During the Middle Ages it became very important in rural economy, and it is regulated and protected by various law codes: harsh penalties are in store for those guilty of stealing a bird of prey.

According to their hunting skill, their importance, or their aesthetic qualities, these birds are used for specific hunting activities, and they are attributed to different ranks of society: the eagle is reserved for the Emperor, the more common kestrel can be brought even by a simple servant, the noble hawk is used by ladies as an ornament.

It is an Emperor himself - the great Friedrich II of Swabia - who theorizes the art of falconry in the wide treaty "De arte venandi cum avibus", collecting techniques and procedures taken from the experience of the most valiant eastern falconers of his court.

Today this noble and antique art survives and is reborn owing to Alduino Ventimiglia da Monteforte, on Tuscan land, in San Galgano near Siena, where the Accademia Italiana Cavalieri d'Alto Volo (A.I.C.A.V.) has its grounds.

The Academy is committed on two linked fronts: on one side the protection, recovery and valorization of the ancient art of falconry, on the other the protection of bird of prey species.