The Culture of the Horse : Status, Discipline, and Identity in the Early Modern World

This volume fills an important gap in the analysis of early modern history and culture by reintroducing scholars to the significance of the horse. A more complete understanding of the role of horses and horsemanship is absolutely crucial to our understanding of the early modern world. Each essay in the collection provides a snapshot of how horse culture and the broader culture - that tapestry of images, objects, structures, sounds, gestures, texts, and ideas - articulate. Without knowledge of how the horse figured in all these aspects, no version of political, material, or intellectual culture in the period can be entirely accurate. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction (Karen Raber, Treva J. Tucker)....Pages 1-41 Front Matter ....Pages 43-43 Cultural Convergence: The Equine Connection between Muscovy and Europe (Ann M. Kleimola)....Pages 45-62 The Palio Horse in Renaissance and Early Modern Italy (Elizabeth Tobey)....Pages 63-90 Shakespeare and the Social Devaluation of the Horse (Bruce Boehrer)....Pages 91-111 “Faith, Say a Man Should Steal Ye—and Feed Ye Fatter”: Equine Hunger and Theft in Woodstock (Kevin De Ornellas)....Pages 113-137 Front Matter ....Pages 139-139 Just a Bit of Control: The Historical Significance of Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century German Bit-Books (Pia F. Cuneo)....Pages 141-173 Man and Horse in Harmony (Elisabeth LeGuin)....Pages 175-196 From Gens d’armes to Gentilshommes: Dressage, Civility, and the Ballet à Cheval (Kate van Orden)....Pages 197-222 Front Matter ....Pages 223-223 A Horse of a Different Color: Nation and Race in Early Modern Horsemanship Treatises (Karen Raber)....Pages 225-243 “Honest English Breed”: The Thoroughbred as Cultural Metaphor (Richard Nash)....Pages 245-272 Early Modern French Noble Identity and the Equestrian “Airs above the Ground” (Treva J. Tucker)....Pages 273-309 “Horses! Give Me More Horses!”: White Settler Identity, Horses, and the Making of Early Modern South Africa (Sandra Swart)....Pages 311-328 Learning to Ride in Early Modern Britain, or, The Making of the English Hunting Seat (Donna Landry)....Pages 329-349 Back Matter ....Pages 351-371 "This volume fills an important gap in the analysis of early modern history and culture by reintroducing scholars to the significance of the horse. A more complete understanding of the role of horses and horsemanship is absolutely crucial to our understanding of the early modern world. Each chapter in the collection provides a snapshot of how horse culture and the broader culture are intertwined in a tapestry of images, objects, structures, sounds, gestures, texts, and ideas. Without knowledge of how the horse figured in all these aspects, no version of political, material, or intellectual culture in the period can be entirely accurate."--Jacket "This volume fills an important gap in the analysis of early modern history and culture by reintroducing scholars to the significance of the horse. A more complete understanding of the role of horses and horsemanship is absolutely crucial to our understanding of the early modern world. Each chapter in the collection provides a snapshot of how horse culture and the broader culture are intertwined in a tapestry of images, objects, structures, sounds, gestures, texts, and ideas. Without knowledge of how the horse figured in all these aspects, no version of political, material, or intellectual culture in the period can be entirely accurate"-- Jacket