In 1651, the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth defeated a more numerous Ukrainian Cossack-Crimean Tatar force in the three-day battle of Berestechko.
Along with artillery, firearms, and cold steel, accounts of the battle also mention magical attempts to influence the outcome.
The image is a portion of a drawing by Vernier based on a relief depicting the battle. Located in the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, the relief is on the lower part of the tomb containing the heart of King John II Casimir Vasa. Why a Polish king’s heart is interred in France is another story altogether, but for our purposes here, King John II Casimir commanded the Commonwealth’s forces at Berestechko.
What do you think? Were attempts at magic employed in the battle?
If you were a general in the 17th century, would conjurers or soothsayers have a place in your army?
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