''Piechota wybraniecka'' (, ''chosen infantry'') also known as piechota łanowa (''łans infantry'') was a type of an infantry formation in the

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 ...

. Formed in 1578. Consisted of "royal" peasants (one from every 20

łan Łan (in English ''lan''; in Latin ''laneus'', in German ''Lahn''), is an old unit of field measurement used in Poland. Since the 13th century, its value has varied from one location to another. A ''greater łan'' (also Franconian, King's, Old ...

s) from not charged (not under frequent

lien A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...

, etc.) and revendicated royal lands. Difficulties in recruitment: * mostly due to lack of constant dynasty in Poland (see:

Royal elections in Poland Royal elections in Poland (Polish: ''wolna elekcja'', lit. ''free election'') were the elections of individual kings, rather than dynasties, to the Polish throne. Based on traditions dating to the very beginning of the Polish statehood, strengthe ...

), royal lands were under notorious, often illegal, control of Polish magnates (powerful and sometimes even semi-independent from the state), who opposed (see: liberum veto) losing their workers, legal revendication actions of King and

Execution movement The Executionist movement was a 16th-century political movement in the Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland and, later, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was popular among lesser, middle and even some higher nobility, and it al ...

didn't give satisfactory results, * even in free of charge and revendicated royal lands noble overseers preferred to cut costs by limiting the amount of training and equipment available, which reduced the military value of the unit, * attempts to expand this duty to non-royal lands met with vast opposition ( liberum veto) from feudally-bounded lesser and middle

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 ...

(the majority) so the formation was never expanded beyond the revendicated royal lands. * armed "royal" peasants were inconvenient for stability of obsolete

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

political system of the country (see:

Chmielnicki uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising,; in Ukraine known as Khmelʹnychchyna or uk, повстання Богдана Хмельницького; lt, Chmelnickio sukilimas; Belarusian: Паўстанне Багдана Хмяльніцкага; russian: � ...

supported by peasantry), *

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

in Poland (

) was much more numerous than in other countries reaching about 1,15 million people in 1618, a number high enough to fulfill any contemporary military requirement, without additional need to recruit "royal" peasants. Eventually the formation was totally discontinued (late 17th / early 18th century) in exchange for a tax for the army.

See also