Medieval Polish Armies 966–1500 (Men-at-Arms)

the History Of Poland Is A Fascinating Study Of A People Struggling To Achieve Nationhood In The Face Of Internal And External Enemies. Poland Became A Unified Christian State In Ad 966 And By The 12th Century A Knightly Class Had Emerged - A Force That Was Integral To The Defense Of Poland Against Increasingly Frequent Foreign Invasions. Intent On Crushing Rival Christian States, The Templars, Hospitallers And Teutonic Knights All Mounted Attacks But Were Beaten Back By The Poles, As Were Invading Mongols And Turks. This Book Reveals The Organization, Equipment And Battle Histories Of The Medieval Polish Armies As They Developed And Modernized To Emerge As One Of The Dominant Powers Of Eastern Europe. The history of Poland is a fascinating story of a people struggling to achieve nationhood in the face of internal and external conflict. Poland became a unified Christian state in AD 966 and by the 12th century a knightly class had emerged a force that was integral to the defence of Poland against increasingly frequent foreign invasions. Intent on crushing rival Christian states, the Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights all mounted attacks but were beaten back by the Poles, as were invading Mongols and Turks. This book reveals the organisation, equipment and battle histories of the medieval Polish armies as they developed and modernised to emerge as one of the dominant powers of Eastern Europe. "This book describes the organization and illustrates the equipment of the armies that shaped the remarkably varied and colourful history of medieval Poland. It traces them from the birth of the Christian kingdom in the 10th century, through the 'Northern Crusades' and the wars against the Teutonic Knights, to the extraordinary 15th-century expansion under the Jagiello kings, and the first confrontations with the Ottoman Turks. The text is illustrated with an unusually rich collection of memorial sculptures, early paintings, photographs and drawings of surviving artefacts, and has full colour reconstructions by the respected medieval specialist Gerry Embleton."--Jacket