MS M.1044, fols. 84v–85r

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Gaston III Phœbus, Count of Foix
1331–1391

Livre de la chasse

Paris, France
ca. 1406–1407
381 x 290 mm

Bequest of Clara S. Peck, 1983

MS M. 1044
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Dispatching the Wild Boar
The huntsman who wished to slay a boar was to ride against it, standing firmly in his metal stirrups, and thrust his three-foot-long sword downward into the boar with all his might, as in the miniature. In order to prevent cutting the user's leg, the part of the sword worn closest to the body was blunted. Other strategies included containing the boar with a pack of dogs or immobilizing it by hamstringing (the horseman in red severs a main tendon of its rear leg), permitting the hunter to spear the animal or drive a sword into its heart.

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Image courtesy of Faksimile Verlag Luzern