"When Poland has not yet perished …"
A bloody cloud hung over Poland, And the red drops are burning cities.
But the star shines in the glow of the past centuries.
Under the pink wave, surging, the Vistula is crying.
Sergey Yesenin. Sonnet "Poland")
Knights and chivalry of three centuries. Today we continue to consider the military affairs of Europe from 1050 to 1350, which modern foreign historians consider the "era of chain mail." Today our theme will be the knighthood of Poland. Well, let's start with her story …
Through the labors of Prince Meshko …
The Polish state was formed in the 10th century under the rule of Prince Mieszko from the Piast family, who in 966 decided to convert to Christianity according to the Catholic rite. Prince Boleslav the Brave (reigned 992-1025) finally united the Polish lands, so that by 1100 Poland owned almost the same territory as today, with the exception of Pomerania on the Baltic Sea coast and southern Prussian lands. However, here in Poland the era of feudal fragmentation (1138-1320) and internecine feud began. And as often happened in other lands, the appeal of Prince Vladislav the Exile in 1157 to Frederick I Barbarossa for help, led to the fact that Poland then fell into fief dependence from the German Empire for a hundred years. Polish medieval chroniclers are full of reproaches to the Germans for their arrogance, and also accused them of various intrigues. The Germans were called "locusts" and were condemned for their "malice". The chronicler Gall Anonymous accused Chekhov of "treachery" and "robbery". Russia also got it from him. He attributed to her such impartial qualities as "savagery" and "bloodthirstiness". Only under Casimir III the Great in the middle of the 14th century did Poland finally manage to be reborn as a kingdom, and then in 1349 Casimir III was able to capture Galich and Lvov. After several campaigns on Chervonnaya Rus in 1366, he also managed to capture Volhynia and Podolia, adding glory and power to himself.
Friends who have become sworn enemies
The following event was also of great importance for the history of Poland: in 1226, the pagan Prussians attacked Mazovia, the central province of Poland. Duke Konrad Mazowiecki turned to the Teutonic Order, which became famous during the Crusades, for help. The knights, however, not only conquered these pagan tribes, but also acted "like a dog that bites the hand that feeds it": starting to build castles on Polish soil, they conquered the port city of Gdansk, and then took the whole northern Poland, declaring their land. Fortified in the huge castle of Malbork and controlling the Baltic herring and amber trade, the Order soon became the main source of military power in the region.
Traditions of our own and traditions of others
As for military affairs, historians note the dominance of the infantry over the cavalry for the period of the formation of the Polish state among the northwestern Slavs. The cavalry units were feudal squads, which was typical of Eastern Europe, and the infantry were the militias of the cities. By the beginning of the 12th century, the coastal Slavs also had many boats, on which, huddled in mobs, they raided all the way to Norway. The cavalry became more, but light, and she used the tactics of the neighboring Prussians and Lithuanians. That is, the riders attacked the enemy at full gallop, threw darts and short spears, and quickly retreated. D. Nicole considers it as close to nomadic, and not sedentary peoples. The only difference was that these riders did not shoot with bows from the saddle. They had to fight the pagan Prussians, Lithuanians, Samogitians both in summer and in winter, because it was in winter that they most often made their raids, driving people into captivity. Then the same tactics were adopted from them by the knights-crusaders, who killed men, but tried to capture more women and children. At the same time, already in the 13th century, many Slavic princes of what is now the Baltic provinces of Germany became full members of the Christian German military aristocracy. Naturally, she could not but touch upon the Polish knights the idea of freeing the Holy Sepulcher. So, the Polish crusaders are already mentioned in 1147, when the Polish prince Vladislav went to Outremer. Seven years later, namely in 1154, Prince Henryk of Sandomierz arrived there, taking part in the siege of Ascolon with his knights. Returning to Poland, he invited the Knights of the Order of the Hospitallers to Malopolska, who founded their komturia here. In 1162 the Serbian-Luzhitsky prince Jaksa from Kopanitsa invited the Knights of the Templar Order to Poland. And a certain Polish knight had Gerland, while in Palestine, not only joined the Hospitaller Order, but reached a respectable position in it. Many knights went to the East on their own. So, in 1347, the French diplomat Philippe de Masere met in Jerusalem the Polish knight Voychech from Pakhost, who made a strange, but quite chivalrous spirit, a vow to stand until the Saracens were expelled from the Holy Land.
Of course, the Polish Slavs were never "Germanized" very much, but the fact that since 1226 they were under strong German influence and their military organization served as their main example is undoubtedly. And then came the year 1241, the defeat at Legnica, which showed how much the ability to shoot a bow from a horse means for a rider. But, it didn't change anything! Tradition is tradition. The traditions of nomads from the East were alien to the Poles. Therefore, bows, although they have been used by them since the 10th century, remained a weapon only for the Polish infantry, but not for horsemen! In the same X century, the military culture of the Poles was closer to the German one than to the culture of their neighbors, for example, in the same Pannonia. In addition, it was from Germany that most swords were imported to Poland, as well as spearheads and other weapons. True, some types of weapons, such as axes with long handles and helmets of characteristic outlines, remained a specific feature of their Slavic arsenal.
In the middle of the 12th century, the Kingdom of Poland began to disintegrate into a number of small principalities, but this did not stop the process of "Westernization". Crossbows began to replace bows as the main weapon of the infantry, and cavalry equipment became much the same as in Germany or Bohemia, albeit somewhat more old-fashioned. Nevertheless, light cavalry was also available, the tactics of which still showed some eastern features. Moreover, the Mongol invasion of Poland led to the fact that, while maintaining the leading role of heavy cavalry, the role of light cavalry began to grow as well. Polish princes began to recruit entire troops of horsemen from the Golden Horde, and use their mobility to raid the enemy.
