Horses accompanied and labored alongside human beings in critical
aspects of medieval life, from war and work to travel and leisure. The
growth of environmental history and animal studies provide scholars with
an increasing array of methods to study these creatures’ lives, and, more
broadly, to investigate how human beings both shape and are shaped by
the natural world. This session seeks to engage scholars (at any stage)
working on any aspect of horses in the Middle Ages to contribute to
understanding human-equine relationships in the medieval world.
This session is aimed at encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue on the subject of the horse in the medieval world to promote a better understanding of the role this important animal played in war, art, literature and daily life. We seek submissions from any discipline on any topics relating to horses in the medieval period (roughly 500–1500), and especially encourage papers with a focus outside of Western Europe, such as those focusing on the vast hoofprint of the horse throughout Eurasia and Africa 500–1500 and their uses in war, trade, and culture, to enable study of exchanges, similarities and differences across connected networks.
The Equine History Collective (equinehistory.org) promotes the horse as a lens for trans-regional history and serves as an interface for related research across disciplines. This session is conceived
broadly to encourage interdisciplinary and transregional proposals. We hope to bring together
participants and attendees from different disciplines and career stages within medieval
studies through a focus on the horse.
We encourage papers from scholars at all stages, particularly PhD students and ECRs.
Proposed topics may include but are not limited to:
• Steppe empires in Central Asia & relations with China
• Feudalism and debates about equivalents in Asia
• Horse trade in: Indian Ocean, Silk Road, Afghan Ferghana Valley
• Islamic conquests
• Veterinary medicine, horse care and management
• Horse training (for war, hunting, etc.)
Please submit a 250-word proposal at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/call by September 15, 2020.
Questions? Email Chelsea Shields-Más at: president@equinehistory.org