Destrier Destrier The destrier is the best-known war horse of the medieval era. It carried knights in battles, tournaments, and jousts. It was described by contemporary sources as the "Great Horse", due to its significance. While highly prized by knights and men-at-arms, the destrier was not very common. Most knights and mounted men-at-arms rode other war horses, such as coursers and rounceys. These three types of horse were often referred to generically as chargers. The word is first attested in Middle English around 1330, as "destrer". It was borrowed into Middle English from Anglo-Norman "destrer", whose Old French counterpart was "destrier"
Vision of a Knight (Raphael) choose between Virtue (behind whom is a steep and rocky path) and Pleasure (in looser robes). However, the two feminine figures are not presented as contestants. They may represent the ideal attributes of the knight: the book, sword and flower which they hold suggest the ideals of scholar, soldier and lover which a knight should combine. The most likely source for the allegory depicted is from a passage in the Punica, an epic poem recounting the Second Punic War by the Latin poet Silius Italicus. The panel was moved to England by William Young Ottley in 1800. Raphael used an