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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if caring for hounds and tracking a hart could teach a nobleman how to live?
In The Master of Game, Edward of Norwich opens the world of hunting at an English king’s court. As Master of Game, he is responsible for the king’s hunting and hounds. His treatise brings you close to the animals, practical skills and duties that shape this part of noble life.
Accounts of hares, harts and boars sit alongside the customs of English and French hunting. Beneath these practical details lies a moral argument: hunting keeps a man from idleness and vice. The care of dogs and the knowledge of quarry become part of a larger claim about virtue.
What you’ll discover
- Hounds at the heart Meet scent hounds, greyhounds and boar dogs, and explore the care each needs.
- Know the hunted animal Follow close accounts of the hare, hart and boar through a medieval huntsman’s eyes.
- A language of tracks Discover the precise terms for animals’ tracks, droppings, groups and cries.
- Skill as a virtue Examine the book’s claim that an active hunting life guards against idleness and bad habits.
- English and French customs See where Edward’s accounts of English hunting differ from the French practices described here.
Who will love it
This book will delight readers of medieval life, lovers of dogs and horses, anyone curious about forests and wild animals, and fans of courtly ritual who enjoy vivid practical detail.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Hunting brings a whole court together
- Every season offers a different chase
- The hare tests the whole pack
- The hart deserves knowledge and respect
- Each beast requires its own knowledge
- The hound is a trusted partner
- A good pack needs careful keeping
- Training begins with care and observation
- The chase depends on shared discipline
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The Master of Game
by Edward of Norwich; Gaston Fébus · 1410
A prince's hunting master teaches how to read a stag's footprint, run a hare to ground and blow the horn.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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In short
What would it take to run a stag to its death in a forest, in the early fifteenth century, with a prince and a pack of hounds behind you? The Master of Game was written in English by Edward of Norwich, who dedicates it to Henry, Prince of Wales.
The Master of Game at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 30 min4 h 20 min fast, 6 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 78,500 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1410by Edward of Norwich; Gaston Fébus
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Hunting is the one sport that never ends
Edward of Norwich opens by naming his book. Hunting, in his view, is the most lasting and most entertaining of all noble pastimes, because it can be done in every season of the year.
He compares it with hawking. Hawking is fine and worthy, he admits. But hawks cannot be flown for about half the year, and in high summer no one can find hawks to hunt with. Hounds can find some beast to chase in any good country at any time, and each season brings a different quarry.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1410
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Edward of Norwich, and Gaston Fébus. The Master of Game. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-of-game.
Edward of Norwich, & Gaston Fébus. (2026). The master of game. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-of-game (Original work published ca. 1410)
Edward of Norwich, and Gaston Fébus. The Master of Game. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-of-game.
@book{edwardofnorwich2026master,
author = {Edward of Norwich and Gaston Fébus},
title = {The Master of Game},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-of-game},
note = {First published ca. 1410}
}
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What is The Master of Game about?
It is a medieval English guide to hunting. It describes the habits of the hare, hart, boar, wolf and fox, the kinds and care of hounds, the training of a hunter, and the full order of a hunt.
Who wrote The Master of Game and who is it for?
Edward of Norwich wrote it for Henry, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Henry IV. It is largely adapted from the hunting book of Gaston Phoebus, Count of Foix, with English customs added.
What does harbouring a hart mean?
It means finding where a hart has settled to rest. The hunter and his lymer track the deer to its covert, measure the footprint, mark the entry with a green bough, and report back.
The author
Edward of Norwich
1373–1415 · English nobleman and hunting writer
Edward of Norwich (1373–1415) was an English nobleman and the second Duke of York. He lived in England and served in military campaigns. In the early fifteenth century, he compiled The Master of Game, an English hunting manual based on a French work. He died at the Battle of Agincourt in France.
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