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Acaparison is a cloth covering laid over ahorse or other animal for protection and decoration. In modern times, they are used mainly inparades and forhistorical reenactments. A similar term ishorse-trapper.[1] The word is derived from the Latincaparo, meaning a cape.[2]
In antiquity, a "magnificently caparisoned horse" takes a central place in avision reported in thedeutero-canonical text,2 Maccabees 3:25, which prevents theSeleucid emissaryHeliodorus from a planned assault on the Jewishtemple treasury inJerusalem.[3]
In theMiddle Ages, caparisons were part of the horse armour known asbarding, which was worn duringbattle andtournaments. They were adopted in the twelfth century in response to conditions of campaigning in theCrusades, where local armies employed archers, both on foot and horse, in large quantities. The covering might not completely protect the horse against the arrows but it could deflect and lessen their damage.
An early depiction of a knight's horse wearing a caparison may be seen on the smallCarlton-in-Lindrick knight figurine from the late 12th century. Modern re-enactment tests have shown that a loose caparison protects the horse reasonably well against arrows, especially if combined with agambeson-like undercloth underneath. Medieval caparisons were frequently embroidered with thecoat of arms of the horse's rider.
In 1507, a horse disguised as aunicorn at the tournament of theWild Knight and the Black Lady in Edinburgh had a caparison of black and white damask lined with canvas.[4] A caparison made of red taffeta for the horseJames VI of Scotland in June 1591 may have been intended for a masque performed atTullibardine Castle.[5] Velvet caparisons lined with buckram were made forHenrietta Maria and her gentlewomen in 1630s.[6]
In the Indian state ofKerala, elephants are decorated during temple festivals. They wear a distinctive golden head covering called anettipattam, which is often translated into English as an elephant caparison. However, it covers only the head, not the body, as in a horse caparison.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Caparison".Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.
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