'La Livre de la chasse' (The Book of the Hunt) by Gaston III, Count of Foix and Viscount of Béarn, known as Gaston Phoebus or Fébus

“…I, Gaston, by the grace of God, named Fébus, count of Foix, lord of Béarn have all my life especially enjoyed three things: arms, love and hunting. Regarding the first two matters, there are knights more knowledgeable and worthy than I and more successful in amorous conquests, and so it would be great folly on my part to speak of that. However, when it comes to the third matter, here I am not afraid to be accused of bragging or not being an expect in that field, and so I shall speak of that.” Those are the opening lines of the most famous mediaeval treatise on hunting. “I dare to state that hunting can bring much good and protect against the seven deadly sins. It is known that all sins and vices spring from idle imagining. And that in turn is continued by idleness and laziness. Hunting, though, distracts a man from idleness and keeps him safe from temptations. The hunter is always occupied. He has no time for sinful imagining. Consequently, he cannot sin and will end in Paradise. But before he gets there, thanks to frequent training, he will live a long life, happy and healthy…” Besides the hunting treatise, the Hermitage manuscript contains a book of prayers. The Count of Foix wrote that after stabbing his only legitimate son to death in a fit of rage upon finding him with a little box of poison and deciding it was meant for him. The magnificent illuminated manuscript is especially interesting as it bears traces of editorial corrections made by the author himself. The 78 miniatures illustrate stages in the training of hound, as well as the habits of forest animals.