Dariusz caballeros

David Teniers the Younger - Guard room with saddle, pistolssuch & armor

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 04:43:40 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

the paintings of the Flemish Teniers family artists have already graced this blog.
Today I would like to share with you this painting by David Teniers the Younger - The Interior of a Guard Room (painted between 1635-45).

And in the foreground, on the right, we get a depiction of a Western European war saddle of this period (the Thirty Years War).

On the wall there is a pair (or a brace) of pistols in holsters, also done in red, like the saddle

war hammer /nadziak

another saddle from this 1643 saddle ( a black and white/sepia photo of the painting available on wiki commons )

such armor could have been worn by reiters/pistoleers/cuirassiers and Polish winged hussars

and the another version or the color photo of the same painting -

enjoy

Valete

Did winged hussars' horses wear some horse armor in the 17th century?

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 05:16:09 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

a little bit on the winged hussars history and horse armor of their period-

when studying the history of the Polish Crown forces during the second half of 16th trough early 7th centuries, we can observe that there exists rather very small corpus of iconographic material showing these cavalrymen, especially for the period of 1580 through 1590s. There is more iconography pertaining to the Hungarian lance cavalry or the Ottoman Turkish horsemen of the same period.

During the 16th century the heaviest Polish armored horsemen (gravioris armaturae) also armored, even if not the whole barding but partially with crinet, chamfron & peytral, their war mounts.

eg the Orsza [Orsha] battle iconography

, the Miechowita's Tractatus de duabus Sarmatiis,

Bielskis' opus magnum The Universal Chronicle (and up to the 1590s - The Polish Chronicle)

or a drawing showing a detail from the Radziwill's Palace gallery painting depicting 1568 raid by Radziwill and Sieniawski.

when comes to the early 17th century we can see some armored horse in several works

Stanislaw Zolkiewsk's coffin relief - done some time after the death of the Crown grand hetman in 1621,

or drawing by Gembrzewski, published in his winged hussar book in 1938, based on a depiction of winged hussar captain from the panting in of king Sigismund III Vasa ( coppied by Aleksander Lesser from the Deutschesmuseum Nuremberg Gallery in 1883) .

So perhaps the elements of horse armor - crinet/crinniere and chamfron (with a rondel and a spike) were still being used, albeit sporadically, by the winged hussars and/or some Crown commanders and rotamiesters/captains.

Valete

RIP, Sanjulian 1941-2026

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 15:32:53 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

The family of Manuel Perez Clemente aka Sanjulian made an announcement that this great Spanish artist passed away today.

@ Heritage Auction

Pacem Aeternam, Maestro Sanjulian

Sanjulian at Heritage Auctions

RIP

Valete

Columbus Day, Conquest & return of Horses to the Americas

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 09:12:55 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

today, as every Monday close to October 12, we celebrate the national holiday known as Columbus Day to commemorate the day when the 12th of October but in 1492 the small Spanish armada, of three ships, commanded by the royal admiral Colon (Columbus) having crossed the Atlantic landed their boats in the Bahama Islands.

Technically or more precisely, the horses arrived in the Americas a year later, during the second voyage of Columbus, in December 1493.

Long live the Spanish horses of the Americas and all other American horses that came after 1493.

For the indigenous peoples of the Americas the Age of Conquista (Conquest) has begun an continues to this day.. with the African and Eurasian diseases, alcoholism, death, destruction and loss of culture, language and identity. One could say that they received horses, Christianity, Western civilisational Progress, and the final end to their cannibalism - all in return for their Americas.

Like the cowering woman before Columbus in the sculpture below

Valete

Beautiful kilij sabre from Swedish Collections

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Fri, 9 Oct 2026 03:28:30 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

Perusing the Swedish Museums collections on Wiki Commons I came across some fine photos of one of the most splendidly appointed sabres from the 17th century Ottoman & Transylvanian/Hungarian milieu.

This kilij (Ottoman) sword with its sheath was part of the large gift from Transylvanian prince Gabor Bethlen, arch-enemy of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, to Gustavus Adolphus, his brother-in-law & king of Sweden.

