Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
EDITED BY
S U R A I Y A FAROQHI A N D HALIL
OTTOMANS, HUNGARIANS,
AND HABSBURGS
IN CENTRAL EUROPE
INALCIK
Advisory Board
Fikret A d a n i r Idris Bostan Axnnon C o h e n C o r n e l l Fleischer
Barbara F l e m m i n g Alexander de G r o o t Klaus Kreiser
Hans Georg M a j e r Irene M e l i k o f f A h m e t Yaar Ocak
Abdeljelil T e m i m i Gilles Veinstein Elizabeth Zachariadou
E D I T E D BY
G Z A D V I D AND P L
FODOR
V O L U M E 20
BRILL
LEIDEN BOSTON KLN
2000
L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s Cataloging-in-Publication
CONTENTS
Data
LIST OF MAPS
V I I
VIII
IX
XI
PART O N E : T H E H U N G A R I A N - H A B S B U R G FRONTIER
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - C I P - E i n h e i t s a u f n a h m e
Ottomans, Hungarians, and Habsburgs in Central Europe : the military
confines in the era of Ottoman conquest / ed. by Gcza David and Pal Fodor
- Leiden ; Boston ; Kln : Brill, 2000
(The Ottoman Empire and its heritage ; Vol. 20)
I S B N 90-04-11907-8
GZA PLFFY
The
O r i g i n s and
Development
of
the
Border
K U B I N Y I The
Battle
of
Szvaszentdemeter-Nagyolaszi
ISSN
ISBN
1380-6076
90 04 11907 8
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
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Fees are subject to change.
P R I N T E D IN T H E N E T H E R L A N D S
The M i l i t a r y R e v o l u t i o n i n H u n g a r y
PART T W O : T H E O T T O M A N
KLRA HEGYI
71
117
FRONTIER
Costs of the O t t o m a n
Fortress-System
163
GZA DVID
195
229
A n O t t o m a n M i l i t a r y Career on the H u n g a r i a n
Borders: Kasim Voyvoda, Bey, and Pasha
265
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
299
INDEX
315
LIST OF M A P S
65
67
69
82
106
173
Pl Szeg,
Vgvraink
a tizentves
hbor
kezdetig
(1541-1593) [The Organization of the Hungarian Border Fortresses from the Establishment
of the Ottoman Rule to the Outbreak of the Fifteen Years' W a r ] , Budapest, 1911, 52.
2
Cf. Pl Fodor,
"Ottoman
Policy
Towards
Hungary,
1520-1541,"
Acta
Orientlta
GZA PLFFY
der Militrgrenze.
Gesamtbibliographie).
Militari/
1960,
Barder in Croatia,
Institution.
C h i c a g o , 1966, and the two volumes together in G e r m a n : Gunther Ejrich] Rothenberg, Die
sterreichische
Militdrgrenze
E d . by Gerhard
E m s t . (Schriftenreihe des Regensburger Osteuropainstituts, 8.) Regensburg, 1982. Vojna KraE d . by Dragurin Pavlicevic. Zagreb, 1984. Cf
Temtorialstaates
und Staatsbildung.
des inner-
Geschichte sterreichs, 60.) W i e n - K l n - G r a z , 1973. Karl Kser, Freier Bauer und Soldat. Die
Militarisierung
der agrarischen
Gesellschaft
m der kroatisch-slawonischen
Militrgrenze
(1535-
1S81). (Habilitationsschrift) G r a z , 1985, and the most recent work by Jean Nouzille (Histoire
de frontires.
