|
Towarzysz
Companion (Polish: ''towarzysz'' , plural: ''towarzysze'') was a junior cavalry officer or knight-officer in the army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 16th century until its demise in 1795. Name During the 20th century, ''towarzysz'' assumed the same meaning as the Russian ('' tovarishch'', "comrade"), with the military meaning fading in use. Use of cultural expressions such as '' pan'' ("sir") was frowned upon and the communist regime encouraged use of ''towarzysz'' ("companion") or '' obywatel'' ("citizen"). Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth In the military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, (until the 1775 AD reforms) companion was usually a noble who served in the Army for a period of time, usually less than 5 years, as a horseman with his mounted retainers (cavalry) and ''free servants'' (hussars, cossack – Armoured companion, Petyhorcy, Hajduk), or with none or one retainer and very few free servants (light cavalry e.g. Wallachian, Lisowczyks, L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Winged Hussars
The Polish hussars (; ), alternatively known as the winged hussars, were an elite heavy cavalry formation active in Poland and in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1503 to 1702. Their epithet is derived from large rear wings, which were intended to demoralize the enemy during a charge. The hussars ranked as the elite of Polish cavalry until their official disbanding in 1776. The hussar dress was ostentatious and comprised plated body armour (cuirass, spaulders, bevors, and arm bracers) adorned by gold ornaments, a burgonet or lobster-tailed pot helmet and jackboots as well as versatile weaponry such as lances, long thrusting swords, sabres, pistols, carbines, maces, hatchets, war hammers, and horseman's picks. It was customary to maintain a red-and-white colour scheme, and to be girded with tanned animal hide. The wings were traditionally assembled from the feathers of raptors, and the angel-like frame was fastened onto the armour or saddle. The early hussars were l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Armoured Companion
The armoured companion (, , ) was a medium-cavalryman used by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th to 18th centuries. They are named after their chain mail armour. These units were the second-most important (and successful) cavalry in the Polish–Lithuanian army, after the hussars. Most ''pancerni'' were recruited from the middle to lowest classes of the Polish nobility. These companions were organized into companies, with each company (, or ) consisting of 60 to 200 horsemen. The Cossacks were renamed armoured cavalry () in 1676 as the Cossack name was associated with the Khmelnytsky Uprising. After the reforms in 1776, both hussars and armored companions were transformed into National Cavalry units. Arms and armour They used chainmail or bechter armour to protect the upper body, vambrace sometimes with gauntlets, secretes (rarely lobster-tailed pot helmets), buckler shields, sabre, composite bow, pistols, and carbine. Earlier companies would sometimes be e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Military Of The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth consisted of two separate armies of the Kingdom of Poland's Crown Army and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army following the 1569 Union of Lublin, which joined to form the bi-conderate elective monarchy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The army of each country was commanded by their respective Hetmans. A distinctive formation of both armies were the Winged hussars. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy never played a major role and ceased to exist in 1643. Commonwealth forces were engaged in numerous conflicts in the south (against the Ottoman Empire), the east (against the Tsardom of Muscovy and later, the Russian Empire) and the north (the Kingdom of Sweden); as well as internal conflicts (most notably, numerous Cossack uprisings). For the first century or so, the Commonwealth military was usually successful, but became less so from around the mid-17th century. Plagued by insufficient fun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Petyhorcy
Petyhorcy (singular: Petyhorzec, , ) was a type of regular medium-armoured light cavalry exclusively in the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army during the 17th and 18th centuries. The petyhorcy are viewed as the Lithuanian equivalent of the Polish Armoured Companion, or as a cavalry type that was between the Winged Hussars and the Armoured Companion. They were organised in Banners. Originally, the Petyhorcy were spear-armed cavalry from Circassia. The Petyhorcy were supposed to finish off and defeat the enemy line that was breached by the Winged Hussars. While the Winged Hussars were more prestigious, the Petyhorcy enjoyed high reputation, hence their banner's rotmistras were frequently high-ranking officials. In fact, the Petyhorcy developed in the late 16th-century from the mounted shooters who protected the hussars. Etymology The name of the Petyhorcy comes from Mount Beshtau (in Turkic languages, means five and means mountain). The name of the Russian city of Pyatigorsk is als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Comrade
