Related Papers
PRACTICAL HORSEMANSHIP IN MEDIEVAL ARTHURIAN ROMANCE
Mounts as Social Identifiers: Describing Knights and Ladies through Their Horses
2019 •
Anastasija Ropa
Burçin Erol
Galloping through the Middle Ages: The Horse in Life and in
2022 •
Burcin Erol
The horse was an undisputed part and parcel of medieval life. It was an indispensable component of feudal chivalry and warfare, equally important as a means of transportation both for people and goods, for travel, agriculture and entertainment in forms such as hunting and tournaments as the only vehicle for mobility. All classes and genders made extensive use of it. Chivalry which was the most important institution of the Middle Ages, and the political and administrative system of feudalism was possible only with the mounted knight. Knighthood, the vestiges of which extend to the present day was one of the defining force of the Middle Ages. The knight and the horse hence become one. Just as the knight was protected by his armour, the horse was also protected by various forms of armour. The literal and idealistic depiction of the knight and his horse found its depiction in the literature of the Middle Ages. The horses acquired individualising names and symbolic significances in addition to fighting and other skills. In various literary works the horses were depicted so as to shed light and bestow extra significance to the qualities of their riders. Following the symbolism established in Phaedrus employing the body and reason dichotomy, the horse and rider figure gained significance in addition to reflecting the social, economic qualities and aspirations of its rider. Furthermore, the horse was accepted to symbolise woman, and hence it pointed to the necessity of males bridling and controlling the weaker sex. The reversal of this power relation found its expression in the woman becoming the rider controlling /riding the male. The horse also found its symbolic function in the allegorical works especially related to the depiction of the seven deadly sins.
RIDING THE HORSE, WRITING THE CULTURAL MYTH: THE EUROPEAN KNIGHT AND THE AMERICAN COWBOY AS EQUESTRIAN HEROES
Prof. Dr. Metin Bosnak
A Different sort of Horse Power: The development of the horse as a status symbol in the late Middle Ages
Katrin Boniface
This is a conference paper I presented at The Animal/Human Bond in Oxford Summer 2014, excerpted from a larger work. Now available in "Who's Talking Now? Multispecies Relations from Humans and Animals Point of View" at http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/publishing/product/whos-talking-now-multispecies-relations-from-human-and-animals-point-of-view/ My research is on the development of the horse as a status symbol in western Europe during the Middle Ages. Horses throughout history have often been restricted to the upper classes in non-nomadic societies simply due to the expense and time required of ownership of a 1,000lb prey animal. However, between 1000 and 1300 the perceived social value of the horse far surpasses the expense involved. After this point, ownership of quality animals begins to be regulated by law, such that a well off merchant or a lower level noble would not be legally allowed to own the most prestigious mounts, despite being able to easily afford one. Depictions of horses in literature become increasingly more elaborate and more reflective of their owners’ status and heroic value during this time. Changes over time in the frequency of horses being used, named, and given as gifts in literature from the same traditions, such as from the Waltharius to the Niebelungenlied, and the evolving Arthurian cycles, show a steady increase in the horse’s use as social currency. Later epics, such as La Chanson de Roland and La Cantar del Mio Cid, illustrate how firmly entrenched the horse became is the trappings of aristocracy.
ProQuest LLC
Intelligent Horses: A Cybersemiotic Perspective
2013 •
Dulce Garcia
CHAPTER FIVE: We Move, therefore We Belong: A Relational Model for Humans and Horses
Gala Argent
The medieval horse- A Study into its Importance to Humanity
Maxim Nossevitch
The horse is indisputably an important entity throughout human history. Its relations to people have often had many impacts on the development of culture, economics, and many other aspects of society. This essay attempts a brief examination of the human-equestrian relationship through the high middle ages, and the network of these ties in relation to technology and society as a whole.
Training Companions: Ethical Relations Between Human and Horse in the Practices of Dressage and Natural Horsemanship
2008 •
Nikki Savvides
“Horses as Love Objects: Shaping Social and Moral Identities in Hans Baldung Grien’s ‘Bewitched Groom’ (c. 1544) and in Sixteenth-century Hippology,” in Animals and Early Modern Identity, Pia F. Cuneo, ed. Farnham: Ashgate, 2014, 151-168
Pia F Cuneo
The Cultural Representation of the Horse in Late Medieval England: Status and Gender
Emma Herbert-Davies
Throughout the medieval period the equine played a multifunctional role, acting as a form of transport, an agricultural animal and as means of conveying goods. It was a significant attribute in warfare, providing the man-at-arms with vital manoeuvrability and acting as the ‘equivalent of a tank in modern warfare’. The versatility of the horse meant that it featured in the daily lives of the people who lived in the Middle Ages, and its importance is reflected in the equine imagery that appears in many texts throughout the period. Although the horse played a significant role in society little scholarly attention has been paid to its cultural significance in literary and visual images, and how it could provide a figurative representation of status and gender. This dissertation will focus on the late medieval period and examines a variety of manuscript images to explore how the horse acted as a cultural lens. By looking through the equine filter, a range of meanings were conferred onto the people who were portrayed on horseback. Social position, physical attributes and mental qualities could be inferred and gender ideologies could be reinforced or subverted. Equine historiography has focused largely on the practical function of the horse and this dissertation attempts to fill the gap by exploring how equine imagery functioned as a symbolic form of communication.
