There's also an old canard that it's possible to tell from an equestrian
statue whether its rider was ever wounded in battle: if the horse has one
leg raised the rider was wounded once, two legs he was wounded more than once,
three legs he died in battle. Pure nonsense; the simple fact is that a statue
of a horse with all four legs on the ground is static and boring so at least
one leg is always shown raised. Similarly it used to be thought that knightly
effigies with crossed legs represented crusaders but this has now been
discounted as antiquarian imagination. So I'd have reservations about whether
animals could represent crusading status any more than they represent battle
scars.
John P.
On Fri, 3 Dec 1999, Anna Sander wrote:
> Dear Jim,
>
> The consensus from the DPhil workroom here is that a dog under the feet
> of a knight's tomb effigy means he died at home, and a lion means he
> died on the Crusades. (!) The consensus is also that there isn't a
> documented meaning, which means that this is a guess. A dog under the
> feet of somebody's wife's effigy, however, indicates fidelity, as per
> another answer.
>
> Anna Sander
> Centre for Medieval Studies, York
>
>
>
>
> Jim Kerbaugh wrote:
> >
> > Dear Listmembers,
> >
> > Last week I led a group of American undergraduates on a tour of
> > cathedrals & castles in the UK. At Salisbury, one of my students
> > asked if the dog at the feet of knights on tomb effigies meant
> > anything. Being <indifferent honest,> I said yes, but I've forgotten
> > what. I've been searching my bookshelves all week without any luck,
> > so I'd be eternally grateful for the information. I solemnly promise
> > not to forget again.
> >
> > Desperately yours,
> > Jim Kerbaugh
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