L'Autriche
So far Kurt Wessely has been the only one to realize that for an understanding of the
History
Yearbook 9-10 (1973-1974) 55-110, and idem, " D i e Regensburger 'harrige' Reichshilfe 1576,"
in Die russische
Gesandschaft
Vlkl u n d K u r t Wessely. (Schriftenreihe des Regensburger Osteuropainstituts, 3.) Regensb u r g , 1976, 31-55. Cf. also Istvn Sinkovics, "Obrana madarskog pogranienog teritorija od
T u r a k a u X V I i X V I I stoljecu," in Vopna Krajina, 163-174. The most important Hungarian
monographs: Szeg, op. cit., and Imre Sznt, A vgvri rendszer kiptse s fm/kora
orszgon
H u n g a r y ] . Budapest,
5
Magyar
1541-1593 [The Organization and Golden Age of the Border Defence System in
1980.
zbornik
GZA
PLFFY
2.2. F r o m 1683
considered i m p o r t a n t by Moacanin.
corrected
KINGDOM
1526)
century-mid-M70s)
1 0
O n the history of the organization of the defence system before 1526, cf. Ferenc Szakly,
"Phases of Turco-Hungarian
Warfare
Before the
Battle of M o h c s
(1365-1526),"
Acta
G Z A PLFFY
T H E H U N G ARI A N - H A B S B U R G B O R D E R D E F E N C E SYSTEMS
12
11 For the earliest attacks against Hungary, cf. Bdog Milleker, A trkknek els betrsei
Dl-Magyarorszgba Zsigmond s Albert kirlyok idejben s Keve s Krass vrmegyk
1393-1439 (The First Attacks by the Ottomans
megsznse.
Sigismund and Albert, and the End of Counties Keve and K r a s s f Temesvr, 1914. O n the
attacks against Transylvania, cf. Gustav G u n d i s c h , Z r berlieferung
der Turkenemfallc
in
14
Siebenbrgen. Kolozsvr, 1947. O n the first raids in Austrian territories, see Hans Pirchegger,
"Die ersten Trkeneinflle
(1396, 1415,
1418)," Zeschnft
des
Histonschen
Veremes
fur
Steierrrmrk 18 (1922) 63-73. See also the latest s u m m a r y of the Southern Slav literature bv
Vasko Simoniti, Vojaskn organtzaaja na Slovenskem v 16. stoletju. Ljubljana, 1991,
5-23.
1 4
At the turn of the 1430s Sigismund put the Teutonic O r d e r in charge of the bannte of
Szrny defending the entrance at the L o w e r Danube. But his hopes in connection
with
this plan soon failed. Erich Joachim, "Knig S i g m u n d und der Deutsche Ritterorden in
U n g a r n 1429-1432. Mitteilungen aus dem Staatsarchiv Knigsberg," Mitteilungen
fr
sterreichische
Geschichtsforschung
des
A Jsz-Nagykun-Szolnok
Instituts
Banate],"
10
GZA PLFFY
11
T H E H U N G ARI A N - H A B S B U R G BORDER D E F E N C E S Y S T E M S
fortresses, and on the other, the bandena, county and noble troops, that is
the military of the areas n e i g h b o u r i n g the frontiers. This was the most
decisive and most significant part of his reforms.
As a first step, in 1476 Matthias united the offices of the ban of CroatiaDalmatia and Slavorua. His intention was to subordinate the commanders of
border fortresses, as well as the mobile troops of the counties, barons and
nobles of the area, under the unified control of the Croatian-Slavonian ban
(banus Croatuie et Slavoniae) from the sea to the Lower Danube. Though he had
already attempted to unify the two offices as early as in the mid-1460s, his
endeavours were frustrated for a decade by the pursuits for independence of
the ban of Macs, Mikls jlaki, w h o was appointed King of Bosnia in 1471."'
After the occupation of Szabcs in 1476 and the death of jlaki in 1477, nothing
could prevent h i m from implementing his plan. A t the same time, he organized
the region of the Lower Danube into a unified border defence system, similar
to the Croatian-Slavonian terntones. To this end he created the office of the
captain-general of the Lower Parts (supremus capitenus paiiium regra Hungaruie
inferiorum), which was, w i t h a few exceptions, assumed by the high sheriffs
of county Temes. From that time on, besides their bandena of considerable
numbers, the captain-generals disposed of the military forces of both the border
fortresses and the neighbouring counties. A t the same time, as high sheriffs of
county Temes, they were also responsible for the civil administration of the
area. While the Croatian-Slavonian ban was personally m charge of the military
and civil administration of Dalmatia, Old Croatia, and the Slavonian counties
17
lh
his residence in Ptervrad and died in the battle of Mohcs, has to be r a n k e d among these.
