Courtiers of Foreign Origin amongst the Horse Courtiers of King Sigismund I the Old in 1518–1526. Part Two: Significance of “Other” Courtiers in Military Activities of the Royal Court in 1519–1521 in the Light of Signature Registers of the Horse Courtiers

Courtiers of Foreign Origin amongst the Horse Courtiers of King Sigismund I the Old in 1518–1526. Part Two: The Significance of “Foreign” Courtiers in Military Activities of the Royal Court in 1519–1521 in the Light of Signature Registers of the Horse Courtiers In the article the author demonstrates that the criteria of nationality, state or ethnicity was not key to the potential military usefulness and actual use in warfare of courtiers of foreign origin by Sigismund the Old as well as Marshal Piotr Kmita Sobieński and the commanders of the court regiment, Wojciech Sampoliński and Jan Boratyński. This is evidenced not just by the lack of differences in the size of detachments or nature of military service of the curienses, but also by their deployment determined by purely military considerations. When delaying or reconnaissance operations were planned, courtiers sent to carry them out made up mainly light detachments facilitating surprise attacks and moving faster (by virtue of being lighter armed and armoured). On the other hand when a serious attack on the enemy’s main forces was planned, the dominant group was that of lancers, who could bring a victory with their decisive charge. In this perspective the origin of the courtiers understood today as “foreign” did not matter.