The King's Hawking Hood and Gloves

It is well documented that the Tudors enjoyed the sport of Falconry, not only as a form of hunting (to help put food on their tables), but also as a pastime. The sport involved the hunting of small game in their natural habitat with the aid of a trained bird of prey (either some form of falcon or hawk). Henry VIII himself was extremely fond of Falconry in his later years. In the month of September 1533, Sir William Kingston, Constable of the Tower of London remarked that Henry 'hawks everyday with goshawks and other hawks... lanners, sparhawks, and merlins both afore noon and after'. With the help of his Chief Falconer, Robert Cheseman, Henry had different falcons and hawks dotted all over the country, so that wherever he visited he always had some form of falcon or hawk at his disposal.

Portrait of Robert Cheseman, 1533, Hans Holbein the Younger, Mauritshius

Not only did falconry show off his manly skills (the Tudors believed Falconry helped them train/prepare for war), but it was also an area for further display of his kingship. This was achieved through the use of costly materials and fabrics to help create an image of magnificence, but it also served as a reminder of your social status and that no one was higher than the king on the social ladder except almighty God himself. 

As the birds belonged to Henry they (and the items associated with them) were also adorned with the finest silks and velvets that money could buy, and these such items could also be decorated with embroidery, feathers or silver and gold bells. Mark Milliner a falconer of the king put in a bill for a hawking glove that was 'trimmed with crimson velvet and embroidered with gold and silver and another trimmed with white velvet and embroidered with gold and silver, both costing 15s'. We are better able to understand what these looked like from written and pictorial sources. As with other forms of Tudor clothing and accessories any surviving pieces of hawking equipment would be extremely rare, as expensive fabrics and metal threads were frequently reused. Despite this, there is a surviving hawking glove and hood in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, both are linked to the 16th Century and are strongly believed to have belonged to King Henry VIII.

Hawking Hood (Front View)

Hawking Hood (Side View)

Hawking Glove (Right-Handed)

Hawking Glove 

The surviving hawking glove is made of red-brown doeskin with a lining of white doeskin. It is embroidered with silver-gilt thread which is held by red silk stitching, which forms a band that encircles the wrist. It is also embroidered with three circular motifs (each are 60mm in diameter), one at the centre front, one at the centre back and one on the inside fold, which are edged with blue silk. It has a small yellow silk tassel.

Hawking Hood 

The hawking hood is made of leather, which has been covered with a red fabric (probably velvet). The red fabric is decorated with gold thread embroidery, which has incorporated loops of gold and is edged with gold chain work. It does not have a plume.

If you have time to spare why not pop in to the Ashmolean Museum to view them. They are truly remarkable survivals of their time...

Sources

• Henry VIII and Falconry - HRP - 2nd April 2009 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFuG1ddWl8Y
• Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII - Maria Hayward - https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BCgxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT800&lpg=PT800&dq=henry+viii+hawking+hood+and+glove&source=bl&ots=c6oUObwljS&sig=0YNacv_pYlLWg_82n3py1tGULWY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj1xJfBgvjVAhWLAMAKHd1vASM4ChDoAQgnMAA#v=onepage&q=henry%20viii%20hawking%20hood%20and%20glove&f=false
• https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/discover/mauritshuis/masterpieces-from-the-mauritshuis/portrait-of-robert-cheseman-14851547-276/
• http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/amulets/tradescant/tradescant07-06.html
• http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/amulets/tradescant/tradescant07-07.html