'8 It is appropriate to note here that Croatia and Slavonia as administrative and territorial
notions had different meanings d u r i n g the middle ages and in the
sixteenth-eighteenth
centuries. T h e medieval ' O l d ' Croatia was situated south-west of the river Sava, and its
territory
extended
between
on
Kapela Mountain, extending as far as the river Vrbas in the east. T h e Ottoman
advance
created a completely new situation by the second half of the sixteenth century. By that time
the southern parts of O l d Croatia were lost, its population sought refuge in the north, and
for this reason in the sixteenth-seventeenth
stretching from the Adriatic to the Sava, then, in the eigtheenth century, to the D r a v a , w h i c h
w a s formerly named Slavonia, then U p p e r Slavonia. For Slavonia proper shrank to the
territory between Drava, Sava, a n d C s z m a by the 1570s. In the second half of the eighteenth
1 3
C o r v i n u s ] , " Hadtrtnelmi
Kzlemnyek
22 (1975) 305-348.
Policy of
Matthias
century, however, it included the counties Pozsega, Valk, and S z e r e m (the so-called L o w e r
Slavonia), and from that time on, Slavonia meant exclusively that territory.
13
G Z A PLFFY
of Zgrb, Vrasd, Krs, Verce, Dubica, Szana, and Orbsz, due to the
peasant soldiers paid by the k i n g . ' So in case of danger, the captaingenerals of the border territories, as the leaders of the more secure interior
counties, disposed of a significant n u m b e r of banderia, county and noble
troops, and unanimously controlled b o t h the border fortresses and the
mobile field troops. Their concrete tasks were determined by the ruler,
w i t h o u t h a v i n g an independent b o d y controlling the m i l i t a r y
affairsarrived at decisions on the defence of the country after consul
tation w i t h the Royal Council (consilium regis/regni) residing in Buda.
12
of Transylvania (vajvoda
authority.
Transilvaniae/Transilvaniensis)
with
the same
20
temeskzi-szrnysgi
vgvrvidk
funkcivltozsai
Function of the Border Fortress Area of the Temeskz and S z r n y s g ] , " in Vgvrak s
rgik a XVI-XVII.
2 0
w n 0
Before the loss of Nndorfehrvr, the key fortress of the Danube line,
in 1521, the system of border defence d i d not seem to differ m u c h f r o m
the network that came into being after the reforms of Matthias C o r v i n u s .
While one element of the defence, however, the chain of fortresses still
existed, t h o u g h in a bad state of repair, the other main component, the
mobile troops of the neighbouring and inner parts of the country became
practically unusable. So i n the disastrous economic, social, and political
conditions of H u n g a r y in the Jagellon-era (1490-1526), the defence system
became mutilated already before the fall of Nndorfehrvr. The loss of
the most important castle then launched a process that culminated i n
total collapse. Given the lack of a field a r m y that could be m o v e d a n d
controlled quickly and coherently, Nndorfehrvr could only have been
replaced by a castle of similar size and significance along the Danube. A
stronghold of such strength, however, was to be found only several
hundred kilometers further north, i n the centre of the country, in Buda.
22
captain-general
connection with the devaluated office of the ban of Macs held by Lrinc, the son of Mikls
Kingdom
(1521-1526)
2 1
2 2
Ferenc Szakly has dealt with the reasons and circumstances of the loss of the k e y
fortress in several studies, w h i c h obtains very useful points of reference Ferenc Szakly,
jlaki. T h o u g h it might have seemed wiser to send the captain-general of the L o w e r Parts
n Hungarian-Ottoman
office with the seat in T e m e s v r s u r v i v e d the fall of Nndorfehrvr in 1521, and continued
Magnificent.
to function until 1556 with different centres as will be discussed later on. C f . the different
Kzlemnyek
25 (1978) 484-499.
