ARMOUR THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!The Winged Hussars of Poland!!!!Instead of ostrich feathers, the husaria
ARMOUR THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!The Winged Hussars of Poland!!!!Instead of ostrich feathers, the husaria men wore wooden arcs attached to their armour at the back and raising over their heads. These arcs, together with bristling feathers sticking out of them, were dyed in various colours in imitation of laurel branches or palm leaves, and were a strangely beautiful sight to behold … – Jędrzej Kitowicz (1728–1804).The hussars were famous for their huge ‘wings’, a wooden frame carrying eagle, ostrich, swan or goose feathers. In the 16th century, characteristic painted wings or winged claws began to appear on cavalry shields.The most common theory is that the hussars wore the wings because they made a loud, clattering noise which made it seem like the cavalry was much larger than in reality and frightened the enemy’s horses. Other possibilities included the wings being made to defend the backs of the men against swords and lassos, or that they were worn to make their own horses deaf to the wooden noise-makers used by the Ottoman and the Crimean Tatars.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_hussars#Origins_and_usage_outside_Poland -- source link
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