In political contexts, comrade means a fellow party member. The political use was inspired by the French Revolution, after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers. Since the Russian Revolution, popular culture in the West has often associated it with communism. As such, it can also be used as a derogatory reference to leftists, akin to "". In particular, the Russian word () may be used as derogatory reference to communists. The influence of the term in communism in the 20th century led anarchists to prefer the term ' companion', a term that has been used in Western Europe since the end of the 19th century. Etymology The term comrade generally means 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally', and derives from the Spanish and Portuguese term , , from Latin , . It may also specifically mean "fellow soldier", comrade in arms. Background Upon abolishing the titles of nobility in France, and the terms and (literally, 'my lord' and 'my lady'), the rev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Banner (cavalry)
A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, a bar-shaped piece of non-cloth advertising material sporting a name, slogan, or other marketing message is also a banner. Banner-making is an ancient craft. Church banners commonly portray the saint to whom the church is dedicated. The word derives from Old French ''baniere'' (modern ), from Late Latin ''bandum'', which was borrowed from a Germanic languages, Germanic source (compare ). Cognates include Italian language, Italian ''bandiera'', Portuguese language, Portuguese ''bandeira'', and Spanish language, Spanish ''bandera''. Vexillum The vexillum was a flag-like object used as a military standard by units in the Ancient Roman army. The word ''vexillum'' itself is a diminutive of the Latin ''velum'', meaning a sail, which confir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Muntenia (Greater Wallachia) and Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia). Dobruja could sometimes be considered a third section due to its proximity and brief rule over it. Wallachia as a whole is sometimes referred to as Muntenia through identification with the larger of the two traditional sections. Wallachia was founded as a principality in the early 14th century by Basarab I after a rebellion against Charles I of Hungary, although the first mention of the territory of Wallachia west of the river Olt dates to a charter given to the voivode Seneslau in 1246 by Béla IV of Hungary. In 1417, Wallachia was forced to accept the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire; this lasted until the 19th century. In 1859, Wallachia united with Moldavia to form the Un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Lisowczyks
Lisowczyks or Lisowczycy (; also known as ''Straceńcy'' ('lost men' or 'forlorn hope') or (company of ); or in singular form: Lisowczyk or ) was the name of an early 17th-century irregular unit of the Polish–Lithuanian light cavalry. The Lisowczycy took part in many battles across Europe and the historical accounts of the period characterized them as extremely agile, warlike, and bloodthirsty. Their numbers varied with time, from a few hundred to several thousand. The origin of the group can be traced to konfederacja (a form of semi-legal mutiny of royal forces, practiced in the Kingdom of Poland and then in the Commonwealth), organized around 1604 by Aleksander Józef Lisowski. They began to grow in strength and fame a few years later, when Lisowski's irregulars were incorporated into the forces fighting in Muscovy. The Lisowczycy unit of the Polish cavalry received no formal wages; instead, they were allowed to loot and plunder as they pleased. They relied on their speed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Lithuanian Tatars
The Lipka Tatars are a Turkic ethnic group and minority in Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of the 14th century. The first Tatar settlers tried to preserve their Pagan tradition and sought asylum amongst the pre-Christian Lithuanians. Towards the end of the 14th century, another wave of Tatars—this time, Islamized Turkic populations, were invited into the Grand Duchy by Vytautas the Great. These Tatars first settled in Lithuania proper around Vilnius, Trakai, Hrodna and Kaunas, later spreading to other parts of the Grand Duchy that later became part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. These areas comprise parts of present-day Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland. From the very beginning of their settlement in Lithuania they were known as the Lipka Tatars. From the Battle of Grunwald onwards, the Lipka Tatar light cavalry regiments participated in every significant military campaign of Lithuania and Poland. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Pocztowy
A poczet (, "fellowship" or "retinue"; plural ''poczty'') was the smallest organized unit of soldiers in the Royal Polish Army and later also the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army from the 15th until the 18th century. The name of a medium or heavy-cavalry soldier in a poczet was pocztowy. In the cavalry, each poczet was commanded by a Companion or Armoured companion. Several poczets were combined to form larger units like a banner (the equivalent of a Western company). In this context the poczet is the equivalent of the medieval Lances fournies. A pocztowy was an assistant and subordinate to the Companion, and usually a peasant. In some respects this role was similar to the older page or squire of a knight. He was armoured like his superior, but fought in the second or third line and was responsible for guarding his back and flanks in a battle. See also * Offices in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
