This volume presents the first scholarly edition of a little-known fifteenth-century translation of William Twiti's Anglo-Norman prose treatise on hunting, 'L 'art de venerie', the earliest manual on the sport to be composed in England. The text in question, extant in a single manuscript held in a private collection in Ashton-under-Lyne, is far superior to the only other Middle English translation of Twiti's treatise that has hitherto been known to scholars: the amplified, but debased and at times incoherent, version found in BL, MS Cotton Vespasian B XII; it is also a far more accurate rendition of Twiti's Anglo-Norman original than the much altered redaction known as 'The Craft of Venery', a text that has recently become confused with Twiti's treatise. Former editors of Twiti's work, such as Gunnar Tilander and Bror Danielsson, were unaware of the existence of the Ashton translation, and therefore founded their editions on the Cottonian text or 'The Craft of Venery', both of which are problematic in a number of ways. In this volume, the Ashton translation is printed opposite a parallel Anglo-French text edited from Gonville and Caius College MS 424/448, and is followed by freshly corrected editions of the amplified Cottonian text and 'The Craft of Venery'. All three texts are provided with their own comprehensive notes, complemented by an integrated glossary that improves on many definitions currently in the 'Oxford English Dictionary' and the 'Middle English Dictionary'.

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2008 A Cultural History of Animals in the Medieval Age investigates the changing roles of animals in medieval culture, economy and society in the period 1000 to 1400. The period saw significant changes in scientific and philosophical approaches to animals as well as their representation in art. Animals were omnipresent in medieval everyday life. They had enormous importance for medieval agriculture and trade and were also hunted for food and used in popular entertainments. At the same time, animals were kept as pets and used to display their owner's status, whilst medieval religion attributed complex symbolic meanings to animals. A Cultural History of Animals in the Medieval Age presents an overview of the period and continues with essays on the position of animals in contemporary symbolism, hunting, domestication, sports and entertainment, science, philosophy, and art.