14
GZA PLFFY
those
15
peasant
as
T o m o r i a i m e d at b r i n g i n g the fortresses
34
defensible c o n d i t i o n and at r e i n f o r c i n g t h e m w i t h p a i d i n f a n t r y m e n
and bandena, these failed one after the other, due to the modest incomes
of the country. As a result, the entire southern defence system inevitably
collapsed in 1526, when the last units of the mobile field troops and the
major border fortresses perished. The death of Louis II (1516-1526) at the
same time b r o u g h t about the fall of the medieval H u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m .
Before the collapse of the medieval border defence system, a change
took place whose effects could not be felt i n the 1520s, but w h i c h proved
23 Lajos T h a l l c z y - A n t a l
Diplomticas
Partium
H o d i n k a , Magijarorszg
Regno Hungurtae
Adnexarum).
mellktartomnyainak
Vol. 1. A horvt
oklevltra
(Codex
vghelyek
oklevltra.
Hunganae
T h e year 1521 w h i c h I propose to start a new period, is both appropriate for marking
the collapse of the first chain of fortresses and for referring to the date w h e n Ferdinand,
Archduke of Austria began to support
Hungarian
K i n g d o m with his financial and military power. That is w h y the year 1522 in Rothenberg's
monograph (The Austrian
; j
Military
1521.
itary Frontier in Croatia and the Alleged Treaty of 22 December 1522," Slavonic and East
Vladislav I I (1490-1516) and Louis I I and the Croatian barons and nobles
European
grenze," Militrgeschichtliche
Review 38 (1960) 493-498. Cf. also Winfried Schulze, " D i e sterreichische MilitarMitteilungen
his study published in 1960 that the alleged treaty of December 22, 1522 between L o u i s II
Regensburg in 1522-1523, he (Rothenberg) was not the first to realize this. Lajos Thallczy,
of
in his introduction to the above quoted collection of documents had already corrected the
mistake (L. T h a l l o c z y - A . H o d i n k a , op. at.,
Rothenberg's
merit is that he again drew attention to the problem, as Thallczy's results were
ignored even by Hungarian scholars. Pal Szeg, op. at.,
Rill. Frst und Hof in sterreich
often
von
16
GZA PLFFY
17
27
28
2 6
1526-1528 (Historical
Events
Military
and
Diplomatic
Relations. 93-130.
2 7
bis 1532.
(Dissertationen
1968.
residence of the family Szapolyai, Ulrich Leysser chief field armoury officer
meister) suggested to his ruler on March 28, 1528,
the
(Obrist-Feldzeug-
places should be transported to the southern border fortresses and the ruined cannon should
be cast again with the same purpose: " E u e r Kunigliche Majestt etc. hetten solh
Geschucz,
klain vnd gro behaltenn, vnd die ortflegkhen gegen dem Turgkhenn damit versechenn ...
hetten Euer Kunigliche Majestt etc. new geschuez giessen v n n d die Turgkhisch
35 " N i s i Vestra Sacratissima Maiestas alicunde ex aliis regnis suis huic regno provident,
Preceding
Grniczen
a c t u m erit de eo, et ex amissione h u i u s regni amittentur alia etiam regna Vestrae Sacra-
'528/3/16 c. It is not a coincidence that it was Leysser w h o made these proposals as he had
tissimae Maiestatis." Wien, sterreichisches Staatsarchiv [hereinafter StA], Haus-, Hof- und
already taken part in the recruitment of the auxiliary troops commanded to Croatia from 1522
so he was among those who rightly assessed the real degTee of the Ottoman threat (see L.
Allgemeine Akten [hereinafter A A ] , Fase. 39. Konv. F. 1539. Juni-Juli fols. 36-37.
Thadczy-A. Hodinka, op. at.. 145-147: No. X C I and 148-149: No. XCOI).
