On 16 September 1541, King Henry VIII entered the city of York through Walmgate Bar, and was met by the city’s officials at Fulford Cross. The mayor and the aldermen of the city then begged forgiveness from the King for the North’s rebellion during the Pilgrimage of Grace, and gave the King and his wife, Queen Catherine Howard, a gold cup each full of gold coins.
This visit to York was part of Henry and Catherine’s royal progress to the North, and you can read more about this visit in article from last year – click here.
Think of those unfortunate horses that had to carry the morbidly obese King on a progress. No horsewoman I, does anyone have an idea of how far he could travel before requiring a replacement?
Yes I read he had to be hoisted onto the poor horses what a sight that must have been, they should have got cart horses instead.
Having had a horse, and worked with horses for a while (a long, long time ago!), I would imaging that by now Henry would have been carried by one of the Heavy horse types, Tudor times were not so much about breeds of horses, but types. Horse breeding had been improved under Henry’s reign as he had passed quite strict laws regarding them. These laws concentrated on building up stocks after depletion by battles, to improve the standard of horses raised seeing that working horses were not heavy enough to do the work expected of them etc, this extended to other areas too, as in war horses, hunters, etc. Plus he also banned exporting of horses too, this ban was extended to Scotland also.
These heavy horses were bred for stamina and incredible strength, not speed and agility, the Shire horses we know now developed from these times and before.. all horses have their limits, but I would imagine that they were able to plod on for a fair old distance at a steady pace, enough to get from A to B in a days ride, can’t see that they would be on the road for too long, taking into consideration Henry health, the state of roads and weather was a bit wet wasn’t it?, Does anyone know the longest distance travelled in one day on this progression?? think Henry was far past his ‘full speed ahead’ type riding by now, plus mounting and dismounting would also have been a huge problem to be needing to swop horses mid stop. One good thing though at least he didn’t have his armour on!! this is all supposition though, but these horses were exceptionally powerful.
Just out of a manner of interest I looked up the ‘type’ of horses the Tudor era referred too, here’s what I could find;
Courser…a quick, powerful horse, for jousts and war.
Destrier/Destrer…a heavy, bulky horse preferred by Knights for war and jousts.
Ginete/Jennet…for every day riding. They were considered good looking, have a good gait, and swift. Thought to have come from Spain.
Hobby…a smallish horse, with a gentle pace.
Palfrey…a light weight horse, good mover, with a smooth ambling gait. Seemed to be preferred for/by women, though men did ride them too.
Thank you, very interesting. Up to the early twentieth century a great portion of the world’s population were dependent on the horse for farming, transportation, and war. It’s difficult to imagine our history without these extraordinary animals.