Poczet (, "fellowship" or "retinue"; plural ''poczty'') was the smallest organized unit of soldiers in the and later also the

Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Naval Force and the Lithuanian Air Force. In wartime, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (whi ...

from the 15th until the 18th century. The name of a medium or heavy-cavalry soldiers in poczet was pocztowy. In the cavalry, each poczet was commanded by a Companion or

Armoured companion Armoured companion (Polish: ''Towarzysz pancerny'' , plural: ''towarzysze pancerni'') was a medium-cavalryman in 16th to 18th century Poland, named after their chainmail armor. These units were the second-most-important (and successful) cavalry i ...

. Several Poczets were combined to form larger units like a

Banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

(the equivalent of a Western

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

). In this context the poczet is the equivalent of the medieval

Lances fournies The lance fournie (French: "equipped lance") was a medieval equivalent to the modern army squad that would have accompanied and supported a man-at-arms (a heavily armoured horseman popularly known as a "knight") in battle. These units formed compan ...

. Pocztowy was an assistant and subordinate of the Companion, in some respects similar to more ancient

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

's servant -

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a " ...

. He was armoured like his superior, but fought in the second or third line and was responsible for guarding his back and flanks in a battle.

See also

Further reading