Armoured companion
| Armoured companion | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance | Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth |
| Type | Cavalry |
| Role | Standing professional military |
| Equipment | War hammer, mace, hatchet, sabre, spear, lance |
The armoured companion (Polish: Towarzysz pancerny, Polish: [tɔˈvaʐɨʂ panˈtsɛrnɨ], pl. towarzysze pancerni) was a medium-cavalryman used by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th to 18th centuries. They are named after their chain mail armour. These units were the second-most important (and successful) cavalry in the Polish–Lithuanian army, after the hussars.
Most pancerni were recruited from the middle to lowest classes of the Polish nobility.
These companions were organized into companies, with each company (Polish: chorągiew, or rota) consisting of 60 to 200 horsemen.
The Cossacks were renamed armoured cavalry (jazdę pancerną) in 1676 as the Cossack name was associated with the Khmelnytsky Uprising. After the reforms in 1776, both hussars and armored companions were transformed into National Cavalry units.