Salvete Omnes,
a short entry - modern jousting & armored knight reenactment.
about a month aga two European knightly reenactors Messers Arne Koets and Dequitem presented two video recordings on the subject of a Knight Duel in plate armor, a sort of experimental archaeology
1. How does it feel to get hit by a lance as men at arms on foot? - link.
2.The Knight Duel | realistic, non-choreographed medieval combat - link.
attached a a few screen shots from both video recordings - enjoy
Valete
Salvete Omnes,
back in the XVII century, during the infamous Deluge - 1655-60- or the Swedish invasion and mayhem in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
And from this period comes another splendid paint horse with a rider who was a son of a king, Valdemar Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.
Our prince in question was a cavalry commander within the Swedish royal army during the 1655 invasion, he commanded a regiment of reiters he had completed enrolling in Bremen, at that time was a territory taxed and aligned with the Swedish realm.
Some interesting elements of this horse tack
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| very ornate saddle and tack |
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| the beautiful paint is shod with horseshoes |
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| quite short shanks on this curb-bit, while forelock and mane are just flowing |
valete
Salvete Omnes,
on the 13th of this month it passed another anniversary of the battle of Reims, one of the battles during the 1814 campaign of France.
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| we can see here the splendor of the Hungarian-style uniform of the Guards of Honour |
Briefly, as you can read in many books and on many webpages, Emperor Napoleon I brought crica 10,000 strong army against a combined Prussian-Russian command (15,000 strong) under the command of general Emmanuel Saint-Priest.
Polish cavalrymen of the 1st Chevaulegrs Lanciers Polonais (Polish Lancers of the Guard) commanded by general Wincenty Krasinski charged across the streets of Reims and breaking Prussian-Russian defences and capturing hundreds of enemy soldiers.
Per uniforms they wore a czapka lancer cap (rogatywka) dark-blue kurtka jacker and trousers, armed with lances and sabres & pistols.
During this battle of Reims Polish officer captain Wincenty Szeptycki commanded the duty squadron of the 3rd and they attacked with their valiant captain at the head and captured an entire Prussian infantry battalion.
Imperial French cavalry also had another late comer to the Grand Army there , the 3rd Regiment of Guards of Honour, it was organized in Tulouse in 1813 - you see and study their uniforms below. And the 3rd took part in the 1813 and 1814 campaigns. , during this campaign it was commanded by general Philippe-Paul de Segur, a seasoned cavalry officer, who commanded personally in front of his horse soldiers, engaging in hand to hand combat with the enemy dragoons and Cossacks.
During the battle the 3rd along with elements of the 1st Regiment of Guards of Honour charged the Russian dragoons at the Soissons-Epernay crossroads, and went through them all the way to the gates and walls of the city. After many deed of valour, facing the artillery fire from the walls and a canister shot form two cannons of the Russian artillery unit and musket fire from the Riazanski , Russian, Regiment, the Honour cavalrymen persisted but many officers and soldiers and their horses sustained many wounds, including mortal ones.
The colonel-major (2nd in command) Count Cesar Vachon de Belmont-Briancon was killed. The officers of the regiment tasked Horace Vernet to paint a posthumous portrait of the colonel-major as he appeared on the morning of the 13th of March.
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| light cavalry saddle under the ornate green and silver lace shabraque |
He was dressed in his Hungarian hussar-like campaign dress: dark green pants with silver buttoned side-stripes, dark green pelisse with silver braid and sleeve rank stripes, and a red shako with one narrow and one wide rank stripes at the top and the white plume of a regimental staff officer. He has a red leather sabretache on his left hip.
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| light cavalry bridle, in the Hungarian of Old Polish fashion |
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| horses and cavalrymen of the 3rd regiment of the Guards od Honour on campaign |
Valete
Salvete Omnes,
Luigi I d'Este, Marquis of Montecchio and Scandiano - 1594-1664.
Italian imperial soldier and commander, participant of the 30 Years War and the war of Manuan Succession.
His monumental portrait, by Nicolas Regnier, astride a powerful paint horse, probably a Neapolitan or Spanish war horse (could be Polish too, his head being small and eyes very large).
Marquis was portrayed wearing the final version of plate armor, a cuirassier version; most likely this armor was made shot-proof, withstanding pistol shot from close quarters if in the melee or hand to hand combat, and perhaps the cuirass itself was proofed against long distance musket shot. Note his long yellow riding boots.
His horse was probably trained according to the highest Italian horsemanship standard, perhaps the presence of long-shanked curb-bit with rather relaxed rein - note the tassel on its end, so the reins are split.
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| ornate bridle |
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| ornate breastplate with a tassel |
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| ornate, wide stirrups .. |
Valete
Salvete Omnes,
A short entry and a bit off topic - namely, Western Story Magazine or a pulp fiction periodical publication.
I have discovered there is a sizable number of issues available on Archive -
I selected this issue from March 2, 1940 as it contains a full size novel - Guns of the Buckskin Empire by Harry F. Olmstead.
and some illustrations by Nick Eggenhofer to sweeten this short posting - many American Illustrators drew and painted for the pulp magazines.
Valete
ps
today is Women's Day - happy day to all the ladies.
But do remember that the holiday officially started in the Soviet Union, as the Communist Feminists destroy the family Day in that country circa 1921, during the Communist International.. The rest is history.
Salvete Omnes,
back to the XVII century: more riding and draft horses, carts and wagons of our Bohemian-English artist - Vaclav Wenceclas Hollar.
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| mantelzak behind the rider |
enjoy
Valete
