Event Title

Translation and Studies of Jordanus Rufus’s Treatise on Horsemanship: A Project Talk

Session

Alternative Presentations II

Location

Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, University Library

Start Date

29-9-2023 2:40 PM

End Date

29-9-2023 3:30 PM

Description

“No animal is nobler than the horse, for by the horse kings and princes are distinguished from other poor people” says Jordanus Rufus in the opening lines of his treatise on horsemanship. Rufus’s work was a medieval bestseller, surviving in 173 copies in numerous languages. Most of the copies are in Latin, but some are in Italian, Occitan, French and German, with one copy being in Hebrew. The treatise was also plagiarized by other medieval authors, notably Laurenco Rusio, whose work went into print in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century.

This project aims to make Rufus’s text accessible to the modern audience, to medievalists, horse historians and horse people interested in the historical methods of horse training and care. We are going to produce a reader-friendly English translation of the Latin version, with critical apparatus highlighting the differences between different redactions and translations following the text. Apart from the introduction, the text itself and the notes, we will include a selection of studies dedicated to various aspects of Rufus’s work, including the practical application of Rufus’s training methods, studies, reconstructions and practical experiments of bits mentioned by Rufus and illustrated in some later copies, and commentaries on the changes and additions introduced by different translators and copyists.

Anastasija Ropa will briefly introduce the project and the contributors, explain its scope and the work that has been completed by that time. She will also speak about her experimental approach to Rufus’s technique of training young elite horses, which Anastasija has tried with a handled two-year old sport horse (Latvian Warmblood) in the past and with an unhandled feral pony (Polski konik) during the spring and summer of 2023. She explains her interpretation of Rufus’s instructions on horse breeding, desensitization and early training, discusses her adaptation of Rufus’s methods and argues that Rufus’s methods are equally effective for training sport horses and unhandled horses today.

Emma Herbert-Davies is PhD student at the University of Leeds. In her talk, Emma will talk about her contribution to the project, working with the Latin version of Rufus’s text edited by Hyeronym Molin, and how this text relates to her doctoral research into the administration of warhorses in medieval England. In particular, Emma is interested in the medical care and recipes listed in Rufus’s treatise and the way this material relates to the vernacular English treatises on the one hand and to the information provided in administrative records mentioning horses on the other hand.

The ensuing volume will be part of the Rewriting Equestrian History series published by Trivent Medieval.

COinS
 
Sep 29th, 2:40 PM Sep 29th, 3:30 PM

Translation and Studies of Jordanus Rufus’s Treatise on Horsemanship: A Project Talk

Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, University Library

“No animal is nobler than the horse, for by the horse kings and princes are distinguished from other poor people” says Jordanus Rufus in the opening lines of his treatise on horsemanship. Rufus’s work was a medieval bestseller, surviving in 173 copies in numerous languages. Most of the copies are in Latin, but some are in Italian, Occitan, French and German, with one copy being in Hebrew. The treatise was also plagiarized by other medieval authors, notably Laurenco Rusio, whose work went into print in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century.

This project aims to make Rufus’s text accessible to the modern audience, to medievalists, horse historians and horse people interested in the historical methods of horse training and care. We are going to produce a reader-friendly English translation of the Latin version, with critical apparatus highlighting the differences between different redactions and translations following the text. Apart from the introduction, the text itself and the notes, we will include a selection of studies dedicated to various aspects of Rufus’s work, including the practical application of Rufus’s training methods, studies, reconstructions and practical experiments of bits mentioned by Rufus and illustrated in some later copies, and commentaries on the changes and additions introduced by different translators and copyists.

Anastasija Ropa will briefly introduce the project and the contributors, explain its scope and the work that has been completed by that time. She will also speak about her experimental approach to Rufus’s technique of training young elite horses, which Anastasija has tried with a handled two-year old sport horse (Latvian Warmblood) in the past and with an unhandled feral pony (Polski konik) during the spring and summer of 2023. She explains her interpretation of Rufus’s instructions on horse breeding, desensitization and early training, discusses her adaptation of Rufus’s methods and argues that Rufus’s methods are equally effective for training sport horses and unhandled horses today.

Emma Herbert-Davies is PhD student at the University of Leeds. In her talk, Emma will talk about her contribution to the project, working with the Latin version of Rufus’s text edited by Hyeronym Molin, and how this text relates to her doctoral research into the administration of warhorses in medieval England. In particular, Emma is interested in the medical care and recipes listed in Rufus’s treatise and the way this material relates to the vernacular English treatises on the one hand and to the information provided in administrative records mentioning horses on the other hand.

The ensuing volume will be part of the Rewriting Equestrian History series published by Trivent Medieval.