Hansken and other known elephants in Europe, and doubts over six elephants in Mantua

A festive float drawn by three pairs of elephants at Mantua, during the celebrations in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1640.

Most probably we are looking at a diverting fantasy, for elephants in the Europe of that age could be counted on the fingers of one hand. To be precise, only one is reliably known: a female elephant nicknamed Hansken, who lived from 1630 to 1655 and was brought to Holland from Sri Lanka. For many years she toured Europe, enjoyed great fame, and was even drawn by Rembrandt. There were other elephants too, and all of them belonged to royal persons, were diplomatic gifts or very costly attractions: the elephant drawn by Raphael in 1514, the elephant of René of Anjou, the elephant of Maximilian II, the elephant of Pope Leo X, the elephant of Ercole d’Este, and several others.

But that a provincial backwater like Mantua should have mustered as many as six elephants at once, and as draught animals into the bargain, is hard to credit. I would on no account have allowed my own elephant to haul heavy loads.