What is it about?
Even recent history books say that European horses in the Middle Ages were heavy and slow, and European horsemanship was primitive - a situation that was only remedied when Europeans encountered Arab horsemen and Arabian horses after the Arab invasion of Spain or during the Crusades. This picture is wrong, and the reality is much more complicated - but also much more interesting.
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Why is it important?
The article provides evidence from sources in Europe and outside Europe to show that the "standard" view of European horses and horsemanship is wrong.
Perspectives
Too many popular history programmes on TV focus on "wow-factor" - the issues are oversimplified so that the programme creators can present dramatic pictures in a black-and-white setting with an easily understood conclusion. Real history is far more nuanced - and far more interesting.
Dr. Jürg Gassmann
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: East meets West: Mounted Encounters in Early and High Mediaeval Europe, Acta Periodica Duellatorum, January 2017, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/apd-2017-0003.
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