Warrior Polish Winged Hussars 1576-1775 Osprey Books

Poland was once one of Europe's great powers. United with Lithuania in a 'Commonwealth', its sovereign territory was the largest in Europe. This huge state was maintained thanks to an effective and highly mobile army, headed by the legendary 'winged' hussars. The Polish hussar was, to quote one of many foreign visitors impressed by them, 'without doubt one of the most spectacular soldiers in the world'. Fundamentally a cross between the Western lancer and the Mongol horseman, combining western 'shock' with Eastern 'speed', their origins lay in Serbian or Albanian troop types, and evolved further in the late 15th and early 16th centuries on the frontier between Christendom and Islam in the Balkans and Hungary. By the mid-16th century recruitment among the Poles had begun and the hussars began to don increasingly heavy armour. Most dramatic of all hussar characteristics were the 'wings' worn on the back or on the saddle, although not all hussars wore them: their purpose has been hotly debated. Equally characteristic were animal skins, typically leopard or wolf-furs, worn over steel plate armour. The hussar's main offensive weapon was a 4-5 metre lance (kopia). The hussars terrified the Turks, Tatars, Muscovite boyars, Ukrainian Cossacks, and Swedes, who did everything to avoid facing them directly in battle. This title takes a close look at the origins and development of the Polish 'winged' hussars, and using many years' painstaking research drawn from unpublished Polish sources, provides a rounded view of the training, tactics, appearance and experiences of these legendary and fascinating warriors.