The museum's weapon researchers determined that the sword kilij-style blade was made by a sword-smith whom they called Hassan al-Misri. The hilt was finished much later, by some Ottoman or Hungarian jeweler/goldsmith.

The sabre's gold covered, enameled hilt is also expansively decorated with precious stones, the sabre's scabbard as well - in total 70 rubies and 31 turquoises.

Valete

Death of Tecumseh, war chief of the Shawnee and Indian Nations of the North Oct 5, 1813

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 15:38:50 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

yesterday it was 213th anniversary of the battle of the Thames. The American forces, 3,000 strong, commanded by William Harrison and col. Richard Mentor Johnson defeated the allied forces of Tecumseh's Indians (500 strong) and general Henry Procter's British troops (450 regualrs).

Tecumseh, Panther in the Sky, led the remainders of his once promising Confederacy of the Nations of the North (Harrison defeated the allied native army, when Tecumseh was in the South, in the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811). They allied themselves with the British and hence that part of the war of 1812 was also known as the Tecumseh's war.

The charge of one battalion of the Kentucky mounted riflemen under col. James Johnson, screening Remember River Raisin, broke the British contingent, with Procter running away and his troops taken almost all prisoners.

The native warriors, taking advantage of the swamp and woodland, skillfully continued to resist the advancing Shemanese (Long Knives) under their chief sachem Tecumseh and lesser chiefs and principal warriors of Shawnee, leading from the front and by example.

Another battalion of the Kentucky mounted rifles under col. Richard M. Johnson advanced and Johnson charged his 'dragoon' cavalry, with about 20 mounted men in van, the Tecumseh's position, drawing the sagamore and his retinue (comitatus) to a hand to hand melee, with sabers, pistols, rifle buts, tomahawks and knives etc.

Johnson mortally wounded or killed sachem Tecumseh, but his command's attack was checked and repulsed by the Indian warriors, with Johnson wounded. Gen. Harrison ordered his 1000 strong infantry under Shelby to attack the thin native warrior lines, and after a rather short firefight the confederate warrior bands, facing overwhelming numbers of their Shemanese enemies, withdrew, taking the body of Tecumseh and some of other fallen warrior with them (the abandoned fallen warriors' bodies were scalped and mutilated in a true frontier fashion of the times ). The Tecumseh's dream died there with him, albeit there were more battles between the former Tecumseh's confederates and the American forces in the Old Northwest.
John Sugden wrote a fine account of Tecumseh's heroic death titled - Tecumseh's Last Stand (1985), followed by Tecumseh: A Life (1997).

Pacem aeternam to the great American heroes of that battle

Valete

On the eve of ending of Cecora campaign 1620AD

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 14:36:07 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

426 years ago, on the morning of October 6, 1620 Crown Grand Hetman Stanislaw Zolkiewski and his army completed their 8 night of fighting retreat (see this post for more detailed description). The entire Crown army was confined to a wagenburg or large wagon train (6 rows of 100 wagons armed with hook guns & small cannon defended by 5,000 soldiers on foot, cavalry horses were led in front of the wagon-train). The troops, their camp servants and horses marched, with wounded in the wagons, for more than 160 km (100 miles). They were about 10 km from the Dniester River, the border of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

They had been marching from the war camp at Cecora, on the Prut River in Moldavia. There, 17-19th of October they fought a pitched battle against Iskander Pasha's army, berlerbey of Silistra, the Ottoman force composed mostly out of the Crimean Tatars and various other Tatar hordes under Khan Temir (Bloody Sword), and some Moldavian & Transylvanian Turkish vassals.

On that morning of October 6, 1620 there was no clear sign that by midnight of that night 6-7th of October the whole army would be disintegrated and all order vanished and hope gone.

Tyche of Fortuna, Goddess of Luck, can be very capricious.

