Formowanie i liczebność wojsk nadwornych w Rzeczypospolitej w połowie XVII w. (na przykładzie oddziałów prywatnych księcia Władysława Dominika Zasławskiego-Ostrogskiego)

Using the example of private units of one of the largest/richest magnates in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the mid-17th century – Prince Władysław Dominik Zasławski-Ostrogski, the author presents the methods of forming, structure and theoretical numbers of the magnate army in the Polish-Lithuanian state. Court banners were composed of foreign mercenaries (e.g. guard), variously dependent nobility, lordly peasants, etc. The structure of the magnates armies was similar to the crown army. Rich nobles served in hussar or cossack banners, poorer in light cavalry units, peasants and townmans often constituted infantry units that usually made up the garrisons of lordly cities. The number of court troops could vary, the richest (like the main character of this article) gathered even several thousand soldiers for a short time (due to huge financial expenses). For the private soldiers of Prince Władysław Dominik Zasławski-Ostrogski, the time of the greatest mobilization and combat activity was the first year of the Bohdan Khmelnytsky uprising.