Medieval warhorse

The principal output of a major AHRC-funded project (2019–2023), this monumental book represents the first such study of its kind. It delivers a thoroughly researched, well-illustrated and compellingly argued inter-disciplinary study of the medieval knightly horse, largely focused on England, but with additional data from other parts of Britain and Continental Europe. Its chapters, the work of various contributors, are divided into themes, each of which is rooted in one or two major categories of data, ranging from the skeletal remains of horses, through to examples of equestrian equipment from, in particular, the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and private collections, cartography, the remains of equestrian installations, as well as select written and artistic sources.

The rationale for the study is introduced by the editors through a literature review, the key research questions, a summary of the main categories of evidence and an outline of the structure of the book. The literature review includes key primary sources and then is largely taken up by a critique of secondary works based on historical sources, situating the present study within the broader context of the ‘animal turn’. This is followed by a summary of archaeological research on medieval horses. The outline of the study’s scope grants a robust justification for the selected chronological range, and an emphasis on categories of data that have certainly been neglected or underused in previous scholarship.

In the second chapter, Oliver Creighton and Gary Baker detail and update the chronology for the developing use of horses in warfare during the medieval period, largely in England but also drawing on examples from further afield. It reviews the relatively limited evidence for horse use in the pre-ninth century, then with increasing historical sources each individual century through to the sixteenth. This serves as a contextual framework for the subsequent analytical approaches. Chapter 3, by Baker and Robert Liddiard, also adopts the study’s full chronological span with a quantitative examination of royal equine networks in medieval England. Early medieval equine landscapes are reconstructed using toponyms, before moving onto the more quantitative data drawn from Domesday Book. Interesting correlations are presented between categories of horses and specific types of regional habitats, demonstrating continuity after the Norman Conquest, rather than marking the event as an ‘equine horizon’. The equitium regis (royal stables) records enable a more detailed focus on the structure of royal horse breeding in the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This culminates in an impressive analysis of fourteenth-century equine networks, with a focus on studs, age groups, the general horse population and the royal stable. This is followed by a discussion of grazing areas, stabling and mobility within the overlapping networks. The final part deals with horse breeding in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with particular focus on the early Tudor period. An impressive synthesis in itself, Baker and Liddiard’s diachronic study demonstrates geographical continuity from at least the late eleventh century through to the sixteenth century. This challenges the traditional narrative of the rise and fall of equine culture, followed by its Tudor recovery.

Chapter 4, by Baker, Liddiard and Creighton, develops the previous one with a consideration of the built structures associated with elite networks. The chapter begins with a useful overview of the problem of identifying and misidentifying medieval stables, illustrated with case studies that show varying locations of stables connected with the diversity and number of horse types. Subsequently the discussion turns to the archaeological and architectural evidence for identified or likely stables, considering their size, interiors, flooring and drainage, as well as the limited evidence for farrieries. The various strands of evidence are then brought together, and a good case is made for the regular rotation of horses out of stables and into pasture. This is followed by a short overview of the evidence for studs, which is very limited, but the authors draw out some useful observations. The section on folds weaves together the archaeological, placenames and landscape perspectives in a compelling way, providing important foregrounding for a more detailed multidisciplinary appraisal of elite studs, and the chapter concludes with tournament landscapes.

Chapter 5, by Creighton, brings together a broad range of artistic representations of horses, exploring how the visual culture of the equestrian world changes over the course of the Middle Ages. Again, a chronological structure facilitates the identification of certain trends, although the material for portable objects such as badges and seals, through to manuscript illustrations, is unevenly represented both spatially and temporally. The resulting picture is complicated, although horses are consistently represented in the context of sport or warfare, and are largely the product of elite sources, reflecting their integral role in the expression of high-status identities.

Chapter 6, by Robert Webley, supplies an updated and comprehensive study of horse equipment in north-western Europe. This benefits from a new appraisal of museum and private collections, and material on the PAS database, and various elements of horse tack are examined, particularly stirrups, bridle bits and harness pendants. Webley’s analysis adds further to our understanding of the presence of a pre-conquest equestrian culture in England, although the bulk of the evidence derives from the late medieval period, and a closer examination of harness pendants as family emblems and in the context of tournaments again emphasises their role in the construction of identities. The chapter concludes with a consideration of horse equipment through time, demonstrating that the tack defining the warhorse existed by the eleventh century, and that the Norman Conquest had limited impact on this, and the next technological shift came in the later twelfth century. Identifiers such as harness pendants flourished between the eleventh and the end of the fourteenth century, when leatherwork and fabric became the preferred medium for equestrian visual display.

