Of course, we all know well that there is such an oriental calendar, and according to it, 2014 was the “year of the horse”. Now we have the "year of the monkey", but in terms of the role that the monkey played in the history of mankind, it did not even stand close to the horse, although in many ways it resembles us. Well, we remember the horse very often, although in our modern life it no longer plays a big role. There is also an expression "horse in a coat", which is true, because it has long been customary to dress horses in blankets to protect them from the cold. But when did the first blankets appear and what were they intended for?
Knights on horseback and all are "chained in armor". Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg.
Interestingly, there are no ancient images indicating that the ancient Greeks or Romans covered horses with cloth blankets. But there are ancient Egyptian monuments (paintings and bas-reliefs) on which horses harnessed to chariots are covered with a light blanket on the back. It is unlikely that they had any other function than … identification. Like, the king rides on such a chariot!
In the same place. These same knights and … how wonderfully their armor is made!
The Sarmatians are the rivals of the Scythians in everything related to military affairs, starting with long swords and heavy spears, and ending … horse armor, probably, were the first to figure out that to protect their horses from arrows, one should wear armor made of metal scales. However, even the Greek historian Xenophon wrote about the Persian horsemen, with whom he personally had to fight, as warriors dressed in armor and having "special armor" that covered the chest and head of their horses. In his "Cyropedia" he wrote that he saw warriors in the same purple clothes (here it is - the oldest uniform!), In bronze armor and helmets with white plumes … Their armament consisted of a short sword and a pair of darts. Their horses had bronze breastplates and headgear.
Miniature from "The Bible of Matsievsky". Mid-13th century Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, New York
When the Romans faced the Sarmatians, they … also adopted their weapons (just in case!), But horse armor did not become popular with them anyway. Although it is known, in 175 A. D. Emperor Marcus Aurelius sent a whole "regiment" of Sarmatian cataphracts to Britain. There is also an image of such a horseman from Dura Europos in Syria, and his horse blanket made of metal scales was also found there. But here's what's interesting. Although the Romans suffered several defeats from riders riding on "armored horses", they did not respect them too much, as their name suggests - Klibanarii, derived from the Latin word klibanus - a special iron oven for bread, similar to the oven we know. potbelly stove. That is, for them they were "oven warriors"!
The despicable Hugues de Beauves flees from the battlefield at Bouvin, 1214, and gets an arrow in the horse's croup! "Big Chronicle" by Matthew of Paris, c. 1250 Parker Library, Body of Christ College, Cambridge.
Well, and then came a period of general decline and social confusion, and in order to dress horses, people simply did not have material opportunities - as they say, they survived according to the principle: "I don't have time for fat, I would live!"
"Romance about Alexander", p. 43, 1338 - 1344 Bodleian Library, Oxford University. Please note that the rider's horse blanket consists of two halves.
There are no blankets on the famous "Bayeux embroidery" either. That is, there are riders in chain mail and with teardrop-shaped shields on it, but they all have "naked" horses and, therefore, they did not participate in the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Well, judging by what a certain knight Anaut Guilhem de Marchand wrote in 1170, then the blanket of a knight's horse, and a saddle, and his shield, and a long pennant on a spear - everything was supposed to serve the knight instead of a "passport"! Of course, woven blankets, without a doubt, should have protected the horse from bad weather, but they had no special protective functions. That is, a hundred years have passed and … blankets have appeared! But the goal was peculiar: to show your coat of arms by all possible means. The 1349 "Psalter of Latrell" shows us the English knight Geoffrey Latrell, who has absolutely all of his equipment with a drawing of his coat of arms. Moreover, the coat of arms is also depicted on the dresses of his wife and daughter, who are giving him a helmet and a shield. Moreover, it can be calculated that its coat of arms is repeated 17 times! That is, it means that it was so. And this did not bother anyone.
The famous miniature from Luttrell's Psalter is an impressive example of illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages. OK. 1330-1340. Painting on parchment. 36 x 25 cm. British Museum Library, London.
As for the armor, it was already from the end of the XII century. in Europe, a headpiece began to be put on a horse's head: first a leather one (known from the time of Rome), and then a metal one (also known to the Romans and, first of all, to participants in the "hippika gymnasia" competition), and very often it was decorated in the same way as and the helmet of the rider himself. In a French document of 1302, the presence of armor called bard and caparison is noted, of which it is known that they were both quilted and also padded, and even then horse armor made of chain mail was already known. The headpiece could be either chain mail or leather, and what is interesting, the leather headpiece was even gilded then! It is quite possible that no one considered both quilted blankets and printed ones at that time to be an independent means of protection, but they could be used as a lining under chain mail "fabric". Well, the earliest example of horse plate armor dates back to 1338, although it is not clear what kind of armor it was.
