Expeditions of Łan Soldiers in the Writings of Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro

Abstract

Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro is one of the leading Polish writers of the Old Polish era who dealt with military reform issues. The article presents his ideas on replacing the mass levy with a new type of military unit made up of the peasants appointed in a number proportionate to the size of arable land, presented in his four writings from the period between 1668 and 1675. Those soldiers were designated by the landowners of noble, royal, and Church estates. Initially, Fredro regarded them as mere support for the traditional mass levy and permanent mercenary troops (called in Polish wojsko zaciężne). Ultimately, however, he opted for limiting the latter to 5,000 soldiers of the so-called ‘quarter army’ (in Polish: wojsko kwarciane – as a quarter [kwarta] of income from the royal lands was to be used for their upkeep). In place of the mercenary army and mass levy, he proposed an expedition of soldiers drafted per the income or the land area (the number of lans, called in Polish łan or, in Latin, laneus). He expected as many as several tens of thousands of armed men, which, as practice showed, was unrealistic. In this context, Fredro’s proposals did not differ from similar ideas presented in numerous treatises and political writings throughout the seventeenth century. With few exceptions, mass levies and expeditions did not make an outstanding contribution to the history of the Commonwealth wars. However, the writer’s reasonable demands concerning the armament of cavalry and infantry, equipping them with large ammunition stocks, limiting the number of wagons, training soldiers, and providing adequate provisions for the army should be pointed out.