Reiter

Reiter

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http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1212216014052855490Rgqyte German Reiter mid 16th century] [cite web |url=http://community.webshots.com/album/211695958FFbuWX?start=12|title=German reiter mid 16th century|accessdate=2008-02-06 |format= |work=]
Reiters (German: Reiter, or horserider, shortened from the original “Schwarze Reiter”--literally, "black riders" for the colour of their armour) were a type of cavalry, which appeared in the armies of Western Europe in the 16th century in place of the outmoded lance-armed knights, at the same time that cuirassiers and dragoons began to attain typological distinction from other kinds of cavalry. The reiters raised firearms to the status of primary weapons, as opposed to earlier Western European heavy cavalry which primarily relied upon mêlée weapons.

The reiter’s main weapons were two or more pistols and a sword; most wore helmets and cuirasses and often additional armor for the arms and legs; sometimes they also carried a long cavalry firearm known as an arquebus or a carbine (although this type of horsemen soon became regarded as a separate class of cavalry - the arquebusier or in Britain harquebusier).

In general, the reiters were expected to be able to engage their opponents both with firearms and sword. In the 16th century and up to about 1620, reiters often formed up in deep blocks and used their firearms in a caracole attack in the hopes of disordering the enemy infantry before charging home and engaging in hand-to-hand combat. However, enterprising commanders such as Henry IV and Gustavus Adolphus preferred to employ their reiters and other heavy cavalry in a more aggressive manner, ordering them to press the charge and fire their pistols at point-blank range (especially against well-armored enemies) or use their swords instead. Using either or both of these tactics, Reiters could be incredibly effective when properly employed. A particular case in point is the Battle of Turnhout, where a force of Dutch ruyters under Maurice of Nassau defeated the opposing Spanish cavalry and then successfully engaged the Spanish infantry with a combination of pistol volleys and sword-in-hand charges.

The Reiters mostly consisted of Germans and served in the armies of the German states, Sweden, Poland as Polish: "rajtaria", and elsewhere. There were also Reiter regiments in Russia between 1630s and late 17th century (see "Regiments of the new order").

In the later 17th century the Reiters gradually merged into generic cavalry regiments and were no longer seen as a distinct class of horseman.

References


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Reiter — bezeichnet: jemanden, der ein Reittier reitet, siehe Reiten ein kleinerer Dachaufsatz, der Dachreiter ein landwirtschaftliches Trockengestell, siehe Heureiter ein bestimmter Typus von Schachfigur, siehe Reiter (Schach) ein Bauteil einer E Gitarre …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Reiter — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Reiter alemán, cerca de 1577 Los reiter (en alemán literalmente jinete ) son un cuerpo de caballería pesada de origen germánico que apareció en los años 1540. Este tipo de caballería apareció tras la invención de …   Wikipedia Español

  • Reiter — Reiter, 1) einer welcher reitet, s. Reitkunst; 2) so v.w. Sieb; 3) die geilen Schafe, welche beständig stähren u. dennoch nicht trächtig werden, weshalb sie ausgemerzt werden müssen; 4) so v.w. Cavalier 8); 5) s. Spanischer Reiter; 6) so v.w.… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Reiter — Rei ter (r? t?r), n. [G., rider.] A German cavalry soldier of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Reïter. — Reïter., auf Recepten Abbreviatur für Reïteretur (es werde wiederholt), s.u. Recept …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Reïter — Reïter., abgekürzt von reïterētur (lat.), »es werde wiederholt (nochmals) gegeben«; vom Arzt bei stark wirkenden Arzneimitteln auf dem Rezept gegebene Bemerkung, ohne die der Apotheker die Verordnung nicht noch einmal verabfolgen darf …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Reiter [1] — Reiter, holländ. Münze, s. Rijder …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Reiter [2] — Reiter, s. Heuerntemaschinen, S. 289 …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Reiter — (Rijder), niederländ. Münze, s. Ducaton …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Reiter — Sf Sieb per. Wortschatz reg. (8. Jh.), mhd. rīter, ahd. rītera, as. hrīdra Stammwort. Aus wg. * hreidrō f. Sieb , auch in ae. hridder n. Außergermanisch vergleichen sich (mit verschiedenen Dentalen) air. críathar, l. crībrum (aus dh ) n. Sieb .… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • Reiter — Nom fréquent en Moselle. Variante : Reitter (68). Le nom désigne en allemand un cavalier (éventuellement un palefrenier), mais il peut aussi s agir d une variante de Reuter (du verbe reuten = essarter) …   Noms de famille

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