Juliana Berners facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dame Juliana Berners, O.S.B.
Purported image of Dame Juliana Berners, O.S.B. (1904)
Born	ca. 1388
Nationality	English
Occupation	nun and writer
Notable work	The Boke of Saint Albans

Juliana Berners (born around 1388) was an English writer. She wrote about important topics like heraldry (the study of coats of arms), falconry (hunting with hawks), and hunting. People believe she was a prioress, which is a leader in a nunnery, at Sopwell Priory near St Albans in Hertfordshire.

Juliana Berners: Life and Writings

We don't know much for sure about Juliana Berners. Many people believe she wrote a famous book called The Boke of Saint Albans. This book is very old and important.

Scholars think she came from a wealthy and educated family. This is because of her last name. It's also thought that she became a nun at Sopwell Nunnery. We don't know when or how she joined the nunnery.

Since she likely grew up in a noble family, she probably enjoyed activities like hunting and fishing. Even after becoming a nun, she kept her love for these outdoor sports. This passion probably led her to write about them. Her writings are special because they are some of the earliest books of their kind.

Her books also talked about protecting the environment. They even included rules for good manners during sports. These ideas were very new for her time. People didn't commonly accept them for hundreds of years later.

Even though we know little about her life, Juliana Berners is remembered. Many women's fly-fishing clubs are named after her. She is known as one of the first authors to write about hunting and fishing.

The Boke of St. Albans: An Early Printed Book

The first edition of The Boke of Saint Albans was printed in 1486. An unknown schoolmaster printed it in St Albans. This book was very rare. It didn't have a title page.

The only clue about who wrote it is at the end of the 1486 book. It says: "Explicit Dam Julyans Barnes in her boke of huntyng." This means "Here ends Dame Juliana Barnes's book on hunting." Later, another printer, Wynkyn de Worde, changed her name to "Dame Julyans Bernes."

Wynkyn de Worde printed a new edition of the book around 1496. This edition also didn't have a title page. It started by saying the book would show how to hawk, hunt, and make coats of arms. It also talked about horses and other helpful topics.

De Worde's edition was special because it added three woodcut pictures. It also included a new part called Treatyse of fysshynge wyth an Angle (Treatise on Fishing with an Angle). This part was not in the first St Albans edition.

A scholar named Joseph Haslewood studied the book in 1810. He thought Juliana Berners wrote only parts of the book. He believed she wrote some of the hawking section and the hunting section. Many parts of the book were likely translated from French.

Only three perfect copies of the very first edition still exist today. The book was very popular in the 1500s. It was reprinted many times.

Treatise on Fishing: A Guide to Angling

The Treatise on Fishing was added to the 1496 edition. This part was probably not written by Dame Juliana herself. It is the earliest known English book about fly fishing.

More than 150 years later, this fishing treatise influenced another English writer. His name was Izaak Walton. He wrote a very famous book called The Compleat Angler. This shows how important the Treatise on Fishing was.

An older version of the fishing treatise was found in a manuscript. It was probably written around 1450. This older text was the basis for the fishing section in the 1496 book.