Polish reenctors at the court of Philip III at Lerma

Salvete Omnes,
Polish reenactors - winged hussars, pancerni, hajduk infantry , etc - visited Lerma, Spain on 2nd-4th of August , 2019, where their respective colleagues, the Spanish reenactors, held the festive weekend going back to the 1610s when Spain was ruled  by Felipe III  et his minister duke de Lerma.
This was the era of the iron Spanish tercio infantry, treasure fleets from the Americas, the flowering of Spanish literature - like the famous sword fighter and poet Francisco de Quevedo, Miguel de Cervantes, Gongora, Lope de Vega etc -  and fine and applied arts - Jose de Ribera, Vinvente Carducho, Juan Cotan or young Velazquez . 

Spanish gallery on Facebook - cuando eramos invencibles. And another Spanish gallery.

On the Polish side and Polish reenactors participation in this festive occasion, so it can be associated with the embassy Polish monarch His Royal Majesty King Zygmunt III sent to the court of Felipe III in 1614-15AD.
This embassy was lead be the castellan Krzysztof Korycinski, Topor coat of arms. His aim was  to bring some substantial financial Spanish assistance for the Polish war against the Muscovy, instead it resulted in the Spanish monarch bestowing on the Polish prince Wladyslaw , son of  Zygmunt III, an Order of Toison del Oro(Golden Fleece) eg visible in this painting.
Also pan Korycinski negotiated with the Spanish court the issue of the so called Neapolitan sums attempting to get some payments on the interest etc. Eventually, due to the outbreak of the so called 30 years war in 1618, the cooperation between Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Spanish realm grew ever closer.


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Below please  find the gallery of photos taken by (c) Radoslaw Szleszynski, whose masterly artisanal work .i.e. reconstructed horse bridles, cruppers and breastplates and pistol holsters can be seen on the horses ridden by the Polish reenactors, while the saddles were made by Marcin Ruda, known by his saddlery works throughout the medieval reenactors equestrian groups.




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
nota bene the horses in these pictures are Spanish horses that are veterans of the arena and other equestrian sports.



 

 
Valete

new Radek Sikora book on husaria

Salvete Omnes,
 [Polish]
dzisiaj druh moj imc pan Radoslaw Sikora oglosil na swej stronie fejsbukowej, ze w styczniu 2019 wydawnictwo Znak wyda jego najnowsza ksiazke poswiecona skrzydlatej husarii.
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Ksiazka, oprocz ogromnie ciekawego i zaiste wyjatkowego tekstu opartego na zrodlach z epoki i badaniach naukowych autora,  jest bardzo, ale to bardzo bogato ilustrowana - min mamy ilustracje z epoki, rysunki wspolczesne, oraz przede wszystkim zdjecia, doskonale zdjecia autorstwa Marka Kalisinskiego i Radoslawa Szleszynskiego, pokazujace  rekonstruktorow husarii jak i historyczne przedmioty.
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Ksiazka bedzie zawierac 5 moim ilustracji, w tym byc moze pierwsza taka grafike-rekonstrukcje husarskiego pocztu z poczatku XVIIw, czyli towarzysza husarskiego, 2 pocztowych, czeladz, wierzchowce bojowe, luzaki/konie powodne, konie czeladne i pociagowe, pojazdy i wozy, woly oraz namioty.
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 Wybuchowa ilustracja na okladce jest pedzla Mariusza Kozika, dobrze znanego ze swoich prac dla gier Total War.  Mam obiekcje co do wyboru tematu na okladke - glownie dlatego, ze widzimy towarzysza husarskiego jako nieledwie rajtara z szabla (choc faktycznie husarze rajarami bywali), a przeciez wyobraznie nasza poruszaja i wrogow serca strachem karmili  skrzydlaci husarze ze swoimi dlugimi kopiami na wspanialych rumakach.

