Dziady or Slavic Halloween

Salve,
my Slavic ancestors, when still pagan (Poland was officially converted in 966AD), celebrated their dead by holding a special feast twice a year (spring and autumn) known as ''Dziady'' or Grandfathers. The fall feast was held at the end of October and beginning of November.

Bonfires were lit to show the sprits of the dead the way to their living relatives' dwellings.

Prayers were held and foodstuffs were prepared especially kasha, honey and eggs to celebrate the strips of ancestors and relatives, both to secured their favours and to ease their existence in the Underworld.

Wooden masks known as karaboszki (singular - karaboszka) were carved to symbolize the spirits of the dead.

Wandering beggars were thought to have been the special nexus between the world of the living and the dead, and during the ritual of ''Dziady'' these beggars were fed and in return they would recollect and tell of past experiences of the deceased relatives.

I should mention that the spirits of the dead who passed naturally were celebrated in the way I described above, but all those who died violent death were buried approximately where they fell and their burials were feared and anyone passing those had to leave a green branch on the burial, eventually the gathered wood was burned during Dziady, as these poor souls were suspected of mischief and those special fires on their burials were thought to stop these wretches from coming to the world of living and causing harm.


With the coming of Christianity these rituals survived in the folk customs and rituals, and they are celebrated in Poland as Zaduszki ( day after All Saints Day), by bringing flowers, often some food and by burning znicze.

Our great Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz described Dziady in his epic poem "Dziady."

Above, the Headless Horseman Polish-style, in my old sketch :)


ps
 I took the photos shown here from the Wikipedia article, slightly converted via GIMP

Abraham de Bruyn's western European lancers

Salve,
 I would like to begin by wishing good luck to my friends and family on the East Coast of the US, as the hurricane Sandy  landed there last night.

Going back to Abraham de Bruyn and his prints, today a set showing armoured lancers of the Western Europe:
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 Tournament harness

.. another fully armoured lancer

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 Italian lancer

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.. French lancer

.. Netherlands' (Low Countries) lancer

..German standard bearer

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Interestingly de Bruyn shows no Spanish heavy lancer but only two bullfighting horsemen  riding à 'la gineta' style and a herreruelo or a pistol-and-arquebus (wheel-lock) armed cavalryman. Also he shows a Belgian armoured commander of cavalry that fought for the Spanish in the war in Flanders.
 a la gineta

Spanish herreruelo

eques Belga

and finally a drummer, as no cavalry could have been without music

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Abraham de Bruyn's Grand Duchy of Muscovy horses & riders

Salve,

snow in large parts of Europe, huge hurricane in the eastern United States - crazy ending of the warm season, so let us concentrate on horses and their riders.

Abraham de Bruyn also created beautiful images of riders and horses with their tack, leaders and warriors of the Grand Duchy of Muscovy or simply Muscovy (Lev Gumilev teaches us, in his books, that Russia only starts with the great warrior and first rate statesman tzar Peter I although Western and Soviet/Russian historians tend to give 1547 as beginning of Russia, while in our neck of the woods our Polish-Lithuanina Commonwealth stopped using the name Grand Duchy of Muscovy only in 1764 or so).

Ad rem...
the Great Duke

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woivode, with the characteristic Tatar drum at his pommel

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noble (perhaps a boyar or oprichnik ) armed as with a lance like Polish and Hungarian hussars (perhaps the cost-cutting engraver just added these details to spice up the image for and edition aimed at some wealthy patron etc). We know that the Muscovites tried to form a winged hussar unit in XVII century.

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lesser noblity

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common horseman fighting as horse archer, as seen in the battle of Orsha painting 

Note the sabre hanging down on the lanyard in two woodcuts (loop of rope or leather thong fixed to the sword hilt, used to hang down the sword from the wrist), facilitating its use when axe was moved to the left hand or earlier when bow was used.

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Muscovy fighting the Tatars of the Pontic-Caspian steppes always encouraged their settlement, participation in the armed forces and administration aided by the eventual conversion to Christianity.

