Origins
According to one version in the 10th century, light cavalry was mentioned in the Byzantine military manuals, which was called chosariori or chonsariori. In this cavalry were Balkan mercenaries and their main duties were reconnaissance and sabotage. In turn, the Byzantine term could have come from the Latin cursores – this was the name of the light cavalry during the decline of the Roman Empire. In Serbian, the Greek Honsaria became a hussar and synonymous with the word gangster. In the 14th century, the Serbian kingdom with its capital fell and many Serbian hussars took refuge in Hungary – there they helped fight the Ottoman expansion.
According to another version, in 1458, the Hungarian king Matthias Corwin ordered to collect a special equestrian militia to defend against the Turks.
Early History
It is most likely that Turkish “ deli ” (literally “insane”) influenced the outfit and appearance of the winged hussars. So called warriors of horse units, used in the vanguard of the Turkish army. They were usually recruited by the rulers of the border areas from the Balkan peoples – the southern Slavs, Albanians, etc., subject to the Ottoman Empire. Delhi differed “crazy” courage, instead of armor, they wore the skins of wild animals and adorned themselves with the wings of birds of prey. Following the example of Deli, Hungarian hussars began to wear wings on shields and headdresses.
Originally, the hussars were light cavalry and did not wear armor. Their clothing consisted of a Hungarian caftan with cords, buttonholes on the chest (the future dolman ), over which a fur cloak-mantle, or “menthium”, was thrown. Sometimes this cape would replace a wolf, bear, or leopard skin. Hussars wore peculiar felt or fur hats decorated with feathers. Hussars had a special form of shield ( tarch ), which could be nailed, on the model of the Turkish “Delhi”, decorative wings from the feathers of wild birds. Hussars were armed with a long spear-pike, called the “tree”.
The first Polish hussars were the Serbian mercinaries. In 1500, several notable Serbs with their small detachments entered the service of the Polish king. Soon Hungarians, Poles and Lithuanians began to recruit these units. In December 1501, the first regular companies of hussars were formed.
The Serbian hussars had light cavalry, had no armor, and used only a small shield as a protective equipment, sometimes mail and shishaks, and were armed only with a light peak. Polish hussars, as early as the middle of the 16th century, were carrying various weapons and willingly used lightweight protective equipment — armor, chain mail, breastplates and other types of armor. In 1577, Stephen Báthory, who was elected the year before by the Polish king, standardized the weapons and equipment of the hussars – the wearing of the shield was abolished, and metal bibs began to be worn. From the second half of the 16th century, the Polish hussars became heavy cavalry with a mandatory set of weapons, equipment and paraphernalia.
Poles used the word ussar more often than hussar.
Sources:
Polish winged hussars 1576-1775 / ed. V.I. Kiseleva. – Artyomovsk: New soldier: military-historical almanac
Soldatenko A. Polish hussary 1500–1776
Brzezinski R. Polish Winged Hussar 1576-1775
Żygulski Z. Husaria polska
