''Wojsko kwarciane'' (, ''quarter army'') was the term used for regular

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

units of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

(

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

). The term was used since 1562. ''Wojsko kwarciane'' was formed from earlier ''

obrona potoczna ''Obrona potoczna'', variously translated into English as "Permanent Defense", "General Defense", or "Current Defense" was a mercenary, hired military force in the 15th- and 16th-century Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland and the Pol ...

'' units. The term "quarter" in the name of the army ( pl, kwarta) comes from the type of the tax paid for their upkeep (''

kwarta The kwarta ( lt, 'kvarta') or quarter tax was a tax in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on all incomes from crown estates in ''królewszczyzna'' (crown lands). It was established in 1563.Norman Davies, ''God's Playground''p. 97/ref> Initially the ...

'' tax): a quarter of income from the crown lands (''

królewszczyzny Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an Fee tail, entailed Estate (land), estate and passes with the monarchy, be ...

'') was supposed to be used for that purpose. As monarchs usually

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

d their land to ''

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...

'' (or merchants, or

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

s) for short-term benefits, they didn't have direct control over cash flow and this often resulted in corruption and delayed payment of military wages. Military commanders (

hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military co ...

s) often had to pay the wages of ''wojsko kwarciane'' and hired mercenaries from their own purse. Sometimes disgruntled unpaid units formed confederations (see konfederacja) in order to lawfully collect their wages by force. The standing numbers of ''wojsko kwarciane'' varied by peacetime and wartime. On average during peacetime the army totalled about 2500

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

. It was a relatively small standing army when compared with other contemporary countries, especially considering the Commonwealth's huge area. Commonwealth armies would almost always be stretched thin to defend its territory from its aggressive neighbours of (

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and its vassals). In 1632 new quarter or royal taxes (''dupla'') was created to pay for

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

units. In 1652 ''wosko kwarciane'' was replaced with

wojsko komputowe ''Wojsko komputowe'' (, ''comput army'') is a type of military unit that was used in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century and the 18th century. Until the mid-17th century, Polish forces were divided into permanent units ( pl, ...

See also