Polish Hussar half-armour Winged Riders.jpg|Hussar half-armour from the mid-17th century,
National Museum in Kraków. Zbroje husarskie.JPG|Hussar armour, dating to the first half of the 17th century,
Polish Army Museum in
Warsaw. Karacena.JPG|Scale armour of King
John III Sobieski. Szabla husarska GIM.jpg|Polish hussar sabre (Polish "
szabla"). Hussar armour Wawel Museum 4.jpg|
Burgonet-style hussar helmet,
Wawel Castle Hussar armour Wawel Museum 2.jpg|Hussar
lobster-tailed pot helmet with side wings, Wawel Castle The hussars'
towarzysz were required to provide the arms and
armour for themselves and their retainers, except for the lance which was provided by the King. Each lance's horses also came at each towarzysz husarski's expense. During their heyday, 1574–1705, winged hussars carried the following arms and armour: The
lance was the main offensive weapon of the hussar. The lances were based on the
Balkan and Hungarian lances, but Polish lances could have been longer and, like their predecessors from the Balkans and Western Europe, they were hollowed, with two halves glued together and painted, and were often richly gilded. They were commonly made from fir-wood, with the lance point being made from forged steel. They had a
gałka, a large wooden ball which served as the handle guard. The hussar's lances usually ranged from in length and were provided by the King or the banner's owner, not by the regular soldiers. A large 'silk'/taffeta
proporzec pennon was attached to the lance below the point. Another type of lance, known as the
demi-lance or
kopijka, and was long and was used against the Tatars and Turks in late-17th-century wars. (
Chorąży Wielki Koronny) on the Stockholm Roll (c. 1605). The
towarzysz husarski carried underneath his left thigh a
koncerz (up to in length) and, often, a
palasz (a type of
broadsword) under his right thigh. The
szabla was carried on the left side, and several types of
sabres were known to winged hussars, including the renowned
szabla husarska. Hussars sometimes carried additional weapons, such as a 'nadziak' (
horseman's pick).
Towarzysz husarski carried one or two wheellock (later
flintlock) pistols in the saddle holsters, while retainers also might have carried a pistol or light
wheellock arquebus or
carbine; from the 1680s a carbine for retainers was mandatory. Individual hussars may have possibly carried a
Tatar or
Turkish composite bow with arrows in a
quiver, especially after the mid-17th century, when many 'pancerny' companions became hussars, and some sources of the late 17th century note the existence of bows amongst the hussar companions. During the first half of the 18th century, while in non-military attire, the hussars' companion carried a bow in a bow case to denote his military status. Yet bows in bow cases were carried by all cavalry officers of the National Army until the reforms of the 1770s, including
uhlan units in the Saxon service. At the height of their prowess, from 1576 to 1653, hussar armour consisted of a comb-like
zischagge (szyszak),
burgonet or
morion helmets with a hemispherical skull, 'cheekpieces' with a heart-shaped cut in the middle, neck-guard of several plates secured by sliding rivets, and adjustable nasal terminating in a leaf-shaped visor. Zischagge and
kettle hat helmets for the lower rank (retainers) were often blackened as was their armour. A
cuirass (breast plate), back plate,
gorget, shoulder guards and of the
Great Steppe, Western vambraces with iron glove and later, during the 1630s, the
Persian-originated
karwasz vambrace, for forearm protection. A
towarzysz also could wear
tasset hip,
cuisse thigh, and
poleyn knee protection, underneath a thigh-length coat of mail or specially padded coat with mail sleeves. Retainers usually wore less expensive and older armour, often painted black, and, after the 1670s, might have no cuirass, according to some sources. The hussar armour was light, usually around , allowing them to be relatively quick and for their horses to gallop at full speed for long periods. Albeit from the 1670s onwards,
chain mail was used when fighting the Muslim Tatars in the southeastern borderlands of the Commonwealth. A rarely-used
Sarmatian karacena armour (of iron
scales riveted to a leather support) might have consisted of a scale helmet,
cuirass,
gorget, leg and shoulder protection and became popular during the reign of King
John Sobieski, but perhaps due to costs and weight, remained popular mostly with the winged hussar commanding officers. The
towarzysz usually wore a
leopard (sometimes
tiger,
jaguar or
lion) pelt over his left shoulder, or as often depicted in the surviving
Podhorce Castle paintings, he had the exotic pelt underneath his saddle or wrapped around his hips. Wolf, brown bear and lynx pelts were reserved for leaders and veterans (starszyzna). a stabbing type of sword of the Polish hussars, often used against heavily armored opponents. ==Legacy==