Armoured companion

The armoured companion (Polish: Towarzysz pancerny, Polish: [tɔˈvaʐɨʂ panˈtsɛrnɨ], pl. towarzysze pancerni) was a medium-cavalryman used by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th to 18th centuries. They are named after their chain mail armour. These units were the second-most important (and successful) cavalry in the Polish–Lithuanian army, after the hussars.

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Quick Facts Allegiance, Type ...

Armoured companion

Allegiance	Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Type	Cavalry
Role	Standing professional military
Equipment	War hammer, mace, hatchet, sabre, spear, lance

Most pancerni were recruited from the middle to lowest classes of the Polish nobility.^[1]

These companions were organized into companies, with each company (Polish: chorągiew, or rota) consisting of 60 to 200 horsemen.

The Cossacks were renamed armoured cavalry (jazdę pancerną) in 1676 as the Cossack name was associated with the Khmelnytsky Uprising. After the reforms in 1776, both hussars and armored companions were transformed into National Cavalry units.^[2]^[3]

They used chainmail or bechter armour to protect the upper body, vambrace sometimes with gauntlets, secretes (rarely lobster-tailed pot helmets), buckler shields, sabre, composite bow, pistols, and carbine. Earlier companies would sometimes be equipped with a horseman's pick, mace, or lance. During the rule of king John III Sobieski, lances became compulsory.

During the Middle Ages, under the rule of Mieszko I and Bolesław I the Brave, the name pancerni applied to the members of the duke's retinue. They were the wealthiest warriors in the Polish army, and as such, they could afford to wear sophisticated armour, most commonly chainmail. Their weapons included arming swords, axes, spears, shields, and strait bows.

Examples of Pancerny

Armour and equipment of a Polish towarzysz pancerny, in the late 17th century at Muzeum Wojska Polskiego
Chainmail, shield and weapons at Muzeum Wojska Polskiego
Towarzysz pancerny by Dariusz T. Wielec
Pocztowy pancerny by Dariusz T. Wielec

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Armoured companion

Arms and armour

See also

References

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