Mounted on a destrier, Richard Marshal unseats an opponent during a skirmish. The destrier is the best-known war horse of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. It carried

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

s in battles,

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, and jousts. It was described by contemporary sources as the ''Great Horse'', due to its significance. While highly prized by knights and

men-at-arms A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Middle Ages, High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of Weapon, arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other no ...

, the destrier was not very common. Most knights and mounted men-at-arms rode other war horses, such as

coursers The coursers are a group of birds which together with the pratincoles make up the family Glareolidae. They have long legs, short wings and long pointed bills which curve downwards. Their most unusual feature for birds classed as waders is that ...

and

rouncey The term rouncey (also spelt rouncy or rounsey) was used during the Middle Ages to refer to an ordinary, all-purpose horse. They were used for riding, but could also be trained for war. It was not unknown for them to be used as pack horses. Th ...

Etymology

The word is first attested in

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...

around 1330, as ''destrer''. It was borrowed into Middle English from

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 *Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature *Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 1066 ...

''destrer'', whose

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...

counterpart was ''destrier'' (from which the Modern English spelling derives). The word is also found in medieval Provençal (as ''destrier'') and Italian (as ''destriere'', ''destriero''). These forms themselves derived from the

Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal registers of Latin spoken from the Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve into numerous Romance languages. Its literary counterpa ...

''equus dextrarius'', meaning "right-sided horse" (from ''dextra'', "right hand", the same root as ''dextrous'' and ''dexterity''). This may refer to it being led by the

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as ...

at the knight's right side, as often before battle the destrier ran unburdened to keep it fresh for the fray; the knight rode another horse, mounting his destrier just before engaging the enemy. Alternatively, it could describe the horse's

gait Gait is the pattern of movement of the limbs of animals, including humans, during locomotion over a solid substrate. Most animals use a variety of gaits, selecting gait based on speed, terrain, the need to maneuver, and energetic efficiency. ...

(leading with the right).

Characteristics

The word ''destrier'' does not refer to a

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of horse, but to a type of horse; the finest and strongest warhorses. These horses were usually

stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

s, bred and raised from foalhood specifically for the needs of war. The destrier was specifically for use in

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

; for everyday riding, a knight would use a

palfrey A palfrey is a type of horse that was highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. It was a lighter-weight horse, usually a smooth gaited one that could amble, suitable for riding over long distances. Palfreys were not a specific bree ...

, and his baggage would be carried on a sumpter horse (or

packhorse A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of ...

), or possibly in wagons. They had powerful hindquarters, able to easily coil and spring to a stop, spin, turn or sprint forward quickly. They also had a short back and well-muscled loin, strong bone, and a well-arched neck. From medieval art, the head of the destrier appears to have had a straight or slightly

convex Convex or convexity may refer to: Science and technology * Convex lens, in optics Mathematics * Convex set, containing the whole line segment that joins points ** Convex polygon, a polygon which encloses a convex set of points ** Convex polytop ...

profile, a strong, wide jaw, and good width between the eyes. The destrier was considered the most suited to the

joust Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponen ...

: coursers seem to have been preferred for other forms of

warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regu ...

Breeding and size

from the Codex Manesse Many well-known scholars have speculated about the nature of destriers and about the size they attained. They apparently were not enormous draft horse, draft types. Recent research undertaken at the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall Museum (fou ...

, using literary, pictorial and archeological sources, suggests war horses (including destriers) averaged from , and differed from a riding horse in their strength, musculature and training, rather than in their size.Clark, John (Ed). ''The Medieval Horse and its Equipment: c.1150-c.1450'', Rev. 2nd Ed, UK: The Boydell Press, 2004, p. 25 An analysis of medieval horse armour located in the Royal Armouries indicates the equipment was originally worn by horses of , about the size and build of a modern

field hunter Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a gra ...

or ordinary riding horse.Gravett, Christopher. ''English Medieval Knight 1300-1400'', Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002, p 59 Equestrian sculptures in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

suggest a "Spanish" style of horse that today would be referred to as a Baroque horse, such as the

Andalusian horse The Andalusian, also known as the Pure Spanish Horse or PRE (Spanish language literally translates to “Spanish pure breed”. This name is sometimes capitalized when used in English-language publications, but is all lower-case in Spanish, wh ...

Friesian horse The Friesian (also Frizian) is a horse breed originating in Friesland, in the Netherlands. Although the conformation of the breed resembles that of a light draught horse, Friesians are graceful and nimble for their size. It is believed th ...

, or even a heavy but agile

warmblood Warmbloods are a group of middle-weight horse types and breeds primarily originating in Europe and registered with organizations that are characterized by open studbook policy, studbook selection, and the aim of breeding for equestrian spor ...

breed such as the Irish Draught. Modern estimates put the height of a destrier at no more than , but with a strong and heavy physique. Though the term "Great Horse" was used to describe the destrier, leading some historians to speculate that such animals were the forerunners of modern

draught horse A draft horse (US), draught horse (UK) or dray horse (from the Old English ''dragan'' meaning "to draw or haul"; compare Dutch ''dragen'' and German ''tragen'' meaning "to carry" and Danish ''drage'' meaning "to draw" or "to fare"), less oft ...

breeds, the historical record does not support the image of the destrier as a draft horse. Prestwich, Michael (1996) ''Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience.'' New Haven: Yale University Press, p. 30

Descendants and reproductions

The modern

Percheron The Percheron is a breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley in western France, part of the former Perche province from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray or black in color, Percherons are well muscled, and k ...

draft breed may in part descend from destriers, though it is probably taller and heavier than the average destrier. Other draft breeds such as the

Shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the begin ...

claim destrier ancestry, though proof is less certain. Modern attempts to reproduce the destrier type usually involve crossing an athletic riding horse with a light draft type. Outcomes of such attempts include

crossbred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

s such as the " Spanish-Norman", a cross between the

and the Andalusian; and the

Warlander The Warlander is a horse of Baroque type, produced by crossing Friesian horses with horses of a purebred registered Iberian horse breed such as the Andalusian, Lusitano, or Menorquina. The ideal Warlander combines the Iberian horse's intellige ...

, a cross between the Andalusian and the

Value

A good destrier was very costly: at the times of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

, a fine destrier was valued at seven or eight times the cost of an ordinary horse. In England, the specific sum of eighty pounds (in this context a pound was 240 silver pennies, which amounted to one pound of silver by weight) was noted at the end of the thirteenth century. During the important military campaigns of

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

in the middle of the fourteenth century, the increased demand for warhorses brought about considerable price inflation: in 1339

William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton, KG (c. 1312 – 16 September 1360) was an English nobleman and military commander. Lineage He was the fifth son of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan. He had a twin brot ...

lost a destrier valued at one hundred pounds while on campaign in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

. Army muster rolls included detailed inventories of the warriors' horses: less than 5% of the warhorses were classified as destriers, owned only by a small elite of the most wealthy knights. However, because of destriers' relative scarcity and consequent infrequent sale and purchase, reliable price information for the period has not often survived.Ayton (1994) p.41

References