Heraldic Caparison or Full Barding Project

I created a heraldic caparison (or barding) for my horse in 2011. This type of caparison is what is commonly called full barding as described below. This piece was entered in the Ice Dragon Pentathlon that year in the Animal Arts category and I have used it numerous times in SCA equestrian activities. ________________________________________________________________________

A variety of barding types have been used during in the Middle Ages for an equal variety of reasons. Some barding was strictly ornamental, while other styles served as protection for the horse. Styles also varied from country to country. European styles consisted of full barding, blanket barding and strap barding. 

 

Full barding, or a caparison, was used to completely cover the horse. This long flowing type of barding included a long saddle blanket as well as a hood for the neck and head, and shoulder coverings. This style of barding was most often seen in use during war and in the Tournaments of the 12th through 14th Century. This barding is the type most people think about when picturing a knight riding at Tournament. Full barding was commonly worn by the heavy warhorses, the destriers. Similar styles were found in England, France, Germany and other European regions.   

Barding from
Codex Manesse

The full barding example shown here comes from the illuminated manuscript known as the Codex Manesse (also known as the Great Heidelberg or Manesse song manuscript ). This manuscript contains illustrations of knights participating in tournaments and hunting and includes numerous examples of barding in use on horses. As such, it represents an invaluable resource for those researching barding. Other manuscripts include representations of barding as well. These include the Bible of King Wensceslas and the Morgan Crusader's Bible (also known as the Cardinal Maciejowski Bible).

This type of barding was ordinarily constructed of linen or silk cloth. Velvet materials were introduced during the later part of the period. Coloring and decoration was commonly seen throughout the period in most regions of Europe. Early examples show solid colored barding, while heraldric display seems more common in later period, especially in use for tournaments.

 

"Colorful designs appeared on surcoats by the mid 12th Century, presumably to show off the style and taste of the wearer, but at some point the designs evolved into formal symbols that signified who the wearer of the surcoat was. ...it served an important role in helping to identify combatants on the field.......Thus, large colorful emblems with symbols associated with particular families came to be embroidered or appliqued onto surcoats, horse trappers, and banners or painted on shields to identify who was on the field so that their own men, as well as the enemy, would be able to tell who was there and identify ally from foe." ^[1]

 

Examples from illuminated manuscripts include barding consisting of the contrasting colors of a warrior's heraldry as well as patches of the heraldic device sewn onto the barding such as the example from the Codex Manesse shown above.  Several German Tournament books, or Tunierbuch, also depict barding in solid colors and some with broad stripes.
 

Besides displaying the owner's heraldry, barding likely served another purpose. Most historians agree that surcoats were used to protect the armored knight or warrior from the sun's rays and heat. This was especially important under the harsh sun of the southern deserts where these men campaigned in the Crusades. Historians agree that the Crusaders added this garment to their own equipment after seeing its use by the Saracens. These desert warriors also used barding on their horses, and had long before the Crusades. Like surcoats, the Crusaders brought barding back with them. Barding would have helped to protect the horse from the heat and the stinging sand. Most full barding completely covers the horse's ears. This likely could have been helpful to dim the sounds of war and like today's fly masks, to protect the horse's ears from flies. It would have kept sand from the horse's ears as well, which would be a large distraction for the horse. So most likely barding developed in the Arab lands as protection for the horse from the heat, insects and driving sands of the desert. Certainly in battle, the Crusaders would have noticed the advantage the Saracen warrior had on horses so protected, and thus adopted the use of barding. 

 

The purpose of this project is twofold: to create a set of full barding representing the owner's heraldry, for use in SCA tournaments; and to explore the construction and design of such a project, in an effort to enhance understanding of how these items were made and their value.

 

I chose to utilize linen for this project. This is a period material that was commonly used for horse barding. Additionally, from a prior project, in which I used cotton, thinking it was a better choice for use in the heat, I learned through judge's critique that linen was a superior fabric for use in the heat.   I was instructed that linen is more durable and cooler than cotton.  It was also more commonly available and less expensive than cotton, unlike the situation today. The linen used is pure linen or a blend. The red and yellow linen is 100% linen, but the white linen is a blend because, at the time, that was the only linen available to me without excessive time delay and expense.

