October Horse: Difference between revisions

The October Horse sacrifice is part of a complex of meanings surrounding equine mutilation in Europe.<ref>Miller, "'Tails' of Masculinity," p. 970–971.</ref> In the medieval period, docking the tail of a knight's horse carried a message of emasculation, defamation, and domination.<ref>Miller, "'Tails' of Masculinity," pp. 958–959 ''et passim''.</ref> Dozens of such mutilations are recorded in [[medieval England]] after the practice was brought in by the [[Normans]].<ref>Miller, "'Tails' of Masculinity," p. 959.</ref>

In one of the most striking incidents, Onon [[Christmas Eve]] 1170, four days before [[Thomas Becket]] was assassinatedmartyred, an enemy cut off the tail of one of his horses and taunted him with it as a threat.<ref>Miller, "'Tails' of Masculinity," p. 958.</ref> On the Becket altarpiece of Hamburg, one of two known medieval depictions of the scene, the mutilator makes a phallic gesture with the horse's tail.<ref>Miller, "'Tails' of Masculinity," pp. 994–995.</ref> A legend then arose that the descendants of the perpetrator grew tails and earned the insulting nickname ''caudati'', the "tailed ones," which spread to attach itself to all [[Kent|Kentishmen]]; Greek-speaking Sicilians hurled the insult at the English generally in an incident during [[Third Crusade|Richard the First's crusade]] (1198–92).<ref>Miller, "'Tails' of Masculinity," p. 960.</ref>