Horses and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism in Britain

Many articles and books have been written about the transition from feudalism to capitalism. The various points of view on what is the “main driver” or “prime mover” of the transition have been debated by historians and economic historians with a different factor being advocated by different schools of thought. This paper tries to offer another analysis of how the horse could have been an important “means to an end” in the development of capitalism, and this analysis possibly can lead to support for more than one view of what constitutes a main driver in the transition. One contribution of this research note is the use of estimates of British economic data that date from the 13th to the 19th Centuries to show the probable and profound influence of the horse on economic activity as horses become an important economic tool of capitalistic development. As with how capitalism exploits other aspects of nature, the horse becomes a commodity and part of what has become known as alienated speciesism, or the devaluation of non-human animal life. This is despite the fact the horse becomes an ally in meeting human needs for food and transportation. Yet its contribution in the transition from feudalism to capitalism is often ignored or given short mention.