POLISH FIELD ARTILLERY ( XVII CENTURY)

Significant changes in the Polish artillery took place as a result of the reforms of Władysław IV Vasa, who ruled in the years 1632-1648. This militarily gifted monarch, winner in the so-called During the war in Smolensk (1632-1634), he decided to unify the Polish field artillery, and at the same time sought to increase its mobility. It was based here on the domestic experiences from the recent wars with Sweden (1600-1622 and 1626-1629), as well as from the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Władysław IV standardized the weighting of Polish guns - he used 48-, 24-, 12- and 6-pounders, as well as introduced 6- and 4-pounder guns to infantry units. It is worth adding that these cannons were made primarily of bronze, which on the one hand significantly increased their service life, but on the other - also increased their weight. Unfortunately, due to numerous armed conflicts in the years 1648-1667, the Polish artillery park was significantly depleted, and from around 1650 the aim was to produce low-weight guns (therefore cheaper to produce) and made of iron, not bronze. It is also worth adding that in 1650, the Polish military engineer Kazimierz Siemienowicz published the treatise " Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima ", which for many years to come was considered the best theoretical study of artillery in Europe !