Ill] AND HISTORIC TIMES 355 



These Norman war-horses are referred to in a very im- 

 portant statement of William Stephanides, a monk of Canter- 

 bury, who, writing in the first year of Henry II (1154), says 

 that, "without one of the London City gates is a certain Smooth 

 field. Every Friday there is a brave sight of gallant horses to 

 be sold. Many come out of the city to buy or look on — to wit, 

 earls, barons, knights, and citizens. There are to be found 

 here maneged or War Horses {dextrarii), of elegant shape, full 

 of fire and giving every proof of a generous and noble temper ; 

 likewise Cart horses, Horses fitted for the Dray, or the Plough, 

 or the Chariot \" But though there were thus a certain 

 number of war-horses in the country, the vast majority of 

 English horses continued to be of small size and little suited to 

 carry men-at-arms. This is clearly shown by the continuous 

 efforts made by Kings and Parliaments from Henry II to 

 Elizabeth to promote the breeding of 'great horses,' i.e. war- 

 horses, commonly termed dextrarii (destriers), and magni equi, 

 in medieval Latin documents''. 



The change in fashion and weight of armour which we 

 have noticed on the Continent, went on pari passu in England, 

 the Norman hauberk yielding to true chain-mail about 1190, 

 the latter giving way in its turn from 1300 to plate armour, 

 which became completely universal from about 1410. As on 

 the Continent so in England, the increase in the weight of 

 armour called for an increase .in the size and strength of the 

 horses. 



There was no native English breed fitted for such a burden 

 until they were improved by foreign blood, and to this end the 

 English monarchs from time to time imported horses from the 

 Continent. Thus the Exchequer Rolls for 1160 show that an 

 allowance of one mark was made to William de Sancto Mauro, 

 the sheriff of Hampshire, "for the maintenance at Winchester of 

 the King's (Henry II's) horses, which the Treasurer had brought 

 with him from beyond sea^." These horses were doubtless in 



1 Sir W. Gilbey, The Great Horse, p. IG. 



2 Sir W. Gilbey, The Great Horse, p. 15. 



3 Madox, History of the Exchequer, Vol. i. p. 367; Mag. Kot. 21, H. 2.5, 12 a ; 

 Gilbey. loc. cit. 



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