European Knights

Horses in the Middle Ages
The Display at the Zwinger Museum in Dresden of a knight with his horse, both in armour, circa XVI and XVII century. The set could be designed solely for ceremonial purposes as after 1650, it was strange to wear full body armour in combat.

During the Middle Ages in Europe, there were three major breeds of horses used for war: the destrier, the course and rouncey. The rouncey was the horse for daily use for the rider an armed squire, the hose was appropriate for a ride to common war. The Courser was for a strong and fast ride ideal for heavy fighting.

The destrier was the most famous and highly trained and reserved for men and the richest nobles, and some years later, was mainly used in tournaments. The word destrier was used to describe the medieval battle horse or charger.

The destrier horse was a little taller and heavier to hold the weight of a knight in armour. It is said that the horse ridden by William of Normandy in the Battle of Hastings in 1066 was a kind of animal iberico similar to aa modern Andalusia with height around 15,2 HH or 1.57 meters.

Despite the popular imagination of the European knight mounted riding towards the battle, in reality they did everything trying to avoid the battles on horseback whenever possible. The most offensive forms of combat during the Middle Ages were the siege,  and surprise attacks on horses called chevauchees, soldiers carrying weapons and a few mounted on fast horses.

Over time, the mounted knight appeared increasingly on the battlefield and in tournaments as a competitor, and engaged in stylized war games exhibitions.

At this time the horses were being bred bigger, some even 17 HH (1.73 m) and 750 kg, with the power to carry both the knight’s armour and decorations.

In addition to its weight and size, the horse of this type was bred for its agility and training ability. Expenditures for maintenance, training and equipping of these horses was specialized and only a few could possess one.

Often stallions in Europe were used as hobby horses due to their aggressive nature. A worker of the thirteenth century describes the destriers “biting and kicking “on the battlefield and you cannot put aside the use of horses by the European soldiers as it is written in various literary references.

The Moors and the Islamic invaders who attacked many nations in Europe between the years 700 and the fifteenth century did so with horses.

Experts argue about the precise reason for the disappearance of the knight in armour. Some say that the invention of gunpowder and musket became the knight obsolete, while others felt it was much earlier, due to the use of the English long bow, which was imported from England to Wales in 1250 and employed decisively in conflicts as the Battle of Crecy in 1346.

Authorities argue that these new technologies contributed to the creation of the gentlemen, rather than their disappearance as armour was developed to resist the attack of cross bows of the High Middle Ages, while the rise of the English long bow during the Hundred Years’ War led to increased use and sophistication of the armour that culminated in full-body harness used at the beginning of the fifteenth century.

Since the fourteenth century onwards, most of the armour was made of tempered iron, which could have withstood the first musket ammunition so it is more likely that the decline of the gentleman was caused by the change in the structure of armies and various economic factors, rather than causing them to be obsolete, by new technology.

The sixteenth century saw the concept emerge in Switzerland of a professional army that spread throughout Europe and was accompanied by improved infantry tactics. These professional armies emphasized training and payment of contracts, instead of ransom and looting for compensation of engagement.

This new situation, coupled with increased costs associated with maintenance of the equipment and armour and horses, probably led to many members of the classes of knights to abandon their profession.