Of knights, cranes, hoists and winches…; the myth of how knights mounted horses

Abstract

It is sometimes erroneously claimed that medieval knights, weighed down in their plate armour, could only mount horses with the aid of some mechanical device. This myth is found not only in some popular accounts of the Middle Ages but is also in the works of modern academics. It has been repeatedly claimed that it originated in the work of Mark Twain. However, even this is nothing but another myth in itself. A further re-examination of written and other sources demonstrates the idea can be traced back to earlier satirical reports of the mid-19th century. Although these are the earliest known references to an armoured figure being ‘hoisted’ so far discovered it would appear that later publications, as well as plays and films, using the idea, allowed it to blossom into an, apparently, accepted ‘historical fact’. This article attempts to trace the history and development of this myth.