Reiter

Common card · No. 308192

Reiter or Schwarze Reiter ("black riders", anglicized swart reiters) were a type of cavalry in 16th to 17th century Central Europe including Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Tsardom of Russia, and others. Contemporary to the cuirassier and lancer cavalry, they used smaller horses, for which reason they were also known as Ringerpferde (corresponding to the French Argoulets). They were originally recruited in the North German Plain, west of the Oder river at the time of the Schmalkaldic War (1546–1547). The Reiter raised firearms to the status of primary weapons for cavalry, as opposed to earlier Western European heavy cavalry which primarily relied upon melee weapons. A Reiter's main weapons were two or more pistols and a sword; most Reiters wore helmets and cuirasses and often additional armor for the arms and legs; sometimes they also carried a long cavalry firearm known as an arquebus or a carbine (although this type of horsemen soon became regarded as a separate...

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