Doctoral Committee
THE HUMAN HORSE: EQUINE HUSBANDRY, ANTHROPOMORPHIC HIERARCHIES, AND DAILY LIFE IN LOWER SAXONY, 1550-1735 BY AMANDA RENEE EISEMANN DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Craig Koslofsky, Chair Associate Professor Clare Crowston Professor Richard Burkhardt Professor Mark Micale Professor Mara Wade ii Abstract This dissertation examines how human-animal relationships were formed through daily equine trade networks in early modern Germany. As reflections of human cultural values and experiences, these relationships had a significant impact in early modern Braunschweig- Lüneburg both on the practice of horse breeding and veterinary medicine and on the gendering of certain economic resources, activities, and trades. My study relies on archival and cultural sources ranging from the foundational documents of the Hannoverian stud farm in Celle, tax records, guild books, and livestock registers to select pieces of popular and guild art, farrier guides, and farmers’ almanacs. By combining traditional social and economic sources with those that offer insight on daily life, this dissertation is able to show that in early modern Germany, men involved with equine husbandry and horse breeding relied on their economic relationship with horses' bodies as a means to construct distinct trade and masculine identities. Horses also served as social projections of their owners’ bodies and their owners’ culture, representing a unique code of masculinity that connected and divided individuals between social orders. Male identities, in particular, were molded and maintained through the manner of an individual’s contact with equestrian trade and through the public demonstration of proper recognition of equine value.
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