ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses whether the pre-eminence of the Normans in war in the eleventh century was due in any significant measure to their possession of more and better warhorses than any of their neighbours. The story itself is folkloric, but it suggests that Duke Robert was able to recruit warriors from outside Normandy because of the quality of the horses which he could offer them. None of them wears any protective armour and there does not seem to be any difference of size in the horses ridden by Harold in England, Count Guy of Ponthieu or the Normans in general. Nevertheless the Bayeux Tapestry leaves one in no doubt that in 1066 the Normans' horses were thought marvellous in both quantity and quality. The importance of the tax which the Franks called fodrum and the Normans bernagium. The duty of supervising this fodder was placed on officers 'who were called marshals by both Franks and Normans.