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a Tatar and a Muscovite

ps
 let us again quote from von Herberstein's work where he described Muscovite horses and soldiers:

They have small gelded horses, unshod, and with very light bridles, and their saddles are so adapted that they may turn round in any direction without impediment, and draw the bow. They sit on horseback with the feet so drawn up, that they cannot sustain any more than commonly severe shock from a spear or javelin. Very few use spurs, but most use the whip, which always hangs from the little finger of the right hand, so that they may lay hold of it and use it as often as they need; and if they have occasion to use their arms, they let it fall again so as to hang from the hand. Their ordinary arms are a bow, a javelin, a hatchet, and a stick, like a caestus, which is called in Russian, kesteni; in Polish, bassalich*. The more noble and wealthy men use a lance. They have also suspended from their arm oblong poignards** like knives, which are so buried in the scabbard, that they can scarcely touch the tip of the hilt, or lay hold of them in the moment of necessity. They have also a long bridle perforated at the end, which they attach to a finger of the left hand, so that they may hold it at the same time as they use the bow. Moreover, although they hold the bridle, the bow, the short sword, the javelin, and the whip, in their hands all at the same time, yet they know how to use them skilfully without feeling any incumbrance.' Some of the higher classes use a coat of mail beautifully worked on the breast with a sort of scales and with rings; some few use a helmet of a peaked form like a pyramid. Some use a dress made of silk stuffed with wool, to enable them to sustain any blows. They also use pikes.

Husarii Gniew - short firm

Salve,
Polish reenactors from the castle of Gniew known as Chorągiew Husarska and Żołty Regiment Piechoty made their own film, directed by Michal Drzewiecki,  showing winged hussars charge infantry - titled Husarii Gniew (Husaria's Wrath).
This short film, IMHO, is the best depiction of winged hussars ever made on film, notwithstanding the fine appearance of the infantrymen.
Enjoy :)
Husarii Gniew -film -

For Polish readers - the article in http://www.kresy.pl/publicystyka,opinie?zobacz%2Frekonstruktorzy-historyczni-maja-dosc there is an article explaining the reasons behind this film production.


ps
I had the pleasure of meeting the Gniew reeanctors and ride  with them at the Klushino battle reenactment in Warsaw in 2010.

 

sketching in MyPaint

Salve,
I am going to throw in two sketches, or rather one digital 'painting' done in MyPaint from the beginning to the end (note, it is not finished 100%), with variations etc
First, I should again say that I cannot stop thanking the guys from MyPaint project, but lately my favorite part of the MyPaint brushes sets are the ones created by David Revoy - the V4 set - awesome brushes creating almost real tool feeling, be it watercolour, pencil or pens.

Ad rem,
 at first I started with this a sketch of a horsman brandishing his sabre, sort of XVII century feel, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or Hungarian. It started as all back silhouette, figure, and slowly I peeled some parts off and scratched some shapes on it, while playing with the horse etc.

Once the general look had been achieved, then it struck me that I did not like the clothing set, and that I should have shown  one of the quilted coats, so I proceeded to work towards that goal.
Here is the result thus far:

ps
Great article here - on the Saka princes of 2,500 years ago from Ukok Plateau in the Altai, Russia (Pazyryk kurgans come from that area too), with wonderful photos and reconstruction drawings and paintings (there are books by Ms Natalia Polosmak on the culture of the Ukok Plateau Saka). I am thinking about drawing the Saka woman on horseback, just to see how it all would look in my brushwork.

The wheelock reconstruction and functioning & other links

Salve,
some links sharing today -

first, I would like to share with you a link to youtube videos on  wheelock  reconstruction and functioning

Secondly, my most favourite art museum in the world, the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York City, made available for download many of its fine books, really great publications to read or just to look at the art. I have many of these books in my own library.

I will just share with you some links to various themes

Arms and Armour

Central Asia, China & Silk Road
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European tapestries - XIV to XVI century
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Limbourg Brothers


Spain
Italian painters of the Renaissance
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Vermeer

Nomads of ancient China frontier

Byzantium

Persia
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Shahnameh illuminations
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Assyria

...and finally
from youtube:
some Spanish and Portuguese horsemanship of rejoneador while riding mostly brave Lusitanos
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enjoy - :)

Dom Duarte at Mosterio de Batalha

Salve,
 recently we travelled to Portugal, mostly in the old Estremedura province, enjoying its history, culture and cuisine.
While visiting I had to pay a homage to Dom Duarte, the king of Portugal and the author of the earliest surviving Christian (Medieval) treatise on horsemanship.
I mentioned his famous horsemanship book here and once again I am providing the link to his book in Portugese: Livro Da Ensinança De Bem Cavalgar Toda Sela (The Art of Riding on Every Saddle).

