A new archaeological study is challenging long-standing assumptions about medieval dietary taboos in Europe. Researchers have found that Hungarians continued to eat horsemeat for centuries after the country’s official conversion to Christianity, suggesting that religious beliefs were not the primary reason for the eventual decline in this practice.
Published in the journal Antiquity, the study was led by Professor László Bartosiewicz of Stockholm University and Dr Erika Gál of the HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities in Hungary. The pair examined horse bones from 198 medieval settlements across Hungary to identify patterns in horsemeat consumption over time.
Their findings show that even more than 200 years after Hungary adopted Christianity in the year 1000, people—especially in rural areas—were still eating horses. In some communities, horse bones made up as much as one-third of the livestock remains in food refuse.
“Based on documentary sources, abandoning horsemeat consumption is widely associated with the emergence of Christianity in medieval Europe,” Bartosiewicz and Gál write. “However, in the absence of an explicit prohibition (comparable to the ban on pork in Judaism/Islam), a great degree of regional diversity is apparent in the condemnation of horsemeat across Europe.”
Geographical distribution of the studied animal bone assemblages in medieval (external borders) and present-day Hungary – image courtesy Bartosiewicz and Gál / Antiquity
The researchers argue that archaeological evidence can reveal what written sources often obscure—namely, that dietary change was not always driven by religious conversion. In this case, geography, cultural tradition, and historical disruption all played key roles.
The strongest evidence for horsemeat consumption came from the eastern and southern lowlands of Hungary, areas traditionally occupied by pastoralist communities who depended on horses for mobility, power, and sustenance. These regions contrasted with upland and urbanized areas, where the practice was less common. The researchers also found that horse-eating was more closely linked to lifestyle than ethnicity, with mobile communities more likely to maintain the tradition.
The turning point came not with Christianisation, but after the Mongol invasion of 1241–42. The invasion devastated Hungary, killing up to half the population and destroying large numbers of livestock. Horses became scarce and far more valuable for transportation and warfare than for food.
Splinter of equid right femur from the Ottoman-period Dombóvár–Gólyavár fort. Note the hack mark below the trochanter tertius – photo by Erika Gál
“Horses were valuable war booty and surviving horse stock was probably in high demand for purposes other than food,” explain the authors.
Following the invasion, Hungary’s rulers repopulated the country with newcomers from western Europe—urbanized settlers who brought different culinary traditions. These groups, including German-speaking colonists and others from Flanders and Croatia, favoured pork over horsemeat and helped usher in a new dietary landscape. Archaeological data from later medieval settlements show rising levels of pig bones and declining traces of horse consumption.
While horsemeat gradually faded from the table, it did not disappear entirely. The study found that hippophagy continued in some rural areas into the sixteenth century, only vanishing fully during the period of Ottoman occupation. In rare cases, the authors also found signs of what they call “crisis hippophagy”—instances where horsemeat appears to have been eaten out of necessity, such as during famine or siege.
Changes in the percentage of horse remains by settlement type in assemblages numbering more than 500 bones of livestock – image courtesy Bartosiewicz and Gál / Antiquity
The study critiques the longstanding reliance on ecclesiastical sources, which often portrayed horse-eating as a barbaric or pagan practice. “Tropes equating hippophagy with ‘barbarity’ have abounded since Antiquity,” Bartosiewicz and Gál write. “This othering is most poignant in sources that post-date the events they are describing, sometimes by centuries, and possibly portray negative generalisations rather than past ‘reality’. The contribution of horse remains to food refuse correlates with general historical trends but needs to be understood in light of the complex interactions between different peoples and their physical and political environments.”
By using zooarchaeological data to challenge traditional narratives, the researchers offer a more complex picture of medieval Hungarian society—one shaped by cultural continuity, migration, environmental change, and practical concerns. In short, the history of horsemeat in Hungary reveals less about sin and salvation than it does about survival and adaptation.
