Dextrarius, equus, palfridus - Emma Herbert-Davies on Medieval Horse Types (in England)

 Salvete Omnes,

Cantigas del rey Alfonso X el Sabio manuscript- B.R. Florence Library

three weeks ago Trivent Publishing hosted Dr Emma Herbert-Davies who lectured, for about 40 min, on the dominant types of the Medieval horses in England.

Dr Herbert-Davies published an edited translation of Jordanus Rufus - On Medicine of Horses. 

During the presentation, with slides, dr Herbert-Davies presented the challenges the research into the Medieval horse, explained the absence of breeds vs abundance of types in the sources. 

She then presented the working definition where type of horse had a variety of characteristics like its role or utility, status, value & quality.

She provides the following list - 

1.Destrier - dextrarius

2.Equus

3.Rouncey

4.Great Hore - equus mangus

5.Courser

6.Palfrey - Palfridus

7.Sumpter

8.Hackney

9.Hobby

In the military context, three types of horses appear in sources - Destrier, equus, and rouncey, later equus magnus, courses

No sources describe the characteristics of  destrier, nor equus neither rouncey. And dr Herbert-Davies concludes that in the late 13th early 14th centuries destrier was the most desired combat horse for the nobility (and heroes of the medieval romances), but most knights rode equi (war horses), while sergeants & valleti -retainers - rode rounceys.

From her studies of Jordanus and Practica equorum(Anonymous English text from the period) she presented the characteristics of the good or perfect horse:

Long:

head, neck, belly

Short:

ears, fetlocks, back

Wide:

mouth, nostrils, eyes, chest, buttocks(rump), joints(shins)

And so on, I enjoyed this presentation and strongly recommend watching & studying this lecture.

enjoy

valete

The Magi en route to Bethlehem - horses and camels

 Salvete Omnes,

on the eve of Christmas Eve , with all the shopping and cleaning still going on, having decorated the Christmas tree, let us turn, for a brief moment, to the beautiful arts. 
So we can take a 'peak' at the Magi traveling to Bethlehem, arriving on January 6th, to perform proskynesis in front of Our Lord. The 'peak' through the art of the amazing Middle Ages art

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until the next time 

Valete

Saint Hubertus Day and a beautiful chapel

 Salvete Omnes,

Saint Hubertus Feast day and the iconography of the saint and his hunt are not new to my blog.

We will stay in the French kingdom, at the end of the XV century and early XVI century

From Gallica French National Library, digital division,  comes this illumination ( of the Hours of Anne de Bretagne)  by Jean Bourdichon  painted circa 1503-1508AD - 

a groom or servant with warhorse 

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Fantastic relief from the beautiful chapel, dedicated to saint Hubertus himself, built in the Amboise Castle in 1493AD . Incidentally Leonardo da Vinci is buried inside this beautiful chapel. 

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enjoy

Valete

Christmas 2023

 Salvete Omnes,

Willem Vrelant's Nativity miniature

Today is Christmas Eve - if  you are celebrating , then do enjoy your special feast with the family and friends, may it be full of joy, tasty foods made at home and happiness.

Merry Christmas to you all, dear friends -:) 

Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia - wesolosci i humoru, pieknej a smacznej Wigilii 

Feliz Navidad...

May your horse, dogs and other domestic animals stay healthy and useful 

Merry Christmas  - may peace prevail and wars cease

and some medieval horses for your pleasure

Valete

Maciejowski Bible & medieval aquamanile circa 1250 from the MET

 Salvete Omnes,

 

a little excursion to the field of beautiful art and horses in that field, this being the Medieval art naturally.  

I love looking at the illuminations that complement the text of the Maciejowski Bible. Morgan Library's Maciejowski Bible ( created in the French realm for their saintly crusader king Louis IX, ended up in our Polish Kingdom and was a gift sent by our archbishop Bernard Maciejowski - Ciolek coat of arms - to shah Abbas I  of the Safavid Persia)  is just full of amazingly detailed imagery of that XIII century war horse horse & tack, weaponry and costumes notwithstanding.
so some examples for your viewing pleasures - violent as it may be.

 

there are saddles shown in several illuminations, including a driving saddle and tack:

Now, the aquamanile is another beautiful manifestation of the Medieval art and life. Below one of the most splendid examples of this water vessel made within the Holy Roman  Empire during the XIII century.

 

The MET has this article devoted to the subject of metal aquamanile in general, and their own collections of those artifacts.
While this Medieval scholar presents this article on the hand washing vessel that was the most sumptuous tool to the proper table manners, be it at the castle and rich burghers' houses.

Now, I ran across this article - on  a medieval helmet  from Lucera, Italy. There is some great iconography at the end of this article, showing knights and often their horses.

and last but not least, the unusual aquamanile from the XIII century Azerbaijan to be found among the Hermitage collections, the vessel going back to the traditional Iranian-Persian ancient traditions - its history and provenience.
valete

Apocalypse 1

 Salvete Omnes,

we had pandemic*, now we have conquest* war* and death*,  and who knows what else our lords have for us up the sleeve - so let's look at some Apocalypse imagery - the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse.

Four Horsemen

Conquest on a White Horse -1st Horseman

War on a Red/Roan Horse -2nd Horseman

Famine on Black Horse -3r Horseman

Death on a Pale Horse - 4th Horseman

Apocalypse, Thuringia ca. 1350-1370 AD,  BL, Add 15243, fol. 12r

That German Apocalypse is a bit different - second linked description from British Library talks about it.
Peace in Ukraine!

Valete

Happy New Year 2022

 Salvete Omnes,

last post this 2021 - 

hurrah - we have made it

I hope the new year 2022 will not be worse than this one, and I do hope for a better one  than 2020 and 2021 combined.

Hence, all the best to you and your family and loved ones, may your horse treat you better than your goverment - :)

Freedom and liberty, joy, humor and smile and plenty of happiness during this night of Saint Sylvester feast. (taking the liberty of attaching some art showing Saint Sylvester  the pope and European medieval horses. )

                                                                                  ***

Wesolej zabawy w humorze i zdrowie tego Sylwestra, Dosiego Roku - Szczesliwego Nowego ROku 2022

                                                                                 ***

muchissimo mucho de lo todo  que es mas beuno esta fiesta de la Nochevieja - Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Valete