POLISH KNIGHTS (1-ST. HALF OF THE XV CENTURY)

With some reservations, it can be assumed that in the early Piast period (around 960-1138) the basis of the fighting force of the prince or king of Poland was his team, composed during the times of Mieszko I and Bolesław the Brave of approx. 3000-3500 horse warriors (warriors) armed with a round a shield, chain mail, often an iron helmet and a spear, an ax and a one-handed sword. It is assumed that the team was very well trained and presented a high combat value. Until the first half of the 11th century, it was also paid directly by the ruler from his treasury. However, Kazimierz the Restorer (reigned 1038-1058) changed the way of rewarding the warriors and began to grant them land from which they were to make a living and stand up to the prince's call. During the period of the division into districts (1138-1320), the princely team completely disintegrated. However, in the fourteenth and until the second half of the fifteenth century, the basic "weapon" of Polish rulers were knights. At the turn of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, their equipment or training did not differ in any way from that presented by Western European knights or brothers of the Teutonic Order. Shields, chain mail with numerous elements of plate armor or full plate armor dominated as defensive weapons. Various types of helmets were also used, e.g. heads, visors or the so-called helmets of the Siedlątków type. The offensive weapons were a one-handed sword and a lance. Various types of blunt weapons were also used, such as maces and fillets. Knights were called up to arms on the basis of mass mobilization. This is how the army was recruited, and the army did a great job at Grunwald in 1410. However, already in the course of the Thirteen Years' War (1454-1466), the Polish mass mobilization failed miserably in the Battle of Chojnice, which forced changes and reliance on a mercenary soldier in the course of this war. The popular move was still sporadic in the 16th and 17th centuries, but it did not play any significant role in the Polish military.