"Teutonic Knights - Horse Caparisons or Barding???" Topic

As per the title, while my old Minifigs figures have horses with barding, per old discussion thread here on TMP there is an argument based on records that they were not used.

Has this been settled?

Working up a couple of packs of the figures and can switch out the horses if necessary.

As usual, any assistance appreciated.

As far as I am aware of there is simply no mentioning of barding in any contemporary documents or depictions, be that illustrations, inventory lists, letters, or descriptions. However, on the other hand, no contemporary document states explicitly that they did not use barding. There is simply a lack of evidence for it.

In those old discussions there was a painting in a contemporary church in Italy that had Templars and Teutonics in residence at the time that was cited as evidence for the caparisons.

The counter was the extant equipment lists and vows of poverty and humility.

It has been 4-5 years since those discussions and I had hopes that the matter had been clarified.

Barded/caparisoned horses look very cool. Teutonic Knights look very cool. Therefore cool Knights rode cool looking horses. Some things in male human nature never change. And looking "cool" is one of them.

In those old discussions there was a painting in a contemporary church in Italy that had Templars and Teutonics in residence at the time that was cited as evidence for the caparisons.

Are you referring to San Bevignate? No Teutonics in residence there, never ever! It was a pure Templar church (after the suppression of the order the church was taken over by the Knights of St. John). Moreover, the Templars were out of sorts with the Teutonics not only because the latter had hogged the Rule of the Templar Order virtually verbatim but, apparently, because they had copied the symbols of the Templars as well. As a matter of fact and as the San Bevignate frescoes make clear, the use of the Templars' crosses was by no means restricted to red ones but they clearly used black ones as well. After all, black and white were the colours of the Templar banner, the Beausant, which may explain why that matter was not clearly settled in the 13th century…

Yes, was short of time and didn't have the links handy –

link

TMP link

Apparently I misremembered – the poster just noted that Templars were in residence and that the Orders had (as you note) similar Rules.

That second discussion references this image of St. George(?) and the Dragon at the Imperial Teutonic Order's website -

as a possible example.

Interestingly, they appear to have commissioned artists for their illustrations who also put caparisons on the horses.