I recently finished watching the first season of the History Channel's show Knightfall. The show is centered around the order of the Knight's Templar in 14th century Paris. The costumes and the sets are amazing, and of course, they use beautiful horses who carry the handsome, bearded knights around the city. But one glaring historical inaccuracy I see in every scene is the horses are always wearing their bleach white caparisons (capes) along with their shaffrons (face armor) and crinets (neck armor). While it makes for a dramatic image, the knights would never put their horses' armor on unless they were charging into battle. In the Middle Ages, knights wore highly effective armor into battle to deflect arrows and swords, so their horses became their enemy's main target to strike down and disengage the knight. A mounted, armored knight had the advantage over his enemy only if he had a well-trained horse under him. (Click here to read about war horse training.) In response, horse armor was fashioned to protect the war horses. The armor was made out of iron or steel metal. Being out in the elements and attached to a sweaty horse would inevitably cause it rust and weaken. Armor was very expensive to create, so a knight would only want to use it when going into battle or a tournament. The knight's squires spent much time sanding off any rust and oil the metal to keep it in pristine condition. In Knightfall, the horses only wear armor on their necks and face. Having the horses wear armor everyday would eventually cause strain on their neck and back muscles. In the example above, the shaffron weighs just over four pounds and the crinet is almost ten pounds. While fourteen pounds may not seem very heavy, the horse would feel the weight on its neck after a long day. Also, the armor's underside was padded with thick leather to prevent rubbing the horse's skin, which added even more weight. Also in the show, they don't show the filth of the Paris streets--feces, spoiled food, and mud. The horses' white caparisons would have easily become soiled walking through the streets. Again, not a practical idea to wear one around if it needs to be cleaned everyday. While the knight and war horse in shining armor is a romantic image, in reality, the knights would not be riding their horses around in armor and in capes all the time.
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Kimika Frank
3/6/2022 05:02:24 pm
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AuthorI am Amy. I love movies, TV, and horses. I grew up with horses and taught kids how to ride during my summer breaks from school. Now I am a country girl living in a city hoping to someday move back into a rural area and own a horse again. Archives
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