The article, “Hippophagy in medieval Hungary: a quantitative analysis, by László Bartosiewicz and Erika Gál, appears in Antiquity. Click here to read it.
A new archaeological study is challenging long-standing assumptions about medieval dietary taboos in Europe. Researchers have found that Hungarians continued to eat horsemeat for centuries after the country’s official conversion to Christianity, suggesting that religious beliefs were not the primary reason for the eventual decline in this practice.
Published in the journal Antiquity, the study was led by Professor László Bartosiewicz of Stockholm University and Dr Erika Gál of the HUN-REN Research Centre for the Humanities in Hungary. The pair examined horse bones from 198 medieval settlements across Hungary to identify patterns in horsemeat consumption over time.
Their findings show that even more than 200 years after Hungary adopted Christianity in the year 1000, people—especially in rural areas—were still eating horses. In some communities, horse bones made up as much as one-third of the livestock remains in food refuse.
“Based on documentary sources, abandoning horsemeat consumption is widely associated with the emergence of Christianity in medieval Europe,” Bartosiewicz and Gál write. “However, in the absence of an explicit prohibition (comparable to the ban on pork in Judaism/Islam), a great degree of regional diversity is apparent in the condemnation of horsemeat across Europe.”
The researchers argue that archaeological evidence can reveal what written sources often obscure—namely, that dietary change was not always driven by religious conversion. In this case, geography, cultural tradition, and historical disruption all played key roles.
The strongest evidence for horsemeat consumption came from the eastern and southern lowlands of Hungary, areas traditionally occupied by pastoralist communities who depended on horses for mobility, power, and sustenance. These regions contrasted with upland and urbanized areas, where the practice was less common. The researchers also found that horse-eating was more closely linked to lifestyle than ethnicity, with mobile communities more likely to maintain the tradition.
The turning point came not with Christianisation, but after the Mongol invasion of 1241–42. The invasion devastated Hungary, killing up to half the population and destroying large numbers of livestock. Horses became scarce and far more valuable for transportation and warfare than for food.
“Horses were valuable war booty and surviving horse stock was probably in high demand for purposes other than food,” explain the authors.
Following the invasion, Hungary’s rulers repopulated the country with newcomers from western Europe—urbanized settlers who brought different culinary traditions. These groups, including German-speaking colonists and others from Flanders and Croatia, favoured pork over horsemeat and helped usher in a new dietary landscape. Archaeological data from later medieval settlements show rising levels of pig bones and declining traces of horse consumption.
While horsemeat gradually faded from the table, it did not disappear entirely. The study found that hippophagy continued in some rural areas into the sixteenth century, only vanishing fully during the period of Ottoman occupation. In rare cases, the authors also found signs of what they call “crisis hippophagy”—instances where horsemeat appears to have been eaten out of necessity, such as during famine or siege.
The study critiques the longstanding reliance on ecclesiastical sources, which often portrayed horse-eating as a barbaric or pagan practice. “Tropes equating hippophagy with ‘barbarity’ have abounded since Antiquity,” Bartosiewicz and Gál write. “This othering is most poignant in sources that post-date the events they are describing, sometimes by centuries, and possibly portray negative generalisations rather than past ‘reality’. The contribution of horse remains to food refuse correlates with general historical trends but needs to be understood in light of the complex interactions between different peoples and their physical and political environments.”
By using zooarchaeological data to challenge traditional narratives, the researchers offer a more complex picture of medieval Hungarian society—one shaped by cultural continuity, migration, environmental change, and practical concerns. In short, the history of horsemeat in Hungary reveals less about sin and salvation than it does about survival and adaptation.
The article, “Hippophagy in medieval Hungary: a quantitative analysis, by László Bartosiewicz and Erika Gál, appears in Antiquity. Click here to read it.
See also: Why did the English people stop eating horses in the Middle Ages?
Top Image: British Library Royal MS 13 B. VIII, f.28v
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