Medieval war elephants
lay under him and killed him,
and the elephant fell on him to the ground,
and he died there."
First Book of Maccabees, 6:46
History and culture. We have more than once on the pages of VO raised the question of how people in the old days distributed and stored information. For example, how people of different nations passed it on to each other in the early Bronze Age in the absence of writing. Or another question, where did they get information about events that they did not witness? When people had written language, it became possible to accumulate any information and pass it on to their descendants, in fact, they could pass it on before, but now, in addition to the oral channel, there is also a written one. That is, the opportunities for informing people have become more.
But ... here there was one important problem related to the ability to interpret written information. For example, we can see an elephant in a drawing, but not knowing that it is an elephant, we cannot call it ... an elephant! And vice versa: after reading in a text description what an elephant looks like, not every person after that will be able to portray him like ... an elephant, even if he knows how to draw.
A very striking example of such difficulties can be medieval miniatures from European manuscripts with images of ancient war elephants. In the ancient world, they were used quite widely, so they certainly got into the descriptions of ancient historians. The books of Herodotus, Aristotle and many other ancient authors were well known to enlightened Europeans in the Middle Ages. They were read, they were copied in monasteries. But what about the layout? The fact is that ancient manuscripts did not contain illustrations, and bas-reliefs depicting war elephants existed, but just in those places where European chroniclers did not look.
Hence, it is in the images of war elephants in the miniatures of medieval illuminators that we have a truly amazing fusion of knowledge and fantasy, and each miniature from a dated manuscript is also every time a monument to its time, because what surrounded these artists at that time, they depicted usually very accurately. But they did not have a historical vision of history, and therefore extrapolated their vision of modern realities into the distant past.
By the way, many readers of VO, after the publication of the material devoted to the bestiary manuscripts of the Middle Ages, asked me to tell specifically about war elephants. But what war elephants were in Europe in the Middle Ages? Yes, they were used in India for quite a long time, and the armor of one of them even flaunts in the Royal Arsenal in Leeds in England. But… if the Europeans knew about them, then only by hearsay, and then after the successful return of Vasco da Gama's expedition. And so, it was information through the tenth hand, at the level of stories about dog-headed people and gold-bearing ants.
In addition, to talk simply about the elephants depicted in the miniatures, in my opinion, would not be very interesting. It will be much more interesting if we, again, consider each miniature “with elephants” as a historical source. So, here they are, beauties, right in front of us!
One of the earliest images of a war elephant is found in the Bestiary of 1185, created in England. Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, New York. It is obvious that the artist has never seen an elephant live. But in general, he conveyed his appearance quite accurately. On the heads of the warriors, helmets are very characteristic of this particular time.
Another miniature from the "Bestiary", but already 1225-1250. Salisbury. British Library, London. Here, knights in topfhelm and chapelle-de-fer helmets with axes, spears and a crossbow in their hands sit on an elephant, and they, in turn, are fired upon by archers and slingers
Miniature from the "Theological Collection", 1236-1275. England. British Library, London. Perhaps this is where the elephant looks most realistic!
Just a wonderful miniature from the manuscript "The Book of Ancient Stories", 1285. Place of creation: France. British Library, London. The smallest details of equipment and clothes, as well as the faces of the characters, are very carefully written out. However, look who makes up, so to speak, the “crew” of a war elephant? These are clearly Muslims in turbans, who are surrounded by Western European knights
"Decretals of Gregory IX", 1275-1325 Place of Creation: South of France, British Library, London. On the miniature from this manuscript, we, again, see an elephant with a huge two-tiered tower on its back. Most likely, the medieval illustrator wanted to impress those who had to consider his miniatures with the huge appearance of an elephant.
"Psalter from Peterborough", 1300-1325. England. Royal Library of Belgium, Brussels. Funny scene, isn't it? The elephant is given to drink!
The Middle Ages was not already as dark a time as some imagine. If desired, at that time it was possible to get acquainted with such a manuscript as Ancient History before Caesar, 1325-1350, which was written in Naples in Italy, and is now in the British Library in London. Here, for the artist, everything was clearly very simple. Quite contemporary knights in his miniature ride elephants, as if on donkeys, and the elephants are drawn with hooves! It is interesting that on the heads of many of the warriors they wear helmets with a cruciform reinforcement of the front part and, in addition, with a crown extended upwards, which received a very apt nickname - "sugar loaf"
Manuscript called "Decades" (this was also a very popular genre of ten-year chronicles), 1370 France. Library of St. Genevieve, Paris. This is how the miniaturist saw the battle with elephants. And everything seems to be within reason. But these war elephants just clearly lack a driver!
Miniature from the very popular in the Middle Ages treatise "The Mirror of Human Salvation", 1325-1375. Germany. British Library, London. Here, an impressive tower is placed on the elephant, and even with a door, which seems to show the scale. But here the human figure under the word is clearly drawn on a completely different scale. Such was the peculiarity of medieval painting. The artist who illustrated the text, first of all, tried to show what is happening in the text. In this case, no doubt, the biblical text from the "First Book of Maccabees" was illustrated. Size discrepancies didn't bother him. Readers, no doubt, perfectly understood that an elephant with a tower on its back is large, and a warrior striking him with a spear is small. By the way, for some reason, the elephant itself most of all looks like a horse!
Another "Mirror of Human Salvation", and of the same years (1325-1375), but from the State Library of Baden. Here the same scene is presented in a completely different way ...
The next "Mirror ...", 1330-1340 Vienna, Austria. Austrian National Library. Elephant, again, on horse hooves and very vicious in appearance. And the tower for the warriors on his back is completely drawn with a two-tier
A beautiful miniature from the extremely popular in the Middle Ages "Romance of Alexander" (of course, this is Alexander the Great), circa 1338-1344. Bodleian Library, Oxford University. Here you can see armor, and a surcoat, and horse armor along with a blanket, different types of helmets and even a rondel dagger. Moreover, it is very significant that under the surcoat, Alexander clearly shows armor made of riveted strips, that is, this miniature very reliably represents to us a knight in the armor of the “transitional period” - from the “epoch of chain mail” to the “epoch of white armor”. Well, where is the elephant on it? An elephant, or rather - elephants, with huge towers on their backs are depicted under the belly of Alexander's horse. After all, Alexander is more important!
Another miniature from another Decades manuscript, 1401-1433. France, Troyenne Agglomeration Mediatheque. However, here is another disproportionate image. Apparently, the illustrator came across the expression "riding an elephant." So he literally portrayed a man ... riding an elephant!
And finally, one of the latest book miniatures depicting a war elephant. Another "Mirror of human salvation", 1450 Bruges, Belgium. Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum, New York
Why "last"? Well, perhaps there are others, but the thing is that in 1450 books were not only written by hand, but also began to be printed. Printed books published in Europe from the beginning of printing to January 1, 1501, were called incunabula, and they also contained illustrations, but already printed. For the time being, we are considering only medieval manuscripts and their miniatures.
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