The Very Rich Hours of the duke of Berry, Part 7: August Page

Part 7: August Page

The August page is the first page to feature both aristocratic and peasant activities. In the foreground, a small group of noblemen and noblewomen enjoying the sport of hawking. Mounted on horseback, they wear thick leather gloves on one hand, upon which hawks could rest without piercing their skin. The falconer leads the group on foot, dressed in a tunic with undershirt, stockings, and shoes; he is a peasant, but reflective of his higher status as someone who worked directly under the aristocracy. He holds a long stick in his right hand and dogs follow rambunctiously behind him. This directly illustrates how hawking was performed.

Hawking was used to hunt fowl through the combined efforts of spaniels and hawks or falcons. After finding the target, a spaniel would ‘whimp[er] and whin[e] to give his master a warning of what he scenteth, and to prepare himselfe and his hauke for the pleasure he seeketh, and when he is assured of his game, then to quest out loudly and freely.’¹ Essentially, a spaniel would announce the location of the prey once he caught its scent. The hunters would follow the spaniels on horseback, with hawks hooded and perched on their arms. With the spaniels’ signal, the hunters would release the hawks into the air to kill their target once it had sprung from its hiding place. Spaniels and hawks worked together under the command of their master. The intention was to observe the power and dynamism of the highly trained animals under their control. Hawking and falconry demonstrated man’s mastery over the natural landscape of his property. It was understood that mastery over nature was interwoven with admiring nature at work. This elite group ride within full view of the peasants in the background; this was an explicit statement of status to perform this ritualistic sport wherever the game was good (even if it might disrupt the activities of the peasants). Given the harvest in the background, which would have attracted hungry birds, this was the perfect time and space to enjoy hawking for a day. 

The peasants in the background are in the middle of both work and play. Two peasants are in the middle of the summer harvest, gathering the grain into bundles. A third peasant loads the bundles into an oxen-drawn cart on the left side of the page. This activity takes place outside of the walls of the Château d’Étampes, another one of the duke of Berry’s many properties. The walls surrounding the castle embody the social division between those who dwelled within and outwith the castle. In front of the harvest, meanwhile, a group of four peasants have stripped naked to enjoy a swim in the pond outside the castle. Once again, we have a sense of voyeurism in that we the viewer observe their activities freely. At the same time, they pay the group of aristocrats no heed. This perhaps speaks to how the duke of Berry viewed those of low status as being less civilised than those of high status. This idea is underscored in the vulgarity displayed by those in the water (they’re really showing off their genitals, aren’t they?). But in any case, the very act of swimming is reflective of the heat of an August summer’s day.

1. Gervase Markham, Maison Rustique (London: Printed by Adam Fflip for John Bill, 1616), pp. 673, from Early English Books Online (accessed 7 March, 2018), p. 679. ↩︎