Chapter 7, by Creighton, Alan Outram, Webley and a contribution from Tess Townend, considers material culture more closely related to horse physiology—armour and horseshoes. It provides a detailed exploration of the variety and chronology of horse armour, before outlining a methodology for consistently measuring individual pieces. Horseshoes are also examined in terms of their typology and chronology; and an approach to standardised measurement is presented. The metric data for armour and horseshoes is presented in Chapter 9 to support the osteometric estimates of horse stature.

Chapter 8, principally by Katherine Kanne with contributions from several others, provides an integrated approach to the skeletal remains of medieval horses. It draws on data from two regional databases for southern and central England and focuses in detail on seven sites for some of the more specialist analyses. Osteometric data for reconstructing stature and robusticity has been gathered from 171 sites, with geometric morphometric data collected from 102 horses, aDNA analysis conducted on 172 fragments and isotopic analysis on the teeth of 15 individuals from the ‘horse cemetery’ at Elverton Street in Westminster, London. Together, these form an impressive dataset. Although horse remains are comparatively limited in medieval archaeological contexts, the analyses demonstrate that a wide range of horse types were present in all periods. The section on pathology is particularly interesting, representing the first such integrated summary of its kind for medieval horses, and demonstrating broad similarities with modern animals. The aDNA results confirm the limited genetic impact of medieval breeding regimes compared to post-medieval husbandry, as well as the results for sexing individuals.

The osteometric data outlined above are integrated within the next pivotal chapter by Outram and Creighton, together with contributions from others, to map the diachronic stature of medieval horses. This is then compared with data from Continental Europe, providing the first inter-regional survey of medieval horse stature based on faunal data. The metrical data from 128 horse shaffrons (face protection) is then presented, demonstrating that this can be meaningfully linked to horse stature, the relationship between the two estimated from measurements of 69 modern individuals. This is followed by the metrical data from 103 horseshoes, the size of which is again convincingly linked to stature. The combined lines of evidence indicate that the majority of medieval horses, both in England and across Europe, were pony-sized, with the English average being 13 hands (approx. 1.33m). Stature increased in the late medieval period, and particularly in the post-medieval period, with a further noticeable rise in the last two centuries.

Chapter 10, by Creighton, Liddiard and Camille Vo Van Qui, considers the social context of the medieval warhorse drawing on multiple strands of evidence. It adopts a chronological approach to examine how perceptions of the horse—from varying perspectives—changed over the course of the Middle Ages in England, based on a range of evidence from earlier chapters. This is blended extremely well into a cohesive narrative, and hyper-linked throughout to earlier points in the book. It also considers the representation of horses in a diverse range of medieval literature and visual culture. The section on Anglo-Saxon horse culture highlights the role of centralised militarisation and the development of an elite hunting culture, with interesting shifts in the representation of horses and the clear emergence of an equestrian culture. The impact of the Norman Conquest is framed as an emphasis on transformative horsemanship, rather than horses—evolution over revolution. The mid-twelfth-century increase in horse display ties in well with the chronology of heraldry and aristocratic visual display and, while the discussion of horses in contemporaneous romantic literature is relatively brief, important points about individualisation are made. Horse references in encyclopaedias and veterinary manuals are examined in more detail, and key trends in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are identified in relation to increasingly variable social usage of the horse, royal-stud programmes, the organisation of equine officials and the changing image of the mounted knight. The revival of chivalric culture in the Tudor period through equestrianism and expressions of elite masculinity is also well argued. The driver of these changes is compellingly argued to be the reinvention of aristocratic identity. The authors consistently demonstrate throughout this volume that there was no reverence for the horse in death, and it is evident the warhorse was bred primarily for battle.

The concluding chapter provides a useful, structured summary of the main findings, revisiting the research questions outlined in the introduction, and links back to earlier chapters effectively, demonstrating how the impressive range of datasets has been applied to examine the changing role of the horse. Consistent themes are brought out, and the recurring use of the diachronic lens provides an effective framework for promoting the thesis of cumulative incremental shifts, rather than revolutionary moments. This is truly a seminal body of work, a milestone not just for zooarchaeology and medieval studies, but for the ‘animal turn’ more broadly. It provides an inspiring template for future research.

The medieval horse

Anastasija Ropa has an established track-record of scholarship on horses in pre-modern Eurasian culture. The medieval horse is the first book in Reaktion’s ‘Medieval Lives’ series dedicated specifically to animals. The series aims to provide wide-ranging overviews of different aspects of the Middle Ages, and as Ropa writes in her introduction (p.7) “if we want to understand medieval history, we need to have at least basic knowledge of horses and horsemanship in the medieval world”. This complements the highly focused and detailed approach of Medieval warhorse in providing a clearly written and accessible state-of-the-art survey of equines and equestrian culture. The book is beautifully illustrated throughout, with images from manuscripts, examples of horse armour and excavated animals.

