Posted by eb680
6 October 2025Horses appear to be having something of a moment on the Centre blog. Between Camille Vo Van Qui’s picture-book on the training of horses (based on her PhD research) and the conclusion of the WARHORSE project, the equestrian section of the CMS has the bit firmly between their teeth. (Sorry – Ed.) The trend continues this week, as we’re delighted to welcome a new contributor to the blog: Laura Burnett, whose work spans the medieval and early modern periods. Laura is currently completing her PhD on 17th-century trade tokens, and has worked as a Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme; in this post, she shares some insights from a recent co-authored chapter (with Rob Webley, lately of this parish) on later medieval heraldry, and how it was applied to mounts on and off the battlefield. Prepare to meet some extremely dapper-looking horses.
Around the year 1300 heraldic decoration has a bit of a fashion moment in Western Europe. Knights of the time were decorated with heraldry from helm to spur, reminding me of nothing so much as Danniella Westbook in Burberry.
A particular favourite of mine are the short-lived ‘ailettes’ – ridiculous boiled leather things sticking up from the shoulder, which appear minimally protective while providing an excellent heraldic canvas for side views. They are perhaps the medieval equivalent of the extra-large puffy tongues on trainers.
Horses were similarly bedecked with heraldic mounts on everything, from bridle to stirrup. Based on the archaeological evidence, they positively jangled with pendants: no fewer than 48 pendants were found on a single breast band excavated at Caherduggan, Ireland. There were even fans and projecting decorations on horses’ heads with rotating arms ending in more small pendants, like glittering toy windmills.
A newly published chapter I co-wrote with Rob Webley summarises some of the recently identified forms of enamelled copper-alloy mounts used to add heraldic display to horse harnesses. It covers nine points on horse gear where we know mounts were attached. The chapter was inspired, in part by this wonderful, large, mount from Cothelstone, Somerset, and its associated pendant.
The mount’s impact was enhanced by movement and noise, particularly for those that hung and swivelled. Chaucer described his pilgrim Monk, in the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, as having a bridle that ‘eek (echoes) as loude as dooth the chapel belle’. Even pieces that only moved with the horse, as opposed to the rider, would have flashed and glittered, thanks to the widespread use of gilding (on top of the already shining metal, colourful enamelling, and engraved and punched decoration).
In England, the 1300s was a period when the basis of aristocratic power was shifting, with military might and royal offices being supplemented by land, genealogical connections and an increasingly defined ‘noble and gentry’ class. Knighthood was becoming even more of a standardised status marker rather than about individual military involvement. The romantic, formal and chivalric aspects of knighthood, rather than military requirements, were being promoted, as a way to encourage people to take on this status. Equipping a knight cost a lot of money, so families might balk at doing this, especially for several sons. When the future Edward II was knighted at Whitsuntide 1306, noble and smaller gentry families supplied 259 of their young men to be knighted at the same Feast, to make personal links with the prince and other high nobles, and for the kudos of being called a ‘swan knight’. The romantic Prince and his ‘Swan Knights’ might be familiar to Tolkien fans.
Heraldry, customarily displayed on a knight’s shield, fitted well with this trend. As John Cherry, Peter Coss and others have argued, heraldry was a particular focus of elite self-definition in 13th- and 14th-century England. It provided an opportunity to publicly claim nobles’ traditional ‘military’ status and role, as well as a position within a lineage based ‘elite’. The choice of design could display familial, lineage, personal and clientage relationships.
Heraldry, as a formalised system, had been developing in Europe over the 11th and 12th centuries, becoming more widely adopted and regulated. Rolls of arms (recording the heraldry used by individuals on military campaigns and at tournaments) became more common from 1250 in England. Heraldry was used on everything, from chests, carts, clothing, stained glass and tombs, to dog collars. The horse, and their riders, was a natural canvas for this display. Horse riding and ownership had similar resonances: of martial use, elevated (literally) status, legal freedom of movement and a level of financial resources. The warhorse, including work on their equipment by my co-author, Rob Webley, was examined in the recent excellent book by Exeter academics discussed in a previous blog post.
The extensive use of these enamelled copper-alloy harness mounts was, however, short-lived. They may have continued being used in leisure riding and by household members, but in formal jousts and battles they were replaced with the even larger canvas of caparisons (cloth coverings) previously mainly used by royalty and high nobility. These draped over a horse from nose to tail as the ‘logos’ went from small to huge.
