One of the treatises written by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194–1250), king of Sicily and Jerusalem and Holy Roman Emperor, was “De Arte Venandi cum Avibus,” or “On the Art of Hunting With Birds.” It’s also known by the title of “The Art of Falconry.” Basking in a court noted for its highly cosmopolitan and intellectual life, his reign could have signaled the beginning of the Italian Renaissance.
His book not only deals with the art of hunting with birds but copious descriptions of their habitats. He was fond of falcons and their powerful and precise method for taking down prey.
