3 
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 
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 lbs., 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 