 

Before beginning the project, I had to decide on the color scheme. Very early examples of barding and those seen in the Maciejowski Bible are constructed of solid colors. But by the 14th Century, barding commonly incorporated mixed colors, and heraldic shields placed on the fabric. By the 15th Century, barding was elaborately decorated, some with complex heraldic designs and brocaded cloth. 

 

My own heraldry includes the primary colors of red and white. I experimented, through drawing, with various color schemes based on the examples seen in period. My choices included 1) a solid red barding, 2) a solid white barding, or 3) a combination in a checkered pattern.  In all three instances, I could place heraldic charges in the red or white fields, or appique shields with my heraldic device onto the fabric. I immediately ruled out complete white as this would be too difficult to keep clean on a horse. I decided against complete red for personal aesthetic reasons, so I began to experiment with different checked designs based on examples in manuscripts. 

The one pictured on the left was preferable as it entailed less construction time. The one pictured on the right was certainly interesting and aesthetic but it also made the device more difficult to discern from a distance. Therefore I chose to go with the design on the left. It is similar to the example below:

 

While I initially drew the colors with the white on the horse's head, I decided that it would be better to make this red, and changed the color sequence. This also allowed for a better display of my device's main charge, a displayed eagle. 

 

Example of single device displayed,
similar color scheme.

It was common for a single element to be displayed on barding, as indicated in examples from illuminated manuscripts so I went with this choice. 

 

Numerous examples from manuscripts also show that the barding was lined. At first, I thought this might be an artist's attempt to indicate the folded part of the barding, but its repetitive use by a variety of artists and the manner in which it is displayed in some art makes this unlikely. Therefore, I concluded that barding was likely lined with a contrasting color. 

  

There are several reasons why barding was lined. The first possible reason is that the lining would protect the more expensive or costly produced outer layer which includes the heraldry, which whether it was painted or embroidered represented a considerable amount of work. While a heraldic charge could be cut off and appliqued on a new outer covering fabric, elaborate color patterns were less easily replaced. This is especially true in the case of the highly checkered pattern shown above which entailed considerable work in construction compared to a solid colored barding. When it became overly soiled by the horse's sweat, the inner lining could be replaced.

 

A second reason is due to aesthetics. The lined barding has a more substantial feel to it, hangs better and has a richer look. This became readily apparent to the author once this project was finished. Lining also finishes off the seems well, protecting and concealing them.

 

Full barding consists of two pieces - a front piece which covers the horse's head and shoulders, and the rear section which starts at the rear of the saddle and covers the horse's rump.

The front piece consists of a cloth that extends from the horse's head, covering the entire face down to the muzzle (nose) just above the bit in the horse's mouth. This would allow free use of the bit and access via the reins. This piece continues down over the horse's chest and is open to the front to allow freedom of movement. Oftentimes, SCAdians attach tie straps to secure the front of the barding in order to close it. I myself have done the same, following the lead of other researchers. While I have found a few examples of ties, most commonly, examples show the material tacked closed at intervals. Its possible that hooks or some manner of attachment was used, such as frogs or buttons, but few extant examples have survived and this has not been proven. (Therefore, this I did not utilize ties at this time.)

Barding detail from the Maciejowski Bible

The barding on the face in period examples appears to be tight fitting and tailored to the horse's head.  While aesthetic from an art perspective, this is highly unlikely to have been done as the movement of horse's head and neck, and especially his powerful jaw, would make this very uncomfortable for the horse. More likely, the cloth was looser than shown in the manuscript pictures and probably stitched or tacked to fit to some degree. Barding of this sort would likely have been made specifically for a particular warhorse of its master. Horse's proportions in the neck, head and chest area varies widely, and as most mundane horse owners know, fitting stable blankets on horses is quite specific.  Warhorses are highly trained horses and a rider and horse train together to gain the partnership that would lead to an effective "team" on the battlefield. Therefore it is not unreasonable to assume that this part of the barding would be fitted for a specific horse. I  measured and constructed this one to fit my young warhorse, Rex.

