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respectable resting place for the animal at the Abbey, which he had established as the burial place of future kings. Mediaeval bestiaries attributed faithful and gentle virtues to elephants and associated them with the
Biblical paradise and the redemption of Christ. Later monarchs kept other elephants at the tower. The elephant house survived until its abandonment and demolition in the mid 19th century.
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and its keeper. From
December 1255 to September 1256 the costs were £24 14s 3.5d. At this time a labourer made around 2d a day and £15 was considered sufficient to support a knight for a year The order was renewed for the following term and the sheriffs claimed £16 13s 1d from September 1256 to 14 February 1257, when the elephant died. The animal had been a source of great pride for Henry.
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The elephant first appears in
English records of 13 December 1254 when Henry, who was then travelling from Paris to England, appointed his clerk, Peter of Gannoc, as the animal's keeper. Peter was dispatched to meet with the keeper of the Royal Menagerie, John Gouche, to arrange the transport of the
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De Flor had apparently succeeded Gouche to the role of keeper of the king's elephant when the latter left Henry's service in May 1255, apparently on good terms. In late 1255 the new sheriffs of London (it was an annual office) were ordered by the king to provide for the maintenance of the elephant
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and is less detailed. It may have been based on the first drawing or from sketches, no longer extant, made during Paris' visit. The second drawing shows a more realistic trunk and depicts the animal's keeper, Henry de Flor, to provide an indication of scale. Paris' drawings show prominent knee
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to do what the king had instructed with them (this order has not been found). It is not known if the king was intent on recovering the valuable ivory from the animal, planned to exhibit the bones as a curiosity or intended to reinter them. It is possible Henry's order was intended to provide a
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to view the elephant for himself. He noted that it was "a beast most strange and wonderful to the
English people". He states its age as ten years, noted that it was "ponderous and robust" and measured 10 feet (3.0 m) in height.
302:, home to the Royal Menagerie. A 40 by 20 feet (12.2 m × 6.1 m) wooden structure was built, which was adaptable for other uses. The sheriffs claimed £22 20d in expenses for the project.
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The elephant arrived in
England in early 1255 and a special house for it was constructed at the Lion's Tower of the Tower of London. It was the first elephant to be seen in the country since the
205:, which began in 1248 with an expedition to Egypt. This failed and Louis was captured and ransomed. He chose to remain in the region to continue the crusade, attempting to defend the
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reimbursed the sheriff £6 17s 5d for the transport of the elephant, with additional funds for the transport of Henry's treasure and messengers from Louis, coming to £9 6d total.
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Paris is known to have drawn the animal from life, an unusual practice at a time when depictions of animals were based primarily on convention or by copying from
339:(Book of Additional Things). It depicts the animal in colour and with a separate study of a different positioning of the trunk. The second drawing appears in
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to
England, met Louis at Orleans and Paris. During their meetings Henry demanded the return of the French provinces lost by his father,
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to assist the keepers. The sheriff went to Dover with Gouche and arranged transport for the elephant, which was then being kept at
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on a permanent footing, with animals being kept continuously from 1235 until 1834. Henry had received three leopards from
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who produced two drawings of it. The elephant survived in the Tower until 14 February 1257. It was buried in the Tower's
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to exhume the elephant's bones from the bailey of the Tower of London and provide them to the sacristan of
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and noted that "people flocked together to see the novel sight". Paris travelled from
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490:. Vol. 3: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. Cambridge University Press.
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In
November and December 1254 Henry III, travelling through France on his return from
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joints. This is contrary to the prevailing belief, introduced by the 4th-century AD
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Thomas, Phillip
Drennon (1 January 1996). "The Tower of London's Royal Menagerie".
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and gave him an elephant to this end in 1252–1253. The elephant was brought from
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as he was travelling through France in late 1254. It was kept for a while at
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A modern sculpture depicting the keeping of elephants at the Tower of London
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on the northern French coast, whilst transport was arranged to
England.
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The animal was the first elephant in
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The elephant seems to have arrived in Europe as a result of
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Although earlier monarchs had kept exotic animals at the
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The elephant was brought to London and handed to the
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1245 – 14 February 1257) was an animal of the king's
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313:and its arrival caused a sensation. Chronicler
533:"Matthew Paris and the Elephant at the Tower"
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592:Animals as diplomatic gifts
582:Medieval individual animals
507:"The Elephant at the Tower"
139:. The animal was given to
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347:Hexameron
273:Exchequer
211:Holy Land
192:Haakon IV
176:Henry III
141:Henry III
484:(1954).
307:Claudius
246:Margaret
52:Elephant
352:Ambrose
271:. The
267:, near
265:Wissant
242:Eleanor
234:Gascony
209:in the
174:it was
145:Wissant
127:at the
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47:Species
269:Calais
160:bailey
464:(PDF)
421:: 30.
219:Cairo
215:Syria
104:Owner
519:2022
238:John
223:Acre
115:The
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58:Born
350:of
221:to
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