The image of the armoured knight mounted on his charging warhorse is one of the most evocative of the Middle Ages. As distinctive symbols of social status, horses were central to the medieval aristocratic image and closely bound up with concepts of knighthood and chivalry, while as weapons of war bred for size, strength and stamina, they changed the face of battle.

Drawing upon new interdisciplinary research, this volume presents a fresh perspective on warhorses, and medieval horses generally, in Britain, understood within its wider European context. It adopts an integrated approach that covers the full array of evidence for medieval horses, from their physical remains (bones, teeth and DNA), equipment and armour, through to visual sources such as sculpture and wall paintings, and documentary and landscape evidence for the environments in which they were bred and trained. Analyses of these sources of information are first presented individually, and then integrated and cross-compared with the historical record to present a new chronology of horse stature, conformation and appearance and to generate new understandings of the changing place of the horse in the medieval world.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: The Military Uses of Horses: An Historical Chronology
Oliver Creighton and G.P. Baker

Chapter 3: All the King's Horses: Equine Networks
G.P. Baker and Robert Liddiard

Chapter 4: Equine Infrastructure: Stables, Studs and Tiltyards
G.P. Baker, Robert Liddiard and Oliver Creighton

Chapter 5: Visual Culture: Sculpture, Art and Objects
Oliver Creighton

Chapter 6: Horse Equipment: Bits and Pieces
Robert Webley

Chapter 7: Exoskeleton: Armour and Horseshoes
Oliver Creighton, Alan Outram and Robert Webley, with contributions by Tess Townend

Chapter 8: Skeleton: Zooarchaeology
Katherine Kanne, with contributions by Carly Ameen, Alan Outram, Marine Durocher, Allowen Evin, Alex Pryor and Ludovic Orlando

Chapter 9: The Changing Horse: Equine Stature
Alan Outram and Oliver Creighton, with contributions by Carly Ameen, G.P. Baker, Helene Benkert, Isabel Díaz López, Katherine Kanne, Robert Liddiard, Karina Rapp and Tess Townend

Chapter 10: Horses and Medieval Society
Oliver Creighton, Robert Liddiard and Camille Vo Van Qui

Chapter 11: Conclusions

‘This book deftly combines disciplinary perspectives, recognising the limitations of individual approaches and source bases, to paint a fuller picture of this complex subject. It was laid a foundation for further study and provided greater nuance to our understanding of the medieval elite horse. It is a very rich account of a subject which continues to interest historians, students, and the medievally curious public alike.’ Sunny Harrison, Current Archaeology

‘The book exemplifies how disciplines can partner to transform the way we do history.’
Dr Sophie Thérèse Ambler, History Today