Ivan IV’s Professional Infantry, The Harquebusiers (Strel’tsy): A Question of Numbers

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe early modern European Military or Gunpowder Revolution did not exclude Muscovy, although the chronology and extent of its impact on Muscovy varied from Western Europe. This article examines the first step in that process, the creation of a standing army of gunpowder infantry, the harquebusiers (strel’tsy). It attempts to measure the influence of this development by determining the number of harquebusiers who served during Ivan’s reign. Previous studies of this question have overlooked the most detailed available data in the military registers for Ivan’s 1577 campaign in Livonia. Although it is impossible to compute an exact number, analysis leads to the conclusion that a field army could contain between 5,000 and 7,000 harquebusiers, which might constitute as much as 20 percent of the troops. However, this total does not include un-mobilized garrison harquebusiers, whose number remains unknown. The creation of the harquebusiers reflects a strategic decision to establish and increase professional gunpowder infantry, a reflection of the Military Revolution.