Horses of Agency, Element, and Godliness in Tolkien and the Germanic Sagas
What is the contract between man and equine that allows a beast ten times our size and one hundred times our strength to willingly serve in our ambitions? What magnetism (and who placed it) is it that draws humanity and horses together?
Horse Armor in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: An Overview
The history of the development of horse armor generally paralleled that of armor for man, both employing the same materals (principally metal, leather, and textile) and decorative techniques.
The warhorse and military service under Edward III
How, for example, are we to assess the likely extent and distribution of campaigning profits (and, indeed, costs) in society – or the impact of military service on the workings of shire administration, or the influence of war on the retaining practices of the nobility and gentry – without first establishing the identities of those who served in the king’s armies during this period? There can be few major research undertakings in the field of late medieval English history that would offer such wide-ranging benefits as a full-scale reconstruction of the military community.
Herding horses: a model of prehistoric horsemanship in Scandinavia – and elsewhere?
This article discusses a possible system of horse keeping, used in prehistoric Scandinavia, with focus on the Late Iron Age.
Horse and cargo handling on Medieval Mediterranean ships
Art from Venice and Ravenna in north-east Italy and the Topkapı Museum in Instanbul, Turkey, offers keys to understanding several questions of Medieval ship-loading practices in the Mediterranean, including cargo loading, and where the war-horse entered his Crusader’s ship.
Oar walking, underwater wrestling and horse fighting – historian examines the sports and games of the Vikings
Playing ball games is an activity played by children around the world. But while parents might worry that their sons and daughters might get scrapes and bruises, in the Viking world such a game could end with an axe being driven into an opponents head.
A Quiet Revolution – The Horse in Agriculture, 1100-1500
The partnership of man and horse on the land goes back a long time, but, as John Langdon shows, it was not until after the Conquest that the horse really began to come into its own.
Looking a medieval gift horse in the mouth. The role of the giving of gift objects in the definition and maintenance of the power networks of Philip the Bold
Guenée dubbed the late fourteenth century le temps des alliances’, pointing to the effect on politics and administration in France of visible, recognised networks. These might be based on kinship, marriage and godparenting, where the obligations were well understood, but not necessarily written down
The Medieval Horse Harness: Revolution or Evolution? A Case Study in Technological Change
Medieval historians have considered the role of technology for some time; it is perhaps now appropriate to reexamine conclusions reached by early historians of technology.
From destrier to danseur: the role of the horse in early modern French noble identity
This study argues that horses and horsemanship played a crucial role in refashioning noble identity in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France.
‘Have This Horse’: The Role of Horses and Horsemanship in Medieval Arthurian Literature
Sir Thomas Malory takes advantage of the horse, and horsemanship in general, to illustrate the upheavals brought about within his culture, and also within the individual, by violence and warfare.
Horses as Status Symbols: Medieval Icelandic horses as symbols of masculine honor in a one-sexed world
Horses, the unsung heroes of the Viking age, have been overlooked all too often in the study of medieval Iceland and its culture.
Riding the Horse, Writing the Cultural Myth: The European Knight and the American Cowboy as Equestrian Heroes
Riding the Horse, Writing the Cultural Myth: The European Knight and the American Cowboy as Equestrian Heroes By Metin Boşnak and Cem Ceyhan…
Horses and Crossbows: Two Important Warfare Advantages of the Teutonic Order in Prussia
The combination of these two developments made it possible for the Order’s garrisons to withstand long sieges, provided they had sufficient supplies of food, weapons and crossbow bolts.
Potential Osteoarchaeological Evidence for Riding and the Military Use of Horses at Malbork Castle, Poland
Potential Osteoarchaeological Evidence for Riding and the Military Use of Horses at Malbork Castle, Poland By A. Pluskowski, K. Seetah and M. Maltby…
THE BORGIAS: “DEATH ON A PALE HORSE” – SE01 EP07
“Death On A Pale Horse” In this week’s episode…. The French decimate Lucca, and march on towards Florence while Della Rovere wrestles with…
Practical Chivalry: The Training of Horses for Tournaments and Warfare
Practical Chivalry: The Training of Horses for Tournaments and Warfare By Carroll Gillmor Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History, Vol.13 (1992) Introduction: Inventions harness…
The Horse and the Silk Road: Movement and Ideas
During the last nearly four thousand years, down to the very recent present, no animal has been more ubiquitous or more important than the horse.
From Iraq to Andalusia: The Early History of the Hobbyhorse
Western European scholars generally assume a late medieval, western European origin for the skirted hobbyhorse.
The horse in early Ireland
The horse in early Ireland By Finbar McCormick Anthropozoologica, Vol. 42:1 (2007) Abstract: The main object of this paper is to review the…
‘Mount the War-Horses, Take your Lance in your Grip . . .’ Logistics Preparations for the Gascon Campaign of 1294
Mount the War-Horses, Take your Lance in your Grip . . .: Logistics Preparations for the Gascon Campaign of 1294 By Mark Kennedy Vaughn…
Dogs, cats and horses in the Scottish medieval town
This paper is concerned with three domesticated species — the dog, cat and horse — and reviews the nature of their relationships with town dwellers.
The Little Grey Horse: Henry V’s Speech at Agincourt and the Battle Exhortation in Ancient Historiography
Speeches by generals to their army are of different kinds. One type is the speech—deliberative or exhortative—delivered at what is often called a syllogos, i.e. a meeting of the army held in some convenient place resembling an assembly place where, for example, the men can stand or sit in a horseshoe facing the speaker.
The Horse, the Clerk and the Lyric: The Musicography of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries
The Horse, the Clerk and the Lyric: The Musicography of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries By Mark Everist Journal of the Royal Musical Association,…