Here we have a knight in shining armour, but the main reason it is here is because the horses are also wearing metal armour, on their heads and necks. This would later extend to the hindquarters and around the bottom of their necks, and it was known as barding. It has a very long story, and it was first practised by two distant countries, Persia and India.
Reportedly it was the Persian kind which was first encountered, and soon adopted, by Alexander the Great, whose affection and respect for his great war horse, Bucephalus, is well known.
There is a good collection of horse armour in the Royal Armouries, and they also own something very special indeed, a suit of elephant armour, almost complete. It is the only one in any museum, though some are in private collections.
Now this card is another of those long sets by Guerin-Boutron, and it shows many famous leaders. Ours is Jean Poton de Xaintrailles, though only the final word appears on the card. There are dates given on the card, 1420 to 1461; the first is slightly suspect, for we do not know when he was born, but he date of death is correct, it was recorded as being on the 7th of October 1461. Maybe they knew the birth then, and we now do not?
We do know that he was the Master of the Royal Stables, and in 1454 he was appointed as a Marshal of France. He fought alongside Joan of Arc through the Loire Campaign and seems to have had a great respect for her, maybe more, though it is doubtful if she ever really noticed him as more than being good with a horse. He never married, and never had children, and when he died he left all his wordly goods to the Church.
The cards show a great leader, together with their dates, and they are mostly shown at their most famous battle. However the backs have no details, they only advertise Guerin-Boutron - with the exception of the line right at the bottom which reads "Serie de 84 Sujets : Episodes des Grandes Capitaines". The last date given for a prize medal, which is often a good way to date these cards, is 1889, but I do not know when the cards were issued for sure
I did manage to find a few of the cards as well, but nowhere near all - so if anyone has any to add do send the names along. Many thanks.
- Aristide
- Brennus
- Leonidas
- Miltiade
- Epaminondas
- Mithridate
- Marc Antoine