In films and literature they are usually depicted as hulking, foot-stomping, snorting beasts, but a new study says the medieval warhorse was typically a much slighter, daintier animal.
A team of archeologists and historians searching for the truth about the steeds that carried knights into battle has concluded that most were probably only the size of a modern-day pony.
The researchers examined the bones of about 2,000 horses dating from the fourth to 17th centuries found at castles, a medieval horse cemetery and other archeological sites in England, as well as combing historical records and fictional stories of chivalry.
Photo: AFP
“It turns out that things are not quite as they have usually been portrayed,” University of Exeter professor of archeological science Alan Outram said. “In popular culture, warhorses are often depicted as the size of a shire horse. It really wasn’t like that. Most medieval horses are surprisingly small. There are very few that are the sort of size portrayed in film or even in exhibitions.”
Outram said the vast majority of medieval horses, including ones believed to have been used in war, were less than 14.2 hands (1.44m) high, the maximum height of a modern pony.
One of the biggest they found was a horse from the Norman period, the remains of which were discovered in the grounds of Trowbridge castle in Wiltshire, but it was only 15 hands — the size of a small modern light riding horse.
Size clearly was not the be-all and end-all for medieval warriors, Outram said.
There might well have been some particularly large warhorses, but armies would also have needed smaller horses for tasks such as harrying a retreating enemy, carrying out long-range raids and transporting equipment, he added.
The research team was keen to spell out they did not mean to imply that medieval horse breeders did not put huge amounts of time, effort and money into their work.
“In the 13th and 14th century especially the royal stud was an amazing network,” Outram said. “They were spending much more money on horses than people.”
There is still much work to do. The remains of very few, if any, horses have been found on battlefields, so working out which animal was a warhorse rather than, say, a farm horse, is difficult.
The team is also hampered by the fact that most fallen warhorses were hauled off to the knacker’s yard rather than afforded an organized burial.
The next steps include analyzing findings at a site in Westminster, more study of horse armor and examining the DNA of bones to find out more about one of history’s most iconic creatures.
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