Alexander’s Arabian
Alexander’s Arabian

Noble Steed or Fantastic Beast?

Author(s): Miriam A. Bibby
Subject(s): History, Cultural history, Social history, Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries
Published by: Trivent Publishing
Keywords: Alexander I, King of Scotland; Scotland; St Andrews; Arabicus; foundation; Arabian; horse; oryx;unicorn;
Summary/Abstract: In 1121, Alexander I, King of Scotland, is said to have donated an equine (“donationis monumentum regium equum Arabicum”) to the church at St Andrews along with other rare and costly gifts. It was led to the altar during a ceremony that reinforced the status of St Andrews as a religious center and emphasized its relationship with the Scottish crown. Some modern commentators take it to be the first reference to an Arabian horse in Britain. There is no further reference to an Arabian horse as an “equus Arabicus” for several hundred years. What animal was presented at St Andrews?

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