Eastern Influences on Polish Arms (pdf) - Medieval Sword

army was around 26 zl in 1581! However, a cavalryman in a good company
earned around 60 zl a year.
The Polish army entered the 17 th century stronger as a result of
Bathory’s reforms. Already at the beginning of the century sources indicate
that the hussars and light cavalry were fully developed and were commanding
spectacular victories over the Swedes, the Tatars and the Russians. Over this
century relations with the Ottoman Empire deteriorated, which led to greater
restrictions on trade. The Turkish embargo imposed on arms exports to Poland
meant that at least some weaponry was smuggled into the country. The risk
must have been a lucrative one, given that there were eager clients not only in
Poland but also in Russia, which imported its Turkish goods via Poland during
this period. Neither did fashions change among the Polish nobility, who
continued to favor wares from the Levant.
This period of prosperity came to an abrupt end in 1648, when the
Cossack rebellions under Bohdan Chmielnicki not only broke Polish military
power but also precluded safe trade for a time. In addition to the dangerous
roads, the main trading towns such as Lviv were often locked in siege against
the Cossacks. Then, in 1655, came the Swedish invasion, which brought
Poland to the brink of ruin. Trade in crafts also fell into decline. As such, then,
this marks the end of the second major period of the orientalization of Poland
and its military.
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Picture 30: Polish nobleman (szlachcic) with sabre, half of the 17th century