18
G Z A PLF-FY
31
2v
19
"nd his successors could not achieve. They tried to ensure their power
b
of the military affairs and border defence in such areas they sought to
stop the Ottoman advance. For this purpose the economic and military
power of the Austrian provinces sufficed even if Charles V was reluctant
to g i
v e
the new
in Kram),
mustered
and L i p p a ) in Temeskz with the aim of checking how they could be strengthened to serve
the purpose of defence against the Ottomans, they could not prevent them from getting
into the hands of John I. StA K A A F A 1528/7/6. See also StA H H S t A Hunganca AA.
Fasc. 8. Konv. 1. 1528. Jan.-Juni fols
175-176.
(The H u n g a r i a n Locumtenentia under Ferdinand I and its Letter Book from 1549 to 1551).
Budapest, 1908, a n d Gyz Ember, " A helytarti hivatal trtnethez a X V I . szzadban [To
Slav captains (Blint Trk, Lajos Pekry, and Pl Bakics). As the payment
szletsnek
hatvanadik vforduljnak
nnepre.
Szentptery Imre
GZA PLFFY
20
21
in Pozsony was
36
"Pro
conservandis
partium
istarum
C a p i t a n e u m assumpsimus et constituimus
ad
confinia T u r c h a r u m
iacentium
locis
illique Castrorum et O p p i d o r u m
... in
nostrorum
eorundem
Capitaneum
nostrorum
1 7
On the help given by the Styrian estates: Gnther Burkert, Ferdinand I. und die stemschen
Stande Dargestellt anhand der stemschen Lmdlagc
57-173.
K o n v . 1. 1538. Apr. fols. 94-95. Cf. ibid., fols 86-87, 89, 93 and 96-99.
1976,
Festschrift
210.
22
G Z A PLFFY
23
(1541-1556)
The fall of Buda in 1541 and of the fortresses of Sikls, Pcs, Szkesfehr
vr, Tata, Ngrd, H a t v a n , then of Esztergom on the Danube, a n d the
loss of Valp and Atyina in Slavonia d u r i n g the 1543-1544 campaign
justified those few w h o were of the opinion already i n the 1530s that
4 0
omnia h a u d q u a q u a m satis futurum esse, j a m majestas sua intelligit." 1547: article 16.
lmnytr.
(Corpus
Accompanied
3 Schulze, Landesdefension,
Juris
Hungria)
1526-1608.
rvnyczikkek
[Articles
of
Magyar
1526-1608).
C/HJ. Budapest,
1899,
198-199.
60-61.
3^ Kaser, op. at., 60-79. Catherine W e n d y Bracewell, The Uskoks of Sen/. Piracy,
and Holy War in the Sixteenth-Century
ac
Adriatic.
Ithaca-London,
1992.
Banditry,
24
C.7.A P A L F F Y
a r h c l " e
^ T s l s T ^
a c
P"
*P**
*un ."
t
154*
25
more and more frequently turned to their ruler for help. The reason for
this was that the Croatian-Slavonian ban,
g r a d u a l l y deprived of the
of the
StA
H H S t A Hungarica
AA
Fasc. 54.
1546-1547
copy
26
T h
, organization of the defence system against the Ottomans and the number
and payment of the soldiers in the border fortresses, 1D56
Number
of
fortresses
^Id^^roatiaTTci^
2 major
Number
of
infantry
Intzet vknyve
Total a n n u a l
payment
565
241
6433 r. f. 50 k.
77 206 r. f.
944
900
9263 r. f 21 k.
I l l 160 r f.
fortresses
+ minor
ones
"vv^ndislTconftnes
15 +
12 k.
field
troops
^rToopT^ed by the ban
Border fortresses
Sziget +
around Szigetvar
minor
200
300
2338 r. t.
28 056 r. f.
1080
826
8144 r. f. 11
97 730 r. f. 15
k. 1 d.
k.
11 933 r. f. 36
143 203 r. f.
k.
