Later history The Franks and other Teutonic peoples were fond of falconry and the chase, and in later centuries both the laity and the clergy were warned by provincial councils against spending so much time and money on hounds, hawks, and falcons. Originally, among the northern nations all could hunt except slaves, who were forbidden to bear arms. The idea of game preservation arose in feudal times when the right to hunt became attached to the ownership of land. Because of their hereditary claim to the title Lord High Masters of the Chase for the Holy Roman Empire, the electors of Saxony enjoyed exceptional opportunities to hunt. Elector John George II of Saxony (reigned 1656–80) shot an astonishing total of 42,649 red deer. He refused the crown of Bohemia not for political reasons but because Bohemian stags were smaller than Saxon ones. To protect his stags, he fenced the boundary between Saxony and Bohemia. An early landgrave of Hesse had a codicil added to the Lord’s Prayer: “Give u
Post: 20 September 11:05
