''Obrona potoczna'', variously translated into English as "Permanent Defense", "General Defense", or "Current Defense" was a

hired Henry Jamison "Jam" Handy (March 6, 1886 – November 13, 1983) was an American Olympic breaststroke swimmer, water polo player, and founder of the Jam Handy Organization (JHO), a producer of commercially sponsored motion pictures, slidefilms (l ...

military force in the 15th- and 16th-century

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

and the

Polish–Lithuanian union Polish–Lithuanian can refer to: * Polish–Lithuanian union (1385–1569) * Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) * Polish-Lithuanian identity as used to describe groups, families, or individuals with histories in the Polish–Lithuania ...

, charged with defending the country's southern borders against incursions by the

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

as well as occasional raids by

Moldovans Moldovans, sometimes referred to as Moldavians (, , ), are an ethnic group native to Moldova, who mostly speak the Romanian language, also referred to locally as Moldovan language, Moldovan. Moldovans form significant communities in Romania, It ...

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

and

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, Munteni ...

ns. The force originated in 1479 although similar formations had been discussed at various sessions of the Polish

sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

previously. Its organization and funding was undertaken by prince

John I Albert John I Albert (; 27 December 1459 – 17 June 1501) was King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Roy ...

, later king of Poland, who at the time was charged with overseeing the defense of the south. While by the end of the 15th century it was a permanent formation, it was not a standing army as its members usually served seasonal shifts. The need for units of this type was recognized by the middle of the fifteenth century, as Tatar raids on the southern territories of the country - mostly

Red Ruthenia Red Ruthenia, also called Red Rus or Red Russia, is a term used since the Middle Ages for the south-western principalities of Kievan Rus', namely the Principality of Peremyshl and the Duchy of Belz, Principality of Belz. It is closely related to ...

and

Podolia Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria). Podolia is bordered by the Dniester River and Boh River. It features ...

- increased in frequency and the traditional ''

pospolite ruszenie ''Pospolite ruszenie'' (, lit. ''mass mobilization''; "Noble Host", , the French term ''levée en masse'' is also used) was the wartime mobilisation of all or a specific part of able-bodied male population of the state into armed forces during ...

'' ("levee en masse") proved inadequate at protecting the borders. The first commander of the force was Jan Karnkowski, later appointed

hetman ''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...

. Due to this position his title was "hetman of the hired soldiers". Initially numbering 1200 infantry and 900 cavalry, the size fluctuated depending on funding and need, and by the beginning of the 1500s it numbered around 2000. The money for the soldiers came mostly from royal coffers while the nobility made only minor and occasional financial contributions. The soldiers recruited mostly from

n and Ruthenian ''

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

'' (nobility), and while in service were stationed at

Kamieniec Podolski Kamianets-Podilskyi (, ; ) is a city on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi. Formerly the administrative center of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the city is now the administrative center of Kamianets ...

(Kamianets-Podilskyi, now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Trembowla Terebovlia (, ; ; ) is a small city in Ternopil Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. Terebovlia hosts the administration of Terebovlia urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: 13,661 (2001). History Terebovlia is one of ...

(Terebovl) and the fortress of

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

. Service in the formation provided the recruits with valuable military experience in a tough environment which made the ''Obrona potoczna'' one of the best units of the overall Polish armed forces of the time. In addition to protecting the frontier, ''Obrona potoczna'' also took part in regular military engagements, for example in the Polish victory against the Moldovans, at the

Battle of Obertyn The Battle of Obertyn (August 22, 1531) was fought between Moldavian Voivode Petru Rareş and Polish forces under hetman Jan Tarnowski, in the town of Obertyn, south of the Dniester River, now in Ukraine. The battle ended with a Polish victory an ...

. After the military reforms of king

Stefan Batory Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

in 1563, ''Obronna potoczna'' was replaced by the ''

Wojsko kwarciane ''Wojsko kwarciane'' (, ''quarter army'', Latin: ''quartanus'' or ''quartianus miles'') was the term used for regular army units of Poland (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth). The term was used since 1562. ''Wojsko kwarciane'' was formed from ear ...

'' ("Quarter Army"), an actual standing army. Many of the best soldiers in Batory's army during the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...

were former regimental leaders of the ''Obrona potoczna''.

References

{{reflist History of Poland during the Jagiellonian dynasty History of Ruthenia Military history of Poland 16th century in Ukraine