The rear piece comes up the back just far enough to go under the rear of the saddle which helps to hold it in place. (See examples above) It is likely there were fastenings to the saddle which helped to hold it in place. No evidence can be found to support that, but it stands to reason that something would be used, as after a long time of use, the cloth could slip off. This would be dangerous during battle, possibly tripping the horse. This back section, being more flexible in sizing could have been used by itself on a variety of other horses, including the knight's palfrey which he used for traveling.  This is similar in use to the examples of blanket barding seen in numerous examples in art.

This is the design I came up with after considering all these facts. Details of the construction of the piece continue in the next article.

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1.Joshua Prawer. The World of the Crusaders. (Quadrangle Books, 1972). 238.

Sources:

Barber , Richard & Juliet Barker.  Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press,2000.

Cennini, Cennino d'Andrea . The Craftsman's Handbook: "Il Libro dell'Arte", trans.by Daniel V. Thompson, Jr., (New York: 1960) .This source can be viewed online at <http://www.noteaccess.com/Texts/Cennini/>

Clark,  John ed. The Medieval Horse and its Equipment, c. 1150‑c.1450. NY:Woodbridge: Museum of London, 1995.

Davis, R.H.C.  The Medieval Warhorse: Origin, Development and Redevelopment.  NY: Thames and Hudson,1989.

Dent,  Anthony Austen. The Horse Through Fifty Centuries of Civilization. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1974.

Eve, George W.  Decorative Heraldry: A Practical Handbook of Its Artistic Treatment ( G. Bell & Sons, 1908, Original from the University of California Digitized Nov 29, 2007 on GoogleBooks , available at and viewed 18 Feb 2009,  <http://books.google.com/books?id=6MBHAAAAIAAJ>.)
Hyland, Ann.  The Medieval Warhorse: From Byzantium to the Crusades. London: Grange Books, 1994.
Hyland, Ann.  The Warhorse: 1250-1600. Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 1998.
Illuminated Manuscripts, Medieval Hunting Scenes ("The Hunting Book" by Gaston Phoebus), trans. J Peter Tallon. Barcelona: Printer Industria Grafica, 1978.
LaCroix,  Paul and Walter Clifford Meller. The Medieval Warrior. NY: CL Press/Book Creation, LLC, 2002.
Prawer,  Joshua. The World of the Crusaders. Quadrangle Books, 1972. Available on GoogleBooks, Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Jun 9, 2008,
<http://books.google.com/books?id=KslmAAAAMAAJ&q=crusader+surcoat&dq=crusader+surcoat&pgis=1>.
Wagner, Drobna, and Durdik.  Medieval Costume, Armor and Weapons. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc, 2000.
Walther, Ingo F and Norbert Wolf.  Codices Illustres: The World=s Most Famous Illuminated Manuscripts, 400 to 166.  Italy: Taschen, 2001.
Website: Atlantian MOAS site (links), Jan 2009, <http://moas.atlantia.sca.org/wsnlinks/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=56>
Website Barding article, Jan 2009, <http://ilaria.veltri.tripod.com/overviewbards.html>.
Website:  "Costume of the Military Horse," Viscountess Kassandra Tenebrosa,  1 Feb 2009,
<http://www.havenonline.com/moas/northstar/vol1no1/HorseCostume.htm>.
Website: Maciejowski Bible, Jan 2010,  <http://www.keesn.nl/mac/mac_en.htm>
Website on  Period stitches, Jan 2009,<http://jauncourt.i8.com/stitches.htm>
( referenced information on running Stitch, back stitch, and over‑stitched or over‑sewn, as well as Hem treatments including running, whip stitch)
Website, "Is this Stitch Period" (#5 of a Series): "Applique: Lay On!" by Christian de Holacombe, West Kingdom Needleworkers Guild Deputy, Feb 2009.