Valete

Polish America - 1608-2026

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Fri, 2 Oct 2026 04:51:20 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

Marker - first Poles in Jamestown, Virginia

I am part of Polish-American diaspora - and yesterday we celebrated the arrival of first Polish settlers in Virginia.

Smith's History of Virginia

It was captain John Smith who made our first Polish colonists' voyage possible from northern Poland to Jamestown Virginia. To their credit they did save the Virginia colony in return.

Polish Jew and amazing artist Artur Szyk created this image for the New York World Exhibition in 1938.

A Libre book - our Polish American Congress published History of Poles landing in Jamestown - 350th anniversary publication.
S. H. Uminski's book you can to borrow from the Archive - Polish pioneers in Virginia.

Vivat

Valete

Alfalfa & Nisean Horse

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 15:05:13 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

Persepolis - king's horses

long time ago, when I first started this blog, I wrote about the legume known as the alfalfa (Medicago Sativa) and the horse of Nisean/Nisayan Plain [ancient Media, since time immemorial in Iran], and recalled the article by Ms Louise Firouz and her Caspian Horse.

Persepolis - king's chariot stallions

My little gallery of the Achaemenid Empire horses from their own artists' studios, so to speak.
.

enjoy

Darius' seal - chariot-riding, archer king with Ahura Mazda and rampant lion

Valete

Portraits of equine expressions in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century paintings

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 06:23:22 -0600

Slavete Omnes,

University of Michigan Digital Collections

from the Journal of Veterinary Behavior come this libre article -Portraits of equine expressions in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century paintings by Denise Pereira Leme.

It is free and about horse paintings, so why not to peruse it? - as the the proverbs go:

-don't look a gift horse in the mouth

-darowanemu koniowi w zęby się nie zagląda

-a caballo regalado, no le mires el diente

-Даровому коню в зубы не смотрят

And what a joyous opportunity to share some great equestrian art on this blog

enjoy

Valete

New Book from Cheiron publishers - Rewriting equestrian history series

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 04:25:03 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

last Sunday of this September 2026, also we have entered into the season of Autumn - Thanksgiving coming in two months.

ad rem, I was looking at the Trivent Publishing website for new Cheiron issue, and there they announced a new collection of articles on the European Medieval horses and their types: Backing the Right Horse: Types of Equids in Medieval and Later Europe. Two articles - the Introduction and Defining the English Hackney - are 'libre' or available for download to read and study.

On this blog I have written plenty of posts on the medieval horses, mostly in the Medieval art, from destrier/dextrarius to jennet, rouncey (all purpose horse), hackney & sumpter (pack horse)- starting with this post on the dextrarius apertus of 2010..

Outright, I disagree with the position taken on breeding and breeds by Anastasija Ropa, one the editors, in the Introduction (page 11), not only because I read works by Juan Carlos Altamirano on the 'invention and breeding' of the Spanish horse of king Felipe II.

In the past exchanges are had some disagreements on steppe and ancient Iranian etc horse history with on of the authors, namely Jurg Glassman. But in science and research informed disagreements just can lead to more research and goodness - :) .

well, perhaps I get to read more of these articles, and so will you, dear fellow traveler.

Valete

Warhammer & battle of San Romano by Uccello and mounted combat by Mair

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 15:07:26 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

combat detail from Uccello's San Romano in Florence, Italy

I have been following the Schola Gladiatoria page on Yt for a very long time -

but somehow I missed this presentation by Matt on the war hammer/nadziak of the late Medieval and Renaissance periods.
In the presentation Matt demonstrates the use of the horseman's war hammer, presents some pages from Paulus Hector Mair's Fechtbuch, where warhammer is demonstrated - courtesy of Wiktenauer (a HEMA Alliance project).

Jorg W. Hutters Fechtbuch

discusses Piero vel Pedro Monte's instructions of this weapon use - in 2018 the writings were translated & published as Collectanea,

and makes a reference with explanation to a mounted combat scene in Paolo Uccello' painting, the London version - battle of San Romano.

