported local prohibitions: they protected bares aod partridges at breeding times (1369); they banned snaring and hunting when there was snow (1427-28); they banoed the use of crossbows and traps for bears and wild boar (1461). At the end of the 15ili century only corre can -big game bunting (with dogs)- was permitted. Firearms aggravated the pressure on the wildlife on the way to Modemity opening a new protectionist era. 27 The abundant regulations on hunting required the creation of jobs in charge of preserving the current legislation on cynegetic exploitation. The way of ensuring the balance between resources and population consisted in establishing effective vigilance methods that acted in the face of any violation 25 The sanction established amounted to a fine of 30 sueldos for hunters who did not respect the closed season (FTeruel, § 500). In the courts of 1252, Alfonso X ordered a period of general closed season in Castile for the same period (Ladero 1980: 209). 26 Since 1282 snaring rabbits or hunting when it had snowed was prohibited in Teruel (Gargallo 1990: doc. 165), And since 1270 in the lands ofDaroca (Campillo 1915: doc. 28). 27 Freruel, §460; Savall, Penén (1866) Libro III: 107, 149, 153. The Courts of Zaragoza in 1528 passed the fuero De la prohibicion e vieda de las ca¡:as (The prohibition and closed season of hunting): "Por quanto por experiencia se ha visto en el presente rey no las ca~as venir en gran diminucion, a cuya causa !os ca valieras e personas generosas no se pueden emplear en el exercicio dellas, siendo muy necessario para el uso dellos. Por tanto, su Magestad de voluntad de la dicha Corte statuece y ordena que persona alguna no pueda matar puerco salvage con arcabuz, escopeta ni ballesta sino que sea en heredad propria de aquel que matare el tal puerco. Y assi mismo ninguno pueda matar venado con escopeta ni arcabuz...". La ter on it established closed seasons and prohibitions on taking eggs from nests in May, hunting partridges with asses or al night by candlelight, and pursuing rabbits or bares o ver snow-covered land. Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation 149 of the mountain. The profile of these policemen or rural guards is found scattered in local and territorial texts (Torquemada 1997). The guards were residents and thus they knew well their areas and the people who visited them; they were usually chosen by the municipalities and had to take an oath for their jobs and this gave them the authority to arrest, confiscate and fine; they periodically had to report on their work, on the illicit huntíng activities and other furtive utilisations (Rodrigo 1997). There were mounted guards - montaraces, caballeros de sierra-, whose socio-economic origin permitted them to possess mounts and anns to enforce their authority. And vineyard, field and vegetable garden guards -viñaderos- from humble backgrounds, who were prone to making pacts with poachers in exchange for economic rewards. This was severely penalised by local regulations. This rural vigilance survived with very few modifications until the creation, around the middle ofthe 19th century, ofthe guards who depended on the State (Civil Guard and Forest Guard). The abundant complaints and criminal suppositions in the medievallegislation show the existence of widespread poaching that, above all, helped the common people to subsist and permitted the maintenance of more precarious economies. The legal regulations were not able to avoid these practices but they were able to control them within sorne sustainable limits. And, through the imposition of sanctions and the concession of licences, the royalty, municipalities and lords increased their participation in the economic benefits that carne from hunting and natural areas. 8. Hunting to eat, hunting to sell Both hunting within the established legal framework and poaching had a common purpose: trapping wild animals that gave their captors benefits. Above all, the animals caught complemented the diet and had two main destinations: the hunters' kitchen and the market. The characteristics of small birds, wild pigeons or quails favoured their immediate consumption and only the animals that were captured alive covered the food necessities for longer. Big game hunting permitted the manipulation of its meat for storage by means of drying and salting. In peasant bornes, the protein contribution of game meat was added to the ingestion of domestic animals. This way, it is difficult to appreciate the influence of game meat or reared meat. However, in the urban area, game was obtained in the market. Small game hunting was included in the citizen food supply system. The municipal regulations prohibited selling the garne caught in other places such as the neighbouring mountains; the buying and selling had to be done in public places to avoid swindling and in order to control fiscally what was hunted and what was sold; maximum prices were set to keep hunting from 150 María Luz Rodrigo-Estevan suffering speculation and the instabilities of the market; and they limited the monopolisation and reselling on behalf ofregatones (touts) and inkeepers. 28 In the scale of consumption that municipal prices created, partridges and rabbits occupied a leading position. Feather hunting, in great demand by Mudéjares and Aragonese Jews for their festivals, had sorne restrictions for these groups that were self-supplied or bought live animals to sacrifice them at rituals (Rodrigo 1999:193). Moreover, neither religion permitted eating game injured or killed by crossbow or dogs nor deer bitten by bears, wolves or other wild animals, unless they were captured alive and adequately slaughtered; and sorne game - rabbits, bares - were rejected as being impure (Roy 1999; Motis 1995). Caught in the mountain or bought in the market, the ultimate destination of the game was the domestic environment, where it was prepared, stored and eaten. Documentation hardly contains traces of common cooking. But the custom in the rural Aragonese environment of eating roasted rabbit, marinated partridge, big game stews, braised and stewed pigeon, small birds fried or cold and salted meat ofwild boar and deer, demonstrates old ways ofpreparing and consuming game. While the peasants considered wild animals as an appreciated food resource that was provided by the mountain, the elite made the consumption of game a distinctive and identifiable symbol of the noble way of life, subsequently imitated by the bourgeoisie. However, the nobility mainly ate small game, whose abundance and variety produced more food possibilities than the scarce species ofbig game. The distinction with common consumption resided in the elaboration of the dishes: using expensive herbs and spices for seasoning and complex sauces. The cooks created dishes adapted to the tastes and fashions of the medieval elite, as demonstrated by the refined recipes of Arte Cisoria ofVillena (1423), the Llibre de Sent Soví (!324) or the Libro de los Guisados (Book of Stews) by Ruperto de No la (!525). Maybe hunting in medieval Aragón did not reach the same level of importance as agriculture, livestock farming or commerce, but it developed very diverse significances that affected sociallife. Economically, it was a source offood and income, and permitted underground economies and the privatisation of natural resources. Judicially, hunting methods, areas and times were regulated. Mentally and socially, hunting was impregnated with connotations and changing values that created a complex codification: the different modalities were associated with the entertainment of the noble elite, with bourgeois aspirations and the subsistence of anonymous people. The hierarchisation of hunters, cynegetic practices, their objectives, their areas and their prey only reinforced the instituted socio-political order. 28 The municipal statutes oover these questions in Huesca (Laliena 1988: doc. 182), Teruel (AHPT, ATeruel, 311, f. 98r.; Actas 1462.0Ll8), Daroca (Rodrigo 1999: docs. 72, 202, 211, 253) and Barbastro (Pano 1903:88). Hunting and Hunters in Medieval Aragonese Legislation 151 References Canellas López, Ángel (1984) Longares de los orígenes a 1478, Zaragoza, IFC. 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