"He Cannot Be a Gentleman Which Loveth Not Hawking and Hunting"

The nobility of the Renaissance era enjoyed an elaborate form of hunting, called par force, which involved many horses, dogs, and huntsmen and offered many opportunities for social display. Par force hunting came with a set of ritualized actions and its own unique vocabulary. English monarchs, especially James I, instituted regulations on who could participate based on social status. As the higher social echelons became more permeable, and hunting remained the recreation of choice for those of elevated status, this turned the sport into a skill necessary for those new to the court. This study looks at early modern English hunting manuals to examine how they functioned as courtesy literature for those newly admitted to higher levels of society, examining the rhetorical and instructional techniques employed in early modern English hunting treatises to ascertain similarities between to two types of books.