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Glossary entry

Swedish term or phrase:

kavallerier

English translation:

mounted troops

Added to glossary by SafeTex
Aug 3, 2018 09:50
5 yrs ago
Swedish term

kavallerier

Swedish to English Social Sciences History
Hello

In:

Sist men inte minst hotade den nya vapentekniken både adelsmännens ***kavallerier*** och borgar.

is "kavallerier" really "cavalry" or should it be "militia" or "milice" or similar

The period is now the 1500s and the geographical location is right across Europe as far as the Ottoman Empire

"Cavalry" to me seems a bit too limited to men on horeseback and General Custer

Thanks for any help
Proposed translations (English)
4 mounted troops
4 +1 cavalrymen
4 cavalries

Discussion

Diarmuid Kennan Aug 3, 2018:
Infantrymen is wrong mounted units/troops, cavalrymen is correct, virtually the opposite of infantry
SafeTex (asker) Aug 3, 2018:
@Diarmund I was just about to tell you all that this is the word I'm using at present- infanty(men) -
I think you used it in an earlier discussion post so all credit goes to you. Can you make it into an official suggestion please? (for points)
Diarmuid Kennan Aug 3, 2018:
This is not an area in which I have any expertise, but, as I understand it, a part of the important changes brought about by the new technology (gunpowder), was that the heavily armoured cavalrymen could be replaced (to some extent) by infantrymen who were far cheaper to equip and far easier to train and replace. The King or Emperor etc. therefore became far less dependent on the nobility to provide him with cavalrymen (knights), which therefore diminished the power of the nobility vis-à-vis the King, substantially shifting the balance of power in society.
SafeTex (asker) Aug 3, 2018:
@Diarmuid and Jane At least I didn't suggest "star troopers" :) That would have been very Walt Disney
but seriously, my problem was with the fact that cavalry excludes foot troops, riflemen etc.
I'll sleep on this but I'm always grateful for your help

Proposed translations

5 hrs
Selected

mounted troops

Again, may I refer to SAOB:
c) (i sht förr) kavalleriregemente; kavalleriavdelning. Bägge Skånska cavallerierna .. (skulle) blifva kvar här i landet.

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Note added at 5 hrs (2018-08-03 15:16:45 GMT)
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Or, perhaps better, cavalry units
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thanks"
+1
11 mins

cavalrymen

Like I said, you're definitely watching too many American films - or movies as you probably call them :-)

Cavalry is the correct term, and I guess the text is referring to how the use of gunpowder led to infantry's dominance of the battlefield and the decline in the importance of heavily armoured cavalrymen.
Peer comment(s):
agree JaneD : Diarmuid is correct. Read an account of the battle of Waterloo, for example. It's later than this period, and the way the cavalry were equipped and used was different, but they were still a major part of it.
18 mins
agree Bakerneil
24 mins
disagree Agneta Pallinder : Kavallerier is plural, but not a plural of cavalry soldiers. They were/are called kavallerister. Kavallerier is a plurality of mounted units, if I may express myself so clumsily.
5 hrs
You may be right, but the terms (mounted units/troops, cavalrymen) are almost synonyms. Since this appears to be a text about social organisation, not military history/technology, I would argue that cavalrymen better conveys the actors' social status.
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15 hrs

cavalries

Plural of "cavalry".

Origin
Mid 16th century: from French cavallerie, from Italian cavalleria, from cavallo ‘horse’, from Latin caballus. (Oxford Dictionaries)

Definition of cavalry. plural cavalries. 1 a : an army component mounted on horseback. b : an army component moving in motor vehicles or helicopters and assigned to combat missions that require great mobility. 2 : horsemen. (Merriam Webster)
Reference:

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/cavalry

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cavalry

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