The Education of a Noble Beast: The Breaking-in and Training of Horses in Medieval France (1250-1550)

Abstract

In medieval France, knights had a complex relationship with their warhorses, or destriers, on whom their lives depended on the battlefield. Foundational to this relationship was the training these horses had to undergo, a process which had not yet been the subject of extensive historical research prior to this thesis. The aims of this thesis are to reveal the training method(s) used on warhorses and riding horses in medieval France; to identify the culturally specific characteristics and sources of medieval horse-breaking; and to investigate its effects on horses. The study uses the interdisciplinary methodology of animal studies by comparing textual sources to material culture and iconographic information and drawing upon the results of modern scientific research on equines. At the core of the analysis is the training method developed by Jordanus Rufus in his veterinary treatise, the De medicina equorum (c. 1250). Several French translations of the text exist and circulated from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries. The differences between the manuscripts show that there are two versions of the training method: a complete one, close to the Latin original, intended for warhorses, and an abridged one that may have been used in a non-elite context on common riding horses. The variations found in the translations are studied to highlight the potential existence of different, orally transmitted traditions, with which the texts, which were destined to knowledgeable horsemen, interacted. Each stage of the breaking-in and training, from the handling of a feral colt to the exercising of an adult warhorse, is examined in turn, considering its potential results on the physical and psychological development of the horse and the nature and effects of the equipment used. The result is a holistic picture of horse-training in medieval France.