Abstract:The paper discusses the expedition of the kingdom of Poland to Moldavia in 1497. The army of 50,000 included a detachment of courtiers (curienses) who were organised as the so-called court banner. It was a kind of royal guard of up to 2000 men. The army, led by the Polish king John I albert, set off at the beginning of June from Lviv, and on 24 september the troops began a siege of suceava, the capital of Moldavia. a well-fortified city was not captured and on 19 October the siege ended. during the retreat, on 26 October the Polish troops were attacked by the Moldavians and their allies in the cosmin Forest in bucovina (present-day ukraine). In the clash, the court banner played an important role, by saving the knights of the general levy from a complete defeat. In the central archives of Historical records in Warsaw there are registers of armaments lost in this battle by the curienses. The paper discusses the armaments of members of the court detachment and losses they suffered during the battle.Keywords: battle in the cosmin Forest, John I albert (Jan Olbracht), kingdom of Poland, Moldavia, war, 15 th century

The first mention of the use of artillery in Poland comes from 1383. Information on hand firearms is slightly later. In 1410, the use of one handbuchse by municipal guards in Kraków was recorded. However, over the next decades, hand firearms in Poland did not play a significant role. According to the records of mercenary infantry from the 1470s, less than 1% of soldiers owned firearms (simple handgonnes and hackbuts). Small arms started to play a bigger role only in the 1490s. According to the lists of mercenary infantry from 1496, 27% of shooters had firearms, while the rest still used crossbows. In the following years, the percentage of soldiers with firearms increased, exceeding 80% in 1500. It should be noted that in the late 15th century in mercenary censuses there is a new type of weapon called rusznica, a term that should be associated with matchlock handgonnes. The weapon quickly gained recognition from mercenaries. After 1498, matchlock handgonnes also appeared in the equipment of mounted mercenaries and members of the court banner. Matchlock handgonnes almost completely replaced crossbows in the armament of mercenary infantry. The author tries to present these changes in a European context, and explain how such changes in the armament of foot soldiers were possible in such a short time.

In the years 2016–2018, a three-volume work «Knight in war, travel and the accomodation» was published in Poland. The author of this trilogy is Jan Szymczak, Professor Emeritus at the University of Lodz (Poland). In the first two volumes, he discussed the armament and equipment of knights in medieval Poland from the 10th to the 16th century. In the first volume, the author deals with defensive weapons, in the second ― offensive. The author paid much attention to the issue of terminology related to weapons. He tries to explain the nomenclature that appears in the sources, to explain the origin of the names of weapons that appeared in Polish. In the discussed books, a lot of space is devoted to issues related to the production and prices of weapons. In the third volume, the author also deals with horses and riding gear. However, on the pages of the book we find not only information about the knight’s equipment, but also a lot of space is devoted to weapons used by citizens, peasants and mercenary soldiers. The reader will also find in this study a lot of information not only about Polish army, but also about armies of other countries of medieval Europe. On the pages of J. Szymczak’s works, we find not only the parameters of weapons and examples of their use in battles, but he also shows them as an important element of court and religious ceremonies. Although the work is dedicated to the Polish knighthood, in it there are references to ancient cultures or medieval European literature. The work contains a very rich bibliography, including handwritten and printed sources, as well as a very large selection of literature.

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Wysoczyzna Świecka1, leżąca na południowy wschód od Borów Tucholskich, należy do słabo rozpoznanych archeologicznie regionów Pojezierza Południowopomorskiego. Rzeźba tego terenu została ostatecznie uformowana w wyniku działalności lodowca bałtyckiego i wód roztopowych.Mezoregion ten tworzą sandry Brdy i Wdy. Są to dość płaskie, zbudowane z piasków i żwirów stożki napływowe, utworzone na przedpolu cofającego się lodowca. Obecnie pokrywa je las sosnowy (niestety tylko jednogatunkowy), będący efektem współczesnej działalności ludzkiej. Na kulminacjach stożków znajdują się pola uprawne, które w północno-zachodniej części Wysoczyzny, między innymi w okolicy Tlenia, Swatna i Osia tworzą zwartą całość. Znaczną część omawianego terenu zajmuje wysoczyzna morenowa, powstała w wyniku bezpośredniej akumulacji lądolodu. Największe wyspy morenowe położone są w okolicach Osia, Miedzna, Lipinek i Wierzchowa. Oprócz sandrów i moreny Wysoczyznę tworzą moreny czołowe, pagórki i wały o wysokości względnej 5-10 m, a także wzgórza mające 10-25 m wysokości, kemy i zagłębienia wytopiskowe. Przez tereny te przepływa rzeka Wda, tworząca na długości 1 Została wydzielona przez J. K o n d r a c k i e g o , W sprawie terminologii i taksonomii jednostek regionalnych w geografii fizycznej Polski, "Przegląd Geograficzny" 1961, t. 33: "Wysoczyzna Świecka obejmuje falistą równinę pomiędzy doliną Brdy a dolną Wisłą o powierzchni 1171 kmJ. Wysoczyzna leży poniżej 100 m n.p.m., a urodzajne gliniaste gleby sprzyjały rozprzestrzenianiu pól uprawnych. Wschodnią część regionu przecina dolny bieg Wdy, u której ujścia do Wisły (już w jej dolinie) leż)' stary gród pomorski Świecie"; por.także T. B a r t k o w s k i ,