It should be noted that the Polish knighthood - the gentry, very quickly borrowed all Western knightly customs and traditions, and it was the knightly military tradition that very organically fit into it. National courtly novels about Walzezh Udal, about Peter Vlast appeared, and the spirit of wandering and thirst for adventure led to the fact that already in the XII-XIII centuries. there are reports of Polish knights who served at the courts of foreign rulers, for example, in Bavaria, Austria, Hungary, as well as in the Czech Republic, Saxony, Serbia, in Russia and even in pagan Lithuania. Knight Boleslav Vysoky, for example, took part in the campaign of Frederick Barbarossa in Italy and in the tournament, arranged right under the walls of besieged Milan, and performed so successfully that he won the approval of the emperor himself. Coats of arms in Poland, as signs of knightly dignity, appeared somewhat later than in Western Europe, where they were known since the 12th century. However, already in the 13th century, the first images of coats of arms in Poland were found on the seals of princes, and in the 14th century, coats of arms belonging to Polish knights could be found in many coat of arms of Western Europe. That is, this suggests that the Polish knights came to these countries, participated in the tournaments that took place there and the heralds had to include them in the compiled heralds, so to speak "for posterity as an example." Accordingly, many knights of France, England, Spain, not to mention Germany, came to Poland, taking a vow to fight the pagans. And here a wide field for activity opened up for them, since there were more than enough pagans here! This situation was very well described in Henryk Sienkiewicz's novel The Crusaders. It also shows how, on the one hand, the Polish knights themselves were "westernized", neither in their clothes, nor weapons, nor customs did they differ from the knighthood of Europe, but on the other, they still remained Poles in their hearts! Interestingly, Polish coats of arms were more “democratic” than Western ones, were not so much personal as family (sometimes one coat of arms numbered several hundred families!) And for a long time, according to the principle of noble equality, did not have dignity signs, for example, the image above the coat of arms of the crown or miter.
A beautiful helmet is the head of everything
During the historical period we are describing, two types of helmets were used in Poland, which is confirmed by archaeological data. The first one - “Great Polish” was a helmet of the eastern type, they were produced in … eastern Iran (!), Usually richly decorated - usually covered with gold or copper sheets. Almost conical in shape, these helmets were assembled from four segments using rivets. The pommel was crowned with a bushing, for the sultan from horsehair or from feathers. The lower edge of the crown of the helmet was reinforced with a rim, to which a chain mail aventail was attached, which covered not only the neck, but also part of the face. Question: how are they in the X-XIII centuries. got from Iran to Poland? It is believed that at first they were supplied to Russia, where they also spread, and from there they went to Poland and Hungary. Apparently, this was a status element of weapons, so such helmets could be ordered in batches. Well, let's say, princes for their retinue, to impress their neighbors with wealth. In total, four such helmets were found in Poland itself, two in West Prussia, one in Hungary and two in western Russia. One such helmet is on display at the Royal Arsenal in Leeds, England. By the way, such close ties between Europe and Asia are not surprising in this case. Remember the bas-reliefs on the famous Trajan's Column. There we see Syrian archers in characteristic helmets of the "oriental pattern". Yes, the Roman Empire (Western) fell, but Byzantium could well continue to export popular types of weapons, it could go to Russia along the Caspian Sea and the Volga, so … "war is war, and trade is trade." It has been and will always be so. On the other hand, the Poles themselves could have set up the production of their favorite models of eastern weapons. Why not?
The second, or Norman type of helmet, is known in Poland from two artifacts found in the Lednice and Orchow lakes. They are also conical in shape, but one-piece forged, without decorations, with a nasal protective plate. On the helmet from Lake Lednice, there is a small hook on it, apparently in order to hook on the chain mail aventail that covered the face. And again, it could be both "helmets from the North" and their copies of local production.
Then, among the horsemen, the so-called "great helmet" begins to be used, which we see on the seal of Prince Casimir I (c. 1236 - and this is the very first image of such a helmet known to us on the territory of Poland.
Chain mail and brigandines for cavalry and infantry
Polish shields and even their remnants have not survived to this day. There is not a single chain mail of the early Middle Ages. But there are written reports that chain mail was used in Polish lands, and the first mention of such armor as a brigandine dates back to the first half of the 13th century. So, a warrior dressed in it is depicted on the seal of Prince Henry II the Pious (1228-1234). We also see a warrior wearing a brigandine and on the seal of Duke Bernard of Schweidnitz (circa 1300 and 1325).
Interestingly, even in the 14th century, Polish troops still included a large number of infantry. For example, it is known that the army led by Vladislav I Loketek (Lokotk) in 1330, according to chroniclers, consisted of 2,100 horsemen in "heavy armor", 20,000 horsemen of light cavalry and about 30,000 infantry soldiers with a variety of weapons.
The first documentary mention of the use of handguns in Poland dates back to 1383, but there is every reason to believe that it was used earlier. But already during the reign of King Vladislav II Jagellon (1386 - 1434), artillery of various types appears in Poland in great numbers. Most of the artillerymen were townspeople, but among them it was possible to meet representatives of the gentry class.
References:
1. Nicolle, D. Arms and Armor of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350. UK. L.: Greenhill Books. Vol.1.
2. Sarnecki, W., Nicolle, D. Medieval Polish Armies 966-1500. Oxford, Osprey Publishing (Men-At-Arms # 445), 2008.
