Juliana Berners

Juliana Berners (or Barnes or Bernes) (born 1388), was an English writer on heraldry, hawking, fishing and hunting. She is said to have been prioress of the St Mary of Sopwell, near St Albans in Hertfordshire.

Life and work Very little is known about Juliana Berners, and that which is known cannot be verified with certainty. She was the author of treatises on field sports, such as hunting, and many people credit her with the entirety of The Boke of Saint Albans. A facsimile of The Boke of Saint Albans, published in 1810 by Joseph Haslewood, contains an introduction which examines the authorship of the book and the biography of Juliana Berners. Unfortunately, this introduction is largely speculative.

Based on her last name, scholars suggest that she was either the daughter of the courtier Sir James Berners or wife to the lord of the manor of Julians Barnes. Whatever family she came from, it is likely that she was high-born and well-educated. It is generally believed that she entered the monastic life and became the prioress of Sopwell Nunnery near St Albans. which led her to write her treatise on hunting and perhaps others. These treatises are remarkable in the fact that they are some of the earliest extant writings of their kind, as well as in their vision and insight. They include remarks on the virtues of environmental conservation and on etiquette for field sports, concepts which would not become commonly accepted for hundreds of years after the publication of these treatises.

An older form of the treatise on fishing was edited in 1883 by T. Satchell from a manuscript in possession of Alfred Denison. This treatise probably dates from about 1450, and formed the foundation of that section in the book of 1496.