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IMC 2006: Sessions

Session 618: Animals and Pleasure

Tuesday 11 July 2006, 11.15-12.45

Organiser:Gerhard Jaritz, Institut für Realienkunde, Universität Salzburg, Krems / Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest
Moderator/Chair:Gerhard Jaritz, Institut für Realienkunde, Universität Salzburg, Krems / Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest
Paper 618-a'His large master should love a small dog': Emotions and Pets
(Language: English)
Kathleen Walker-Meikle, Department of History, University College London
Index terms: Daily Life, Mentalities, Social History
Paper 618-bBeasts and Pets, Wild and Tame: Aristocratic Pleasure with Animals, Inside and Outside of Castles
(Language: English)
Thomas Kühtreiber, Institut für Realienkunde des Mittelalters & der frühen Neuzeit, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Krems
Index terms: Archaeology - General, Daily Life
Paper 618-cProlonging the Pleasure of the Chase: The Regimen of the Horse, Hound, and Hawk
(Language: English)
Briony Aitchison, Department of Mediaeval History, University of St Andrews
Index terms: Daily Life, Medicine
Abstract

The session is part of three sessions for the Daily Life Strand that deal with different aspects of pleasures in medieval life and their representation. The papers in this one concentrate on the various uses and functions of animals as objects of pleasure in medieval life and their different social roles and evaluations.

Abstract paper -c: Hunting, hawking, and tourneying were important pastimes in the Middle Ages, all of which required the aid of animals: horses, hounds, and hawks. Without these animals, the pursuit of such sports could not take place. This paper will examine the measures undertaken to keep these animals in good health, and the treatment afforded to them when injury and illness befell them, as illustrated in Middle English treatises. A comparison of the care afforded will not only contribute to the history of veterinary medicine, it will also offer fascinating insights into their social roles and their value in medieval society.