Dom Duarte died at the former Templar and Royal castle and also a monastery of Tomar but was buried at the Monastery of Batalha, built near the site of the famous, but largely unknown outside the Iberian peninsula, battle of Aljubarrota.

Above, the monument to Nuno Álvares Pereira in front of the Monastery

Hence I went to Batalha to pay homage to this man, buried along with his wife Eleanor de Aragon in the Capelas Imperfeitas (unfinished chapels).

Allow me to share with you some of photos taken during our visit to Dom Duarte's tomb. Please note that during the invasion of Portugal the Napoleonic troops committed burglary there, robbing the monastery and desecrating the royal tombs, along with other atrocities to squeeze money contributions out of the Portuguese.

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ps
some photos were taken by my wife, whom I thank for encouraging us to take this trip.

  

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth riders in de Bruyn's album - part III

Salve,
almost 15 years ago Richard Brzezinski published his two, now legendary, Osprey Publishing volumes dedicated to the armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Volume two included an  overview of the so called Foreign Autorament where Western or German-dressed units were grouped. De Bruyn's engravings belong to Bathory's reign and foreign autorament of the Commonwealth army was reformed under king Władyslaw IV, but German-style cavalry was already  present during our Hungarian king reign.
Here it is worth noting that during Bathory's reign Ducal Prussia was firmly within the Polish control and being an integral part of the Commonwealth provided troops and volunteers for the Commonwealth cavalry and infantry units, along with Duchy of Pomerania and Silesia etc. By the way one of the most famous Renaissance Polish commanders, cavalry foray master, known as Terror Tartarorum Bernard Pretwicz came to Polish Kingdom from Sliesia.
  Royal City of Gdańsk and Royal Prussia, and Upper Silesia also provided German-looking units for the Polish Crown while Livonia, Kurland and northern parts of Grand Duchy of Lithuania also provided German amred and often dressed units.

Here are de Bruyn's German horsemen - and it  seems to me that he was much more familiar with the subject.   Note muzzles and heavy bits, double reins, docked tails and heavier horses than previous two parts' plates.

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Michal 'Kadrinazi' blogs often about the reiter and dragoon units in the Commonwealth armies, sharing his research about these often forgotten units of Old Poland.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth riders in de Bruyn's album - part II

Salve,

today I will share with you some more images by Abraham de Bruyn depicting the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth nobles and military figures. Today's display shows more Polish and Hungarian nobles, as well as includes horse warriors that also served in the Commonwealth forces: Hungarians, Wallachians, Tatars etc.
Hungarians, often present in Polish military, came en masse with king Bathory and distinguished themselves throughout his Livonian War and earlier, in the war with Royal city of Gdańsk.

Lithuanian and Ruthenian horsemen belong to cavalry units known then as 'jazda kozacka' and came from the equestrian nobility of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, today Belarus and Ukraine and yes, parts of Russia.  The 'jazda kozacka' also could and did include newly arrived settlers like Circassians and older populations like Polish Tatars.

..Lithuanian horseman  with a lance

.. Polish horseman,  perhaps a hussar retainer

.. Hungarian noble

.. Hungarian costume

.. typical Hungarian hussar

.. Wallachian hussar

..Wallachian light horsemen

.. Tatar

.. another image of a Tatar

..and another Ruthenian carrying a rohatyna lance

Additionally, our Commonwealth forces also included nobles, their retainers, and mercenary warriors from German speaking parts of Poland (Poland had large population of emigrants from war-torn Holy Roman Empire) and the Holy Roman Empire (including Polish speaking Silesia and Duchy of Pomerania). During XVI century large parts of the Commonwealth dressed in the same fashions as the German states, and newly acquired Livonian states had mostly German-speaking nobility dressed as in German states, so the Germans in de Bruyn's plates should be included as well. The third installment will include these plates.
ps
top image shows Polish noble and his retainer carrying a tuck