The part for the month of May shows a horseman in full equipment. He is wearing a ring mail, which reaches below his knees, a helmet with a nosepiece and he is carrying a lance and a kite shaped shield with no umbo. He sits astride his stallion in a grand saddle. His right foot, which is placed in a stirrup, carries a spur.


In some calendars you will find a horseman portrayed. Sometimes he holds a twig or a flower, most often a gerfalcon. Sometimes he is in the saddle, other times he leads the horse by its bridle. He can also be found portrayed without his horse but with the gerfalcon resting on his hand or sometimes as a man resting in the shade of a tree. Only in one other case aside from on the Baldishol Tapestry is he armed - on a stained-glass painting in the cathedral in Chartres he carries a lance.

In the small woodcut which is from "A Peasant's Handbook or Weather Book" from 1744 a horseman is actually shown astride his horse with a gerfalcon on his arm.


In an older Danish peasant's handbook from 1680 it is written about the month of May:

If the sun on St. Urban's day clearly shines
The year will be like wine
If it rains great harm will see her
Years of experience tell us so.
Rain on Whitsunday is rarely good
Put your trust in God with good hope.
Late in May the oak will bud,
If the buds complete, a fine sign indeed,
A good beech mast will be
Bringing great happiness and joy.


Home
The Motive of the Month of April
The Edging, Flowers and other Details
The History of the Baldishol Tapestry
The Weaving technique of the Baldishol Tapestry