Monday, November 11, 2024

Polish Independence Day & Veteran's Day 2024

 Salvete Omnes,

Today, on this typical November day, all Poles around the world celebrate the  Polish Independence Day - Vivat , more than a thousand years (966AD) and going through the history into the future. 



Also, all veterans of the US Armed forces celebrate Veteran's Day. Happy Veteran's Day 


Nota bene, 
 US Army Garrison Poland patch



Valete

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Encyclopedia of Sport (Hunting) - Arabian horse

 Salvete Omnes,

Our great library Archive is back on line and working, after the attack, and I would like to bring to your attention to one of their books, or rather a chapter in this book.


 

The Encyclopedia of Sport (mostly hunting) - published in London, UK in 1897AD, in the volume I contains a chapter on the Arabian horse -



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Valete

Friday, November 8, 2024

White Mountain 1620-2024

 Salvete Omnes,



..

on this day in November 1620 AD at White Mountain (  Bitva na Bílé hoře) Bohemian Protestant royal army aided by the Hungarian forces, commanded by Jindrich Matyas Thurn and Christian I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, was defeated by the combined Catholic armies of Imperial forces, commanded marshal de Tilly and the Catholic League under  Count of Bucquoy.

Perhaps our Polish Lisowczyks

There was also a 1,500 riders-strong mercenary  contingent of Polish cavalry known as the Lisowczyks (Lisowski kozaks/cossacks as Polish light cavalry originated during the Polish-Muscovy War). There were also Croats and Imperial Hungarian on the side of the Catholic army.

imperial and League forces, the Polish contingent is on the bottom right

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it was a very short battle considering the size of the armies and the seriousness of the struggle  - the actual battle lasted  more or less 1 hour, and more or less 2,000-4000 men were killed on the Protestant side and perhaps the same number on the Catholic side - the losing side also sustained 2000-5000 men prisoner out of 28,000. But actual losses are uncertain.  It is certain that the Protestant army was defeated and routed and in pursuit, in which  the Poles, Croats and Imperial Hungarian excelled. 
The battle was followed by steady collapse of the Protestant struggle and armed  opposition within Czechia proper, while the contingent of the Protestant army were withdrawing, bleeding men and equipment, to the north into Silesia  (part of the Bohemian Crown) and German states to the north-west or even further to the Dutch Republic. The war was far from over and would last for 28 years more, but the very heart of it, the Bohemian Crown, was finished.
 The most serious social and political outcome of this battle  would result in the total destruction of the Protestant Czechia, especially the Protestant aristocracy and upper levels of the other parts of society,  during the subsequent months and years of the XXX Years War and further  anti-Czech policies of the Imperial politicians. Czech language and culture would begin its revival in the late XVIII century in a complete different set of circumstances. 

Snayers' vision of the battle

. Polish cavalrymen delegation led by captains Stanislaw  Strojnowski and Wojciech Sulimirski, presented to their commander-in-chief the  captured flags: 38 Hungarian colors, 5 infantry banners or colors and 9 cavalry standards.



Perhaps worth noting is the taking of the capital - Prague. 
On  Nov 9, 1621 the imperial & League forces entered undefended Prague, while on the 10th the  soldiers of the Royal Castle surrendered to Count Bucquoy . What followed was the great pillage and mayhem of the Bohemian Crown capital. 



Maximillian of Bavarian ina cuirassier armor


 For example Maximilian of Bavaria, commanding his Bavarian contingent,  had 1500 wagons of loot carried for his pleasure and onwerhsip, but when the unruly Imeperial soldateska continued looting and pillaging within the city and its environs  Maximillian asked commander-in-chief Bucquoy to stop the lawless pillage by the soldiers. But the war being war and the scoundrels and mercenaries alwyas hungry the pillage lasted for some time, our Lisowski kozaks not being the worst among the victorious soldateska. 



Valete

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Gamirra aka Kimmerians vs Ashurnasirpal II - Parthian shot

Salvete Omnes,

long time ago I made a post about the relief from the British Musuem showing nomads, most likely the Kimmerians , being pursued by the Assyrians under king Ashurnasirpal II (883-859BC) , shooting backwards from the horseback - Parthian shot - and finally making signs of submission towards the pursuing Assyrian chariot.

Today I would like share this image from the said museum - it is a drawing of the said relief (from Kalhu palace) created in situ by Austen Henry Layard in 1840s .


In the drawing some Kimmerian details are more detailed than in the image of the said relief I had back in 2014.
Perhaps will make another drawing based on these detail.

note that the reign of this Neo-Assyrian king was the period when soldiers mounted on horses became a part of the Assyrian army. But these horsemen rode in pairs, where one rider held the reins of the archer's horse who fired the arrows while mounted. A bit more than awkward one could observe .
In contrast our nomads in the relief above do not need that assistance, being completely independent one from another.



Meantime, you can download the drawing from the museum's site or this one above.

Valete

Saturday, November 2, 2024

2 "Amigos' from one source - on using the period iconography

 Salvete Omnes,

I would like to share with you two interesting examples on fair use of art and also on the need for caution when looking at the period art.

Stefano della Bella - Italian artist working until the 1660s - active in Rome (papal court), Florence and Paris (French court), creating his own art in the form of drawings, then engraving & etching and printing his creations. 

MET has this image - Polish horseman, part of the 'Figures on Horseback' (Cavaliers nègres, polonais et hongrois) collection.


Rotameister or rotmistrz Pieczowski in 1645AD


this etching - dated to 1648-53 - , aside his beauty and artistic aspects,  is very  rich in the material cultural details, as it is most likely than not that the actual drawings drawn by della Bella, eg  in situ when our royal Polish ambassador's cavalcade entered Rome in 1633 , served as the source material for maestro Stefano. 

The embassy of 1645 - the royal  Polish ambassador's entry into Paris in 1645 - drawings held in the British Museum, and my posts about them here & here.

Fast forward to the period of wars in Polish Commonwealth -1648-1670s - and this artist Johann Hoffman of Nuremberg combined the original image by della Bella with the head and hat from Hondius. (Hondius' etching was done in 1650AD says this portal)
instead of the mace our king carries a nadziak (horseman's pick)
Also, this Nuremberg artists did not know the reins were not chains with links, but sort of little 'apples'-bells that when in motion created noise and jingle. (there are actual examples of such jingly reins in the Russian museum of Kremlin).

Finally, another artist made use of the della Bella's original -  Johann A. Boner, who created a mirror image by coping the original, with his limited skill and knowledge, and created a busy background for the images, consistent with the tittle.
This time the rider became a Tatar Khan with the Ottoman Turkish army in the background .
enjoy

Valete