Free Cossacks in the service of the Moscow state in the XVI century
The wars of the Russian state in the XVI century is not a chronicle of major field battles. General battles can be counted on the fingers. The main military operations consisted in raid operations and sieges of the cities. If the first task of the noble cavalry (the bulk of the Russian army) coped well, for the second was necessary infantry. Archers and contributed chernososhnyh lands could not fully satisfy this need, and in addition to his own corps, Moscow sovereigns attracted troops free Cossacks. Experienced, well-armed wars were a great addition to their own infantry. In this paper we will talk about such aspects as weapons, tactics and organization of free Cossacks in the service of the Moscow state. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that the author abstracts from the existing concepts of the military history of the Russian state, focusing on the analysis of primary sources.