Like Ann Hyland (Reference Hyland1999), whose work on medieval horses drew both praise for its technical contributions and criticism for its limited scope, Ropa is an equestrian and her practical knowledge informs her insights into medieval horses. Unlike Hyland, who focused largely on post-conquest English sources, Ropa’s book encompasses the full span of the medieval period across Continental Europe and parts of Asia. Given its ambitious scope and the uneven representation of written, artistic and archaeological sources, the book is structured into themes, rather than adopting the more systematic, diachronic approach of Medieval warhorse. While these themes draw on select examples from both early and later medieval periods, and from different regions without attempting comprehensive coverage, they are brought together in a compelling and useful way. Contextualisation and regional comparisons inform each chapter.

Following the Introduction, the book begins in earnest with a juxtaposition of perceived and real horses, using the broadest range of sources. Quickly dismantling the Orientalist dichotomy between ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ horses that has (until recently) defined popular understanding of Western versus Eastern equine cultures, Ropa introduces spatial and temporal complexity, while highlighting the broader cultural differences in perceptions of horses. Drawing on archaeological data from Europe and Asia, and citing the work of the ‘Warhorse project’ discussed above, Ropa reiterates the relatively smaller sizes of medieval warhorses, and the importance of shape or conformation for carrying heavy weights, such as armoured knights. Chapter 2 explores working horses, largely represented by mares in much of medieval Europe, and considers their roles in both the countryside and towns. This is followed by an interesting discussion of wild or free-roaming horses, particularly in relation to breeding and ownership, and considering the long-debated topic of the consumption of horse meat. Working horses also served as social indicators, illustrated in a case study of the late-fourteenth-century poetry of Jean Froissart.

In the next chapter, Ropa returns to the topic of horses owned by elite groups as identity markers, identifiable by their equipment, training and use in particular contexts. A large part of this chapter is dedicated to knightly horses, and the visible differences between European, Arabic and Asian equestrian cultures, with a detailed case study from a late medieval Rus’ narrative. This is followed by a discussion of equestrian equipment, which draws on Ropa’s own experiences with reconstructed saddlery. Much of the chapter deals with the military roles of horses, but it moves beyond the traditional Western focus of such overviews to provide a Eurasian perspective, concluding again with a case study from a Rus’ chronicle.

Chapter 5 moves to the supernatural roles of horses, with a particular focus on non-Christian contexts, where horses featured in burials and served as a psychopomp. Here, Ropa describes in some detail folklore practices associated with horses in the eastern Baltic, elements of which may have been drawn from or echoed earlier attitudes to the animals. This is followed by a discussion of horses in Christian cosmology, which taps the rich seam of later medieval bestiary imagery and includes fantastic equines such as unicorns. The connection between horses and saints is also explored in some detail in both Western and Eastern Christianity, and the chapter concludes with a discussion about horses in Islamic thought. The final thematic chapter focuses on the relationship between horses and their riders, as represented in medieval Romance, the Rus’ Primary Chronicle and Old Norse literature. It also considers the under-represented role of women and horses in non-Christian, Christian and Islamic cultures.

The book concludes with an exploration of the legacy of the medieval horse, including inherited behaviours that Ropa defined as contemporary equestrian superstitions. Some breeds with medieval roots are still around, such as the Icelandic horse and New Forest pony, and historical equestrian sports have seen something of a revival, or in some cases evident continuity into the present day. Ropa is keen to emphasise the horse as a partner and a being with agency and, given the fundamental and multiple roles of horses in the Middle Ages across Eurasia, how this was recognised by people at the time. There is a select bibliography on key works (largely in English) and a useful set of endnotes for each chapter. In summary, The medieval horse provides an excellent and concise overview that draws on a range of sources from across Eurasia, dispelling persistent myths and highlighting state-of-the-art knowledge.

When considering both books, they form an essential pairing for anyone interested in medieval horses and equestrian culture. Medieval warhorse is a data-rich, multidisciplinary, scientific study of the warhorse which has sharpened our understanding of the temporal trends in medieval equestrian culture, while The medieval horse with its narrative breadth provides a wider cultural history of equine roles and meanings across the medieval world. Together, they deliver much-needed updated research on the horse, of particular relevance to zooarchaeology, the broader field of medieval studies, and the ‘animal turn’ of the humanities.