WDF XTRA: Jan Sobieski Bio X
Added 2017-12-08 00:01:01 +0000 UTC[PATRONS]
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"Like all my fellows, I had heard of these fierce Polish hussars and when I first saw them approaching in battle array, coming at me from the crest of a hill, I was astounded by their appearance. Each man seemed to come with a halo about his head, like a Madonna in some Flemish painting. The feathers made a wonderful sight, but I was curious about what these were for? Then as they drew near, galloping in the wind, the feathers began to mourn, or to chant like old women at a funeral and then shriek as the wind tore through them. I got frightened by the hellish echoes and my horse became terrified. He reared and whinnied and I could not control him and the effect on the rest of our horses was the same, so that by the time the Polish hussars reached our battle line, all was in confusion and therefore lost. I have to say that these dammed devils did not defeat us in fair battle. They sang us to death with those dammed feathers."
These were the words of an English mercenary serving with the Swedes in the 1656 Battle of Warka, and it tells a terrifying tale of Polish military prowess, not to mention a special eye for the kind of details that would make them famous. In Episode 10 of our biography on the new King of Poland, Jan Sobieski, we unwrap how he attempted to repair the Commonwealth's fractured military contract system; what weaponry and tactics he favoured or spurned, and how he planned to resurrect the tenacity of his homeland in time for greater and graver challenges ahead.
As his experience had told him in years gone by, the Ottomans would always strike at the most pivotal of moments. As we well know from our main narrative, it was imperative that Sobieski and his peers be ready when they do. After making peace with Russia in 1681, it seemed that Kara Mustafa's ambition would be directed westwards, and few powers seemed either willing or able to stand up and be counted. Only Sobieski seemed to understand the danger; only he possessed so much terrible experience of war against the Turk. Only he, in the Holy Roman Emperor's mind, could be relied upon. The great test was just around the corner.
