Seats 31 



horseback, date about 37 a. d., which is in the 

 British Museum, shows him riding with a bent knee, 

 and I am of opinion that the seat never entirely 

 superseded the old one for road work and the 

 chase. 



The straight-legged seat was undoubtedly general 

 on the Continent in the early Middle Ages, when 

 knights wore heavy armor and rode in massive 

 high-peaked and deeply-curved saddles (Tozer), 

 which, indeed, allowed of no other posture. It has 

 been freely stated that the straight-legged seat was the 

 outcome of the high-peaked saddle, which became 

 popular as giving a good support to the rider if he 

 were struck, Xenophon's treatise proves the fallacy 

 of this theory, because he recommended the position 

 at a time when only a cloth was used for a saddle. 

 The Normans in the Bayeux tapestry are repre- 

 sented as riding with a perfectly straight leg, and 

 probably introduced the practice into England; as 

 although some historians aver that the Saxons were 

 in the habit of riding, they undoubtedly fought on 

 foot at Hastings, to which fact King William may 

 have owed his victory (Tozer). The reason why 

 the mediaeval knights all used this seat in battle and 