12 k.
ones
Border fortresses
987
1874
around G y o r
150
5788 r. f.
69 456 r. f.
826
6711
80 539 r. f.
859"
10 250 r. f.
123 000 r. i.
250
915
4927 r. f. 5 k.
59 125 r. f.
1000
2000
13 000 r. f.
156 000 r. f.
about 50
8978
8004
78 789 r. f. 38
945 475 r. f.
k. 1 d .
39 k.
928 "
Komarom
Confines protecting
762
r. f. 35 k.
min. 4 +
Upper Hungary
field
1375
51
troops
Captaincy-general of
min. 2 +
the L o w e r Parts
field
troops
Imperial troops in
Transylvania
48
4 5
Total
monthly
payment
dumber
of
cavalry
46
27
G Z A PL F F Y
Total
1 (1931)
98-132.
4 6
E n d r e Marosi, "Partecipazione
di architetti
del
sistema delle fortezze d i confine in Ungheria tra il 1541 e il 1593," in Rapporti veneto-ungheresi
all'epoca del Rmascimento
1975,
195-215.
4 7
G e r m a n Mrser
zu Kreidschssen
or Larmmrscr
= Croatish
glasnik a n d T u r k i s h haberdar. Simoniti, op. cit., 169-179. G u s t a v Otruba, " Z u r Geschichte des
Fernmeldewesens
Jahresbericht
1955/56.
V i e n n a , 1956, 15-43.
4
4 9
infantrymen
5 1
and 400 G e r m a n
(Landsknecht).
inspector
(Muster(Kriegs-
and also the 125 infantrymen calculated from the amount of p a y they received in the castle
of Saros.
Together w i t h the 59 coach-horses (Postpferd)
5 2
used in H u n g a r y .
28
GZA
PLFFY
29
57
in H u n g a r y , a zone similar to both the one that had existed before the
battle of Mohcs and the one that had already taken shape i n Croatia.
That this new defence u n i t was of extreme importance to Vienna is s h o w n
by the fact that i n its eight fortresses there were many more soldiers in
1556 than i n the t w o dozen castles of the O l d Croatian and Slavonian
confines protecting the three Inner Austrian provinces.
3 6
5 4
5 5
" T a g und nacht zwischen den trkischen Schlssern auf der Wacht Hegen mssen."
S n d o r Takts, Rajzok a trk vilgbl [Sketches from the Ottoman World], II. Budapest,
70: n. 2. Skartleuts
1915,
were employed on the Croatian border later, too. In 1573 for example
1573/11/1.
[ F H K A J , Hofkammerarchiv
[hereinafter H K A ]
und Forschung.
Stdteent
fr
die Geschichte sterreichs und Europas. (Wiener Beitrge zur Geschichte der Neuzeit, 20/1993.)
E d . by Elisabeth Springer u n d Leopold Kammerhofer.
A n g e l i k a Hametner,
1970,
84.
Die niedersterreichischen
Wien-Mnchen,
1993,
64-65, and
(Phil. D i s s . ) W i e n ,
30
GZA
PLFFY
62
63
64
> A s u m m a r y
a Tisztl keletre a X V I
szzadban [Defence Zones East of the River T i s z a in the Sixteenth C e n t u r y ] " in In memonam
Barta Gbor. Tanulmnyok
6 1
krittsche
Sludie
zur osmanischen
Expansion
europas, 11/18.) W i e n - K l n - W e i m a r ,
6 2
1554. Eme
Mitteleuropa.
For these smaller castles, see Csaba Csorba, "Erdtett s vrr alaktott kolostorok a
in the Ottoman
into
Era],"
histonsch-auellen-
1994.
of Jnos Balassa to T a m s N d a s d y
6 3
un ostlichen
O n the appointment
Z l y o m , July
9,
1555.
die 8. Martii s u p r e m u s
regm
31
T H E H U N G ARI A N - H A B S B U R G B O R D E R D E F E N C E SYSTEMS
t'ol. 7.
Agