Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Stirrup: The Simplest Greatest Idea in the World

Episode Date: July 11, 2020

Every so often, an idea comes along that is so simple, yet so profound that you smack yourself in the head for not having thought of it yourself. Even more rare is such an idea that can have global implications. An idea that can create empires, topple kingdoms, and establish economic orders which can last for centuries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every so often an idea comes along that is so simple yet so profound that you smack yourself in the head for not having thought of it yourself. Even more rare is such an idea that can have global implications, an idea that can create empires, topple kingdoms, and establish economic orders which can last for centuries. Find out about the incredibly simple yet profound idea which changed the course of human history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wronged long. ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world

now. Time travel with us every week on the Thurline podcast from NPR. This episode is brought to you by the Travel Photography Academy. Have you ever been on a trip and wondered why your photos don't turn out like the images you see in travel magazines? If you're going to spend thousands of dollars on a trip and hundreds to thousands of dollars on a camera, you owe it to yourself to get the highest quality images from your trip. That's why I created the Travel Photography Academy. I set out to travel around the world in 2007 with an expensive camera, and I had no idea how to use it. As I traveled around the world, I taught myself the art of travel photography, eventually mastering it to a point where I was named Travel Photographer the Year three times

in North America. The Travel Photography Academy is an online course that teaches you everything you need to know to master your camera and to take better photos on your next trip. To improve your photography and to get better images on your next trip, visit Travel Photography Academy.com or click in the link in the show notes. If you're old enough, you remember a time when suitcases didn't have wheels. You probably also remember the first time you saw a suitcase with wheels and your first reaction was, like almost everyone else, why didn't I think of that? Sometimes great ideas are very simple. This episode is not about suitcases with wheels. It is about something far more basic, with results far more profound on the direction of human history.

So what is this incredibly simple invention which has changed the course of human history? It is the stirrup. Yes, the two hoops that hang off the saddle of a horse. The stirrup. You'd think that stirrups would have been figured out almost immediately after the domestication of the horse, or at least soon after the invention of the saddle. But that wasn't the case. It is believed that horses were domesticated about 6,000 years ago, a team-fetched.

from Cambridge University did a DNA study and determined that the first horses were domesticated in the grassy area of what is now Ukraine, southwest Russia, and western Kazakhstan. It was from here that domesticated horses spread throughout Europe and Asia. For several thousand years, saddles weren't used on horses. Horses were used to pull carts and chariots, and if they were ridden, they were ridden bareback or with a simple blanket. We know that the Romans during the Republican period did not use saddles, at least during Caesar's invasion of Britain. It wasn't until years later into the imperial period that the four-point saddles were first used by the Romans. Roman cavalry was most often used as mobile infantry, where they would ride quickly to flank an enemy, then get off their horse and fight.

They did fight on horseback, as was famously done in the Battle of Elysia when Julius Caesar defeated the Gaulish army under the leader of Versa Getterex. However, they would often have to fight keeping their balance on their horse with their legs. At no point did the Romans ever use stirrups. They weren't widely used in Europe until after the fall of the Western Empire when they were introduced by invading tribes. It is estimated that the first saddle was used around 300 BC and it was probably developed by the Chinese. The saddle developed as an advancement of the blanket which had always been used on horses and didn't provide the rider any way to balance themselves. The first real evidence of stirrups comes from India. There are Indian sculptures dating back to the year 200 BC that show barefoot riders using a type of stirrup that only fit the

rider's big toe. Just having a stirrup for your big toe might provide some stability on a horse, but a rider really can't put their weight on just their big toes. The problem with stirrups is that unless you can spread out the pressure created by the rider putting all their weight in one spot, it would be extremely uncomfortable for the horse, bringing sores on the back of the animal. The development of the stirrup came about with the invention of the tree saddle, which is the hard, wooden part of a saddle, which is below the leather or cloth that the rider sits on. This rigid surface, allows the weight of the rider to be more evenly distributed on the back of the horse. There is some evidence of an L-shaped footrest on horses on engravings from Central Asia

dating back to the year 100. However, they weren't yet a true stirrup as they didn't encircle the foot, and it would have been easy for a rider's foot to slip out. It is in the year 322 in China, where we see the first evidence of a true stirrup. There are triangular stirrup shown in the carvings and tombs from the first Jin Dynasty, as well as an actual stirrup, which was found in a tomb in Anyei, China. So now we have stirrups. What's the big deal? Why were footholds on a horse saddle so world-changing? Well, there were two major world-changing things which stirrups allowed to happen. Take stirrups away and our world becomes a very different place. The first revolution

which stirrups introduced was extremely deadly light cavalry. Archers had been shooting bows off the back of horses for centuries, but the stirrup changed the game entirely. The Mongols who came from the grassy steps of Central Asia had a culture that was based on horses. They were able to conquer much of China, India, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe because of their ability to fire arrows on horseback. One of their famous techniques was to attack an enemy force on horseback while firing arrows. Then turn around, do a false retreat firing arrows back at the enemy. As the enemy tired, they would then turn around and attack again, still firing arrows. Basically, because they could fire on horseback, they could do damage to their

foes from a distance and never get touched. It was an absolutely devastating technique, which was used by the Huns centuries earlier and led to the downfall of the Western Roman Empire. Over in Europe, stirrups were used in a totally different way. Here they were used to create heavy cavalry. The stirrup allowed an armored knight to remain stable on their horse while using their sword or a lance. This created the medieval version of a tank, an armored rider on an armored horse. There is a great debate amongst historians called the Great Stirrup controversy. This theory holds that the innovation of the stirrup allowed for feudalism to arise in Europe because it allowed for mounted knights. These knights were able to use their heavy armored cavalry to hold and control

land holdings and control their local populations. It also led to the development of new weapons like the long sword, which replaced the axe in much of Europe because it was easier to use on horseback. The stirrup theory isn't universally accepted among scholars, but the use of the stirrup certainly contributed to the revolution in European warfare. And just in case you're wondering what would happen if these two different schools of mounted combat were to clash, history has given us an answer to the question, and it really isn't even close. From the years 1240 to 1506, the Mongol golden horde ruled over what is today Western Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Kazakhstan.

On several occasions, they fought European heavy cavalry, and almost every time, the result was a lopsided win for the Mongols. The Mongol horses were bred for speed, so they could carry their riders quickly into and out of combat. The European horses were bred for strength to carry the heavy load of a knight in their armor. When the two sides met, the Mongols would often literally run rings around their opponents, shooting arrows into them, and never letting their larger European horses get close.

It is hard to express just how important the stirrup was to world history. Several large empires owe their existence to the stirrup, as does the entire system of economic production which dominated Europe for hundreds of years. This is a brand new podcast, and as such, it can really use your support. If you know someone who is curious and you think would like the show, please share it with them. And if you've enjoyed this show, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, where you'll get new content for curious people every day in your podcast place.

and leave a five-star review. More reviews can help the show be discovered by more people. And also, please support the show over on Patreon, where you will get exclusive audio content not available in the podcast feed, merchandise such as t-shirts, and you'll be able to submit ideas for future episodes. Until next time, stay curious.