prelates and other Church dignitaries were 

 granted the privilege of riding. This state- 

 ment needs qualification, for it is certain that 

 riding was practised by the ancient Britons 

 and their descendants ; we shall no doubt 

 be right in reading Bede's assertion to refer 



o o 



to saddles, which were in use among the 

 nations of Eastern Europe in the fourth 

 century. The ancient Greek and Roman 

 horsemen rode barebacked ; but a law in the 

 Theodosian Code, promulgated in the fifth 

 century, by which the weight of a saddle 

 was limited to 60 Roman Ibs., proves that 

 saddles were then in general use in the 

 Roman Empire. 



The Saxon saddle was little more than a 

 pad ; this would give no very secure seat 

 to the rider, and therefore we cannot marvel 

 that the art of fighting on horseback re- 

 mained unknown in Britain until it was 

 introduced by our Norman conquerors. 

 Even after that epoch only the heavily- 

 mailed knights fought from the saddle ; 

 for some centuries subsequently the lightly 

 armed horsemen dismounted to go into 

 action, leaving their horses in charge of 

 those who remained with the baggage of 

 the army in the rear. It would be wrong 

 to call these troops cavalry ; they employed 