Knight Heinrich von Breslau. The Manes Codex from the Heidelberg University Library, c. 1300 BC
In the East, horses also had their own "coats". And even earlier than in Europe. In Iran, already in 620, horses were wearing chainmail armor, and the Chinese horse riders had quilted protective shells even before the Hunnic invasion of Europe. Armors were both on horses for the heavily armed horsemen of the Byzantine cavalry, and for their sworn opponents, the Arabs. Moreover, they are mentioned by the Arabs even during the life of the Prophet Muhammad, who borrowed a lot from … the Persians!
"Minuchihr kills the retreating Turanians." Miniature from the poem "Shahname", Tabriz school, first half of the XIV century. Topkapi Museum Library, Istanbul.
Many medieval authors describe the five-part horse armor of the warriors of Batu Khan. Well, as for the knights themselves, it was under the sultry sun of Palestine that they appreciated not only the oriental sherbet, massage and the famous Turkish bath, but also wide loose clothes covering the armor on top, and horse blankets that protect horses from the heat, and from annoying insects to animals.
It is interesting that in Persia we will not see horse armor on miniatures until 1340, although it is known that it was there even in 920. But after her images are found quite often, which allows us to say that at the beginning of the 15th century. about 50 percent of the riders had similar armor. The Persians had different types of armor, but they did not use chain mail, as in India. Their very design was traditional: a collar, a bib, two side plates and a bib. Only the nostrils, ears and, of course, legs remained open. Known armor of the same color, which manifested the desire for uniformity, which can be regarded as a kind of military uniform along with the red cloaks of the Spartans and tunics of Roman centurions. Used by the Iranians and blankets from "quilted silk", which are in the illustrations of 1420. However, in reality, the armor, which in museums is classified as "Persian" or "Turkish", cannot be identified, since they very often changed their owners. They were bought, they were sold, they were part of the war booty. Therefore, the entire set, in whole or in part, could well have made long "tours" across the countries of the Muslim East! Well, and the number of riders on "armored horses" was somewhere in the proportion of one such rider for 50-60 riders "unarmored", that is, not very high.
Horse armor was very popular in India until the 17th century. In any case, Afanasy Nikitin saw the cavalry there, "fully clothed in armor", while he did not lose sight of such a detail as horse masks trimmed with silver, and also wrote that "most (they are) gilded." The horse blankets that he saw were of colored silk, corduroy, satin and … "fabric from Damascus."
A horse in a quilted blanket and a headpiece. Rice. A. Shepsa
Interestingly, judging by the miniatures, in Persia already at the beginning of the fifteenth century. about half of all the riders depicted on them have armor on their horses. In the army of the Great Mughals (judging by the miniatures of 1656 - 1657), such horsemen were also present.
Horse, knight covered with chain mail. The beginning of the XIV century. Rice. And Shepsa.
In Europe, an important role in the development of horse armor was played by the Hundred Years War, which showed the clear superiority of the bow and crossbow over the multi-layer chain-plate armor popular at that time. Knight's horses were very expensive then, so that they could easily expose them to the shots of commoners, so they began to protect them! Therefore, it should not be surprising that if the armor of the knight himself was mainly supposed to protect him from spears and swords, then the armor of a horse - from arrows. And mostly … falling from above! After all, the archers did not release them directly at the target (like in the movies!), I.e. aiming at the head and chest of the horse, and sent them into the sky along a steep trajectory so that they would then fall on the riders and their horses from above, hitting the horses in the croup, in the neck in the area of the mane. That is why these body parts were "armored" until the armor disappeared completely, although the armourers did not neglect the breastplate armor either.
Horse armor that includes critnet, neutral, and krupper. Museum of Art History, Vienna.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. there were already completely solid forged armor made of metal plates like those in which the knights themselves fought. As a rule, they covered the entire body of the horse, including the neck and croup. Large metal surfaces were adorned with gilding and embossing, and many of the great artists of their time made drawings for it. It is clear that these armor, plus the armor of the rider, were so heavy that only the strongest horses could bear such a burden, the cost of which (as well as the cost of armor!) Was a fortune!
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle located in the city of Warwick (Yorkshire in central England): a knight on horseback and both in armor.
But in Japan, samurai only rarely used armored "clothing" for their horses. Well, it's understandable why. After all, most of Japan's territory is covered with mountains (75% of the area!), Most of which were overgrown with forest, and there they needed small frisky horses to gallop along mountain paths, and not heavy knightly horses, like European ones, capable of carrying a large load, but only on level ground. That is why horse armor in Japan never took root, as well as shields, which the samurai, due to the specifics of their weapons, did not need!
St. Christopher. Painting of the 16th century. on the wall of the cathedral in Sviyazhsk. Photo by the author.
It is interesting that if we are talking about "dressed horses", then the most famous "horse" dressed in scaly armor will need to be recognized … St. Christopher, who had, by the will of the Lord … a horse's head! Well, in armor and with a sword in hand, the painters Ivan the Terrible depicted him on the wall of a temple on the island of Sviyazhsk, not far from Kazan. Well, in our modern era, horse blankets have remained only with rare cabs.
The blanket of the "joyous horse", St. Petersburg. 1855 year. Exhibition of horse equipment in Kazan in 2007. Photo by the author.