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Byc moze te nowa praca mosci Radka, bazujaca na badaniach autora wykonanych do pracy doktorskiej jak i na badaniach ciagle prowadzonych od czasu uzyskania doktoratu do dzisiaj zostanie ktoregos dnia przetlumaczona na jezyk angielski i inne jezyki.
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[English]
today my friend Radek (Radoslaw) Sikora, Ph.D.,  announced on his Facebook page that next January 2019 his Polish publisher,  Znak, will release his new book on the winged hussars.

The book, apart from its very interesting, rich and exceptional text entirely based in primary sources and research, is profusely illustrated with period images, drawings, photos of winged husaria reenactors and historical objects related to husaria  - thses are  fine photos by Marek Kalisinski and Radek Szleszynski.
There will be 5 drawings of mine in this book, including perhaps the first ever reconstruction showing the entire winged hussar retinue from the early XVII century:   mounted winged hussar comrade, his two retainers also mounted, multiple servants both mounted and riding carts and wagons, war steeds, spare horses and draft horses,  wagons, carts, oxen and tents.

The explosive cover was done by Mariusz Kozik, well known by his Total War games artwork. My objection to this cover is that we see our winged hussar as a cuirassier with a sword (and in fact they did fight as cuirassiers at times) and not a heavy lancer with his long painted kopia (lance) who put fear in the hearts of our foes and today lance-armed winged hussar dominates our imagination.

Perhaps this new book, based in the doctoral and post-doctoral research done by the author, might get translated into English and other languages one day.

detail from my preliminary sketch

Valete

Defilada 2018 - Winged Hussar Radoslaw Szleszynski via Marek Kalisinski

Salvete Omnes,
artist Marek Kalisinski has graciously allowed me to share with you several of his photos showing Radoslaw Szleszynski in his painstakingly reconstructed winged hussar armor and horse tack - all taken during the Polish Armed Forces Day in Warsaw 2018.
I wrote about this armor in my past posts and tack (check labels section), and Radek's efforts to reconstruct a winged hussar companion and his steed.

 The horse ridden in this parade comes from Alex Jarmula stables.
Valete!

Radek Szleszynski's newest Old Polish horse tack

Salvete Omnes,


last week our great historic tack maker Radek Szleszynski finished a complete set of horse harness based on an example held in the Polish Army Museum at Warsaw, and according to the art historians the original belonged to the Sapieha family clan.
Radek made it for his own winged hussar outfit and it will be worn by a horse ridden this August 15 during Army  Historic  Parade in Warsaw.
The leather material used in this project was goat and jucht (Russian leather aka bark-tanned cow hide)  leather. Goat skin was vegetable-tanned and dyed to malachite color. Leather parts were sewn together with the waxed linen thread.
The entire metal elements of this harness are brass that were cast via lost-wax casting, molded via Astragal (beaded molding) method and cut to finish.


 


 

 

 



 

 

Valete!

Winged Hussar armor - a replica

Radek & Radek - Warsaw 2017

Salvete Omnes,
my friend and compatriot imc pan Radek Szleszynski (on Wiki there is his photo in full regalia of a winged hussar), co-author of the famous and unique art book Husaria Rzeczpospolitej, has announced a new winged hussar armor for himself, made by the Olsztyn-based armorer Sergey August.

Katerina Zhuravieva @copyright

Katerian Zhuravieva @copyright

Radek is himself a very talented artist (also a photographer) who works in leather, textiles, metal and semi-precious stones, and has been famously  reconstructing winged hussar horse tack, especially bridles etc, and pistol holsters of the XVII century period.

 

Radek Sikora @copyright

 
the armor reconstructed by Sergey August is a replica of the extant armor from the Skokloster Castle in Sweden,

original armor from Skokloster

The collection is part of the loot brought from Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by Carl Gustaf Wrangel after the Deluge (1655-1660)

 

 
 




I do hope  that in this armor and in a painstakingly reconstructed horse tack (Radek's own) and saddle (made by Marcin Ruda and owned by Radoslaw Sikora, Ph.D. ) Radek will be leading the winged Hussars during the 2018 Parade in Warsaw on August 15, 2018. Note that I do not know at this time which horse Radek will be riding.
Valete!
ps
 all photos copyright Radoslaw Szleszynski unless noted