Armoured companion

Armoured companion (Polish: Towarzysz pancerny, plural: towarzysze pancerni) was a medium-cavalryman in 16th to 18th century Poland, named after their chainmail armor. 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 or lower classes of the Polish nobility. They were organized into companies, with each company (Polish: chorągiew or rota) consisting of 60 to 200 horsemen.

The Cossacks were renamed armored 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.

Arms and armour
They used chainmail or bechter armour to protect the upper body, vambrace sometimes with gauntlets, secretes (rarely lobster-tailed pot helmets), buckler shields, sabre, composite bow, pistols, and carbine. Earlier companies would sometimes be equipped with a horseman's pick, mace, or lance. During the rule of king John III Sobieski, lances became compulsory.

During the Middle Ages, under the rule of Mieszko I and Bolesław I the Brave, the name pancerni applied to the members of the duke's retinue. They were the wealthiest warriors in the Polish army, and as such, they could afford to wear sophisticated armour, most commonly chainmail. Their weapons included arming swords, axes, spears, shields, and strait bows.