Desktop versionMobile version

Le cheval au Moyen Âge

 | 
Elisabeth Lorans

I — Élevage et soins hippiatriques

Le cheval de guerre dans l’antiquité tardive

Élevage, thérapeutique et équipements hippiques

Warhorse in Late Antiquity : breeding, veterinary medicine and horse equipment

Stavros Lazaris and Amandine Cristina

Abstract

The evolution of horse usage, with the expansion of the cavalry from the 4th century onwards, depended on quality livestock, intensification of hippiatric medical research and development of horse-related instruments both for the use of the rider and his mount.
The Early Byzantine and Roman cavalry were dependent on this triad, otherwise they could not have succeeded against more experienced Barbarians. The enemy’s experience was matched with experimentation, development and continuous improvement of an expertise which allowed them to reverse the situation to their advantage in later confrontations with nomadic people.
This triad actually took place almost simultaneously, unlike what was thought for a long time. Specifically, these three pieces of the puzzle, directly linked to the expansion of the cavalry, appeared between the 3rd and 5th/6th centuries and bear witness to major efforts in an age that was believed to be less fruitful in such areas.

The HTML, PDF, ePub formats of this book are available to the users of libraries and institutions subscribing to the OpenEdition Freemium program for Books. The book can also be purchased on the sites of partner bookstores, in PDF and ePub formats, if the publisher has opted for commercial distribution. If a print edition of the book is available, links to bookstores will be displayed on this page.

Excerpt

Les sources écrites de l’Antiquité gréco-romaine demeurent relativement silencieuses au sujet des chevaux utilisés pour la guerre1. Ceci peut notamment s’expliquer par l’organisation de l’armée romaine, qui s’est longtemps reposée sur l’excellence de ses fantassins. Néanmoins, afin de s’adapter à de nouveaux ennemis, peuples nomades et excellents cavaliers-guerriers, l’armée va accorder une place de plus en plus importante à la cavalerie. J.-M. Carrié et A. Rousselle n’hésitent d’ailleurs pas à noter à ce propos que « le trait principal de l’évolution tactique réside [tout particulièrement à partir du iiie siècle apr. J.-C.] dans l’emploi croissant de la cavalerie2 ».

Même s’il faut nuancer un peu l’essor que l’on a tendance à octroyer à la cavalerie romaine durant les premiers siècles de notre ère, il n’en demeure pas moins que le cheval de guerre gagne petit à petit l’estime d’un peuple auparavant profondément attaché à son infanterie3. Ce nouveau rôle du cheval apparaît sur les mo...

The text and other elements (illustrations, imported files) may be used under OpenEdition Books License, unless otherwise stated.

This digital publication is the result of automatic optical character recognition.
Search OpenEdition Search

You will be redirected to OpenEdition Search