Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Medieval Warhorse

Abstract

The warhorse is arguably the most characteristic animal of the English Middle Ages. But while the development and military uses of warhorses have been intensively studied by historians, the archaeological evidence is too often dispersed, overlooked or undervalued. Instead, we argue that to fully understand the cultural significance and functional role of the medieval warhorse, a systematic study of the full range of archaeological evidence for warhorses (and horses more generally) from medieval England is necessary. This requires engagement with material evidence at a wide variety of scales — from individual artefacts through to excavated assemblages and landscape-wide distributions — dating between the late Saxon and Tudor period (c. AD 800–1600). We present here a case study of our interdisciplinary engaged research design focusing upon an important English royal stud site at Odiham in Hampshire. This brings together several fields of study, including (zoo)archaeology, history, landscape survey, and material culture studies to produce new understandings about a beast that was an unmistakable symbol of social status and a decisive weapon on the battlefield.

In search of the ‘great horse’: A zooarchaeological assessment of horses from England (AD 300–1650)

“…It might seem a reasonable assumption that horses found within castles or other high-status sites might be more likely to be warhorses compared with assemblages from other sites. However, castles would have also contained numerous horses used for day-to-day riding and domestic purposes, and even association with a defensive ditch and siege ammunition is not enough to conclusively identify warhorses, as evidence from Odiham castle (Hampshire) shows (Ameen et al, 2021). Another place to expect warhorses would be in mass graves associated with battlefields, though few of these have ever been discovered (Curry & Foard, 2016).…”

“…The preliminary assessment of the horses from this site shows articulated elements of dismembered horses. The tendency for horse carcasses to be processed post‐mortem for both skins and other materials is well documented (MacGregor, 2012; Thomas & Lacock, 2000), and we know that this happened even to highly valuable horses after their death (Ameen et al, 2021). Given the resources invested in the breeding and training of warhorses, it is not surprising that owners sought to profit from their remains.…”

“…In particular, the warhorse is central to our understanding of medieval English society and culture as both a symbol of status closely associated with the development of aristocratic identity and as a weapon of war famed for its mobility and shock value, changing the face of battle (Clark, 2004; Hyland, 1994). Historical records indicate that fortunes were spent on developing and maintaining networks for the breeding, training and keeping of horses used in combat (Ameen et al, 2021; Davis, 1989) further emphasizing the key economic and political roles of these animals. Contemporary written and iconographic sources emphasise the significance of horses within the Norman and later medieval periods, with almost 200 horses appearing throughout the Bayeux Tapestry serving to reinforce the image of the Norman army as one with a significant proportion of cavalry (Davis, 1987).…”

Isotopic biographies reveal horse rearing and trading networks in medieval London

“…Horses 12, 13, and, to a degree, 15 (all with highly radiogenic profiles) also show periods of relative stability in the earlier parts of their 87 Sr/ 86 Sr profiles, which preceded the start of more mobile lifestyles beginning at various points between approximately 18 months and 3.5 years of age ( 18) (text S1, section 3). On the basis of this patterning, our analyses suggest a mobility signature related to the breeding, rearing, and trading of horses, following guidance in hippiatric treatises, and as recorded in royal documents (56)(57)(58). Early 14th-century accounts from royal keepers in England suggest that horses resided at the "king's stud farms through until their second or third year, at which point they would either be broken and trained or sent elsewhere to be sold" (57).…”

Human–animal entanglements in the early medieval European slave trade: re‐reading the Raffelstetten customs regulations

“…96 In most records the sex of horses for sale is not mentioned, but in general only male horses were trained into instruments of war. 97 This sexual determinism, perhaps combined with a growing regional interest in mounts suited for heavily armoured warfare, may explain the inflated prices of stallions compared to mares.…”