Matt's description starts at 12min50s

enjoy

Valete

Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg & his figurines

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 14:10:41 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

today a short entry on sculpture with plenty of horses -

the figurines by an artist living and prospering within the Russian Empire, but originating from the old Duchy of Courland and Semigalia, a scion of the old Baltic German family, Clodt coat of arms- Peter Clodt von Jurgensburg.

Vityaz

the horse tamer piece was also made into a monumental sculpture- 4 horses and their tamers are adorning a bridge and copies adorning a building in Berlin, Germany, until 1945, now in a park.

Berlin copies

enjoy

Valetet

Battle of Vienna 1683 - a print

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 04:28:43 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

5 days ago there was the 343rd anniversary of the battle of Vienna (1683AD).

Vienna city-fortress

In order to commemorate the battle you could enjoy the period print by Justus van den Nypoort and Johan J. Hoffmann from the Austrian national library.

enjoy

Valete

Expanding the corpus of the earliest Scythian animal-style artefacts - libre article from Antiquity, Cambridge Univ. Press

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:30:00 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

a short entry - a link to the Scythian related article from Antiquity.

Journal Antiquity 2025 Vol.99 (Cambridge Univ.Press) - article by Timur Sadykov at al, Expanding the corpus of the earliest Scythian animal-style artefacts.

the artefacts from the Valley of the kings in Tuva (the Turan-Uyuk) and other sites.

enjoy

Valete

Journal of the Silk Roads - issue libre

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 05:02:54 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

when you are interested in the Central Asia history, from the hunter gatherers to the end of the nomadic empires, the story of old Silk Roads is probably one of the more engaging subjects.

Transporting silk and woven textiles, gold, Chinese ceramics etc in exchange for steppe-bred horses was the traditional way of exchange between the ancient nomads and the Chinese civilization, the Tang Dynasty period being the most intriguing, with the Sogdian merchants playing the pivotal role. The Christian Nestorian creed spread into the steppe and into China through the Silk Roads routes, later Islam as well, and Buddhism too, while the Zoroastrian refugees from Persia found heaven in Tang China. The Turkish and Mongol conquests started along the Silk Roads. Tea was spread through the Silk Roads and so on. The Silk Roads linked Western Asia, especially the Persian empires and the Chinese empires, resulting in many beautiful works of art and ideas.

the new issue 1-2 (2026) of the Journal of the Silk Roads

is available on the Brill's site for download.

My most favorite book on the subject still is 'Golden Peaches of Samarkand'(1962) by Edward Schafer.

one aspect of the Silk Roads was the Tea Horse Road, perhaps more about its Muscovy connection more in the future.

valete

Tarnow and its treasures

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 04:50:50 -0600

Salve,

the city of Tarnów, in Little Poland, is famous for its history, embodied in its historic buildings like the ratusz (the town hall)

among the artefact the tTarnow city executioner sword

and the Saint Mary cathedral basilica where the Tarnowski tomb monument, one of the most spectacular Renaissance tombs in Poland and perhaps in the whole Europe, may be found.

But there are more tomb monuments within this cathedral basilica like the Ostrogski family, and many others. And there are many more old churches, museums and galleries being testimony to the former glories of this city.

World War I photos -

typical peasant carriage of Little Poland

.
enjoy

Salve

Nomad 'Olympics' in Kyryzystan, buzkashi-kokpar

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Sat, 5 Sep 2026 02:31:44 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

the Eurasian Nomads are having their own games, their Olympics right now in Bishek and Issyk-Kul (Astana Times report), Kyrgyzstan.

One of my favorite nomadic sports to watch is buzkashi (kokpar, kok-boru, Ulak-Tartysh) or 'goat wrestling.' There is even an American kokpar team participating - cowboys.

Valete

Taczanka in Polish army 1939

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Thu, 3 Sep 2026 14:12:40 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

September 3rd back in the 1939 - the German & allies invasion of Poland was in full gallop.

Polish armies continued withdrawals toward the Vistula River, while the German invaders continued to increase brutalization and crimes against the Polish civilian population.

