In the second half of the seventeenth century Polish nobility developed certain behaviors and habits that led to Sarmatian bravery and willingness to defend the faith and the homeland.

The fashion to defend the Motherland and the Church was understandable. At that time the Commonwealth (First Rzeczpospolita, pol. Rzeczpospolita) led many wars on the eastern borders, where the influence of other countries was strong.

Lord's Prayer in the latin version - Pater Noster

One of the most popular gestures was the raised sword, which expressed readiness to combat and to defence the faith, the homeland, honour, or just the cause. Some historical sources also say that the nobles drew out half of their sabres from the scabbards during the Lord's Prayer (at the time this prayer was called Pater Noster, in Latin).

Author: Piotrus under: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic

Another custom was putting caps on their heads when a priest lifted up the chalice and Host during a mass.