The article describes two mementoes of John III Sobieski which were at that time in the Dresden Armoury - the Armour of John III Sobieski (karacena) and the Turkish pennant, captured during the Battle of Vienna. The author of the text also provides information on two other sets of John III Sobieski's armour, which are located in the collections in Vienna in the Imperial and City Armouries. The text points out that while we are undoubtedly dealing with Polish armour, its status as royal armour is uncertain (source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1860, vol. 1, p. 368., after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

Armour of John III and a Turkish flag, captured by this king at Vienna

The first of these mementos is still kept in the Dresden History Museum. According to legend, our brave king is said to have worn this armour at the siege of Vienna, and later presented it to his fellow warrior John George, Elector of Saxony. It was not until the reign of John III that scaled armour, such as the one before us, became more widely used in our country. The King is most often depicted in such armour in engravings and medals, with the difference that the epaulettes are completely covered by a mascaron or a lion's head. The polished steel scales, attached to the moose skin, form a flexible, not too heavy, but strong resistance unit. All the parts of the armour, i.e. the breastplate, the earflaps, the necklace, the armour, the epaulettes, etc., are clad in, or rather wrought in, gilded bronze; the eagle on the breastplate, the cross on the necklace and other ornaments are also made of this metal. The padding of amaranth velvet, which extends outwards at the edges, not only makes the armour comfortable to wear, but also contributes greatly to the decoration of the whole.

The armour presents yet another peculiar and very characteristic detail: the defender of Christianity did not have enough of one cross as an emblem of the faith for which he sacrificed his whole life, and even sometimes the interests of his country; we find here, on each shell, a cross studded with gold, so that Bishurmese bullets, striking the breastplate of the king-hero, had to encounter the cross everywhere. This is how the defender of the cross took refuge in its protection and was never disappointed - but he was very disappointed in the people.

After the fortunate relief, when John III was preparing to continue his pursuit of the Turks, the Elector of Saxony returned his troops to the country, having "shown considerably (as John III writes to his Marysieńka) his discourtesy and ressentiment". 'I sent him yesterday as a farewell,' he writes further on, 'two richly dressed horses, two Turkish banners, four prisoners, two lovely farfetches and a rich veil for his wife; to General Gulcz a gold-framed, conquered sabre, and to that officer who was bidding me farewell, a good horse. He received it with unspeakable gratitude, but with even greater admiration'.

The armour in which King John was to liberate Vienna is three, if not more, in the collection, namely: the second in Vienna, in the imperial armoury, consisting of armour studded with gold, with bronze epaulettes and a pointed visor, and the third in the city armoury there, very modest.

The same is said of all of them. Meanwhile, Kochowski writes that on that day the king wore a blue cloth doublet, a white silk żupan and rode a brave fawn-skinned steed. The king was preceded by a squire, wearing a shield shaped like a coat of arms (Janina), and an ensign, who attached a falcon feather to his pennant to show where the king was. Prince James, his father's inseparable companion in this time of need, wore a helmet on his head, armour on his chest, a sword at his side, and under his thigh, according to the old custom, a short and broad sword.

Thus, although we cannot vouch that it was this armour that was worn by the king at Vienna, we give here a glimpse of it to add to the array of national memorabilia if possible; it is undoubtedly Polish armour of the time, and its ornamentation and the king's friendly relations with John George, Elector of Saxony, make it very likely that it may have been his.

The second drawing attached here shows the Turkish ensign captured by Sobieski in the Vienna pogrom of 1683, according to the work: Janina, or a description of the victorious triumphs of Jan III on the mars field, after breaking the Ottoman and Tartar power, by Jakub Rubinkowski, Lviv, 1757.

This pennant, elaborately made of gold and silver, had an outer border of green, with letters embroidered in gold; the other, inner border was red, and on it were flowers embossed in silver; and the centre was solid silver, with a franked inscription in gold. The length of the pennant itself was 12 feet; the height, apart from the spar, was 8 feet. At the top of the spar was a knob of copper, thickly gilded, with two circles and silk cords for fixing the pennant; one of these cords had been shot off in battle.

The following inscriptions were woven on the banner in Arabic, which were read out by a scholar from the Collegium de propaganda fide after the banner was transferred to Rome:

On the top part:
"We wish you a great victory. May God forgive thee thy sins both before and since committed, and pour out His grace upon thee, Mahumed Omar, and guide thee to the right path."

In:
"There is no other God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet."

On the lower part:
"Abubasser! May Allah support you with His omnipotence. For he it is who has put security in the hearts of his believers, that faith may be multiplied in them. For all the hosts of heaven and earth belong to God."

Immediately after the Battle of Vienna, John III sent John Casimir Denhoff, the Imperial Bishop, to Rome as an extraordinary envoy, who laid the flag at the feet of Innocent XI as a sign of the triumph of Christianity, delivering a succinct and well-paced speech explaining how precious this conquest had been snatched from the infidels. For this, Innocent XI (in the words of Niesiecki) "counted him among the Roman purpureans. "The pennant, when handed over, was first, according to custom, trampled by the Holy Father with his feet, then raised, consecrated and hung in St Peter's Church as an eternal commemoration of the victory of Polish arms.