That evening of the 3rd the governments of Great Britain(and by being part of the British Commonwealth also Canada, New Zealand & Australia and British India, while South Africa joined on September 6th) and France declared they were at war with Hitler's Germany. They needed weeks or months to mobilize for this new war, too late for Poland.

ad rem,

three horse-tema would pull the final Polish taczanka

The taczanka (tachanka) - Polish armies adopted this horse-drawn carriage with the heavy machines gun, 1908&1910 Maxim, mounted on the carriage from the Bolshevik Red Army they fought against in 1919-20.

During the 1930s the Polish army intensified their search for a perfect taczanka. They constructed 1934 version, and finally so called the 1936 version, authorized for cavalry and infantry. Polish cavalry got their 1936 taczanka with the 1930 maxim, 8 per regiment by November 1938.

Nazi Germany and Soviet Union also developed their taczanka vehicles during 1930s. Soviet tachanka'35 with Maxim MG,

and German Maschinen-Gewehrwagen 36 with machine gun MG-34.

Valete

World War II - Invasion of Poland'39 & field kitchens

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Tue, 1 Sep 2026 09:39:23 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

it is September already - times flies or tempus fugit. The most tragic anniversary in the Polish and world history - the day one of World War II.

Germany(Third Reich) & Slovakia invaded Polish 2nd Republic early in the morning of September 1st - committing atrocities like the bombing of Wielun on day one (during World War I, August 22, 1914 the Germans bombed the city of Kalisz).

The invaders and defenders, their armies, used hundred of thousands of horses, mostly for the draft work.

Providing food, especially hot food, for the soldiers was one of the most important logistic challenges they faced. Regimental field kitchens provided the most desired and needed hot meals. Teams of horses pulled this field kitchens.

Pacem Aetrenam

Valete

The Arab Horse - Spencer Borden

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 13:18:12 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

some photos from Spencer Borden's The Arab Horse (1906) - via Archive world library .

The Introduction -

there are more photos of horses inside the book
Valete

Polish Saddle from Livrustkammaren

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 05:39:28 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

long time (10 years) ago I posted these photos of saddles from the Swedish museal collections.
Now, the Statens Historiska Museer has more information, along with a color photo, about this beautifully ornamented saddle and a horse shabraq that went with this horse outfit(suit).

enjoy

Valete

'Riding' on Vrancx 'Flying Knight'

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 02:39:28 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

10 days ago I posted a very fine drawing by Sebastian Vrancx - Death on Horseback chasing a Flying Knight from Cleveland Museum of Art.

Today I would like to share these two images clearly based mostly on the 1630s drawing of Vrancx.

One is political pamphlet by Hendrik Hondius done sometime bnetween 1644 to 1672.

the this later print executed by Abraham Allard before 1713, based on Hendrik Hondius' image- says museum, .

Clearly both prints were completely influenced by Sebastian Vrancx' concept, composition and outright borrowing the horses and Death, changing some the flying knight.
enjoy

Valete

Obertyn AD1531

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 06:45:34 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

on August 22, 1531 Polish Crown hetman Jan Tarnowski, Leliwa coat of arms, defeated the Moldavian army under despot Petru(Peter) Rares at Obertyn (since 1945 in Soviet Ukraine, then since 1991 in Ukraine).

Early Polish hussars charged lance in hand along with the more armored men-at-arms, while their flanks were protected by a wagenburg defended by infantry with fireams & crossbows and camp servants with bows and crossbows.

woodcut from Marcin Bielski

Polish Crown regained Pokutia(Pokucie) region, which would be part of Poland until 1772. Returned to Poland in 1919, lost in 1939.

Hail and fame to the victors and pacem aeternam!

Valete

Some horse related drawings by E. Viollet-le-Duc

noreply@blogger.com (Dario T. W.) — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:01:32 -0600

Salvete Omnes,

dog days of the summer - I 'corralled' for us some medieval equestrian drawings by the XIX century French architect and mastermind of many restoration project Eugene E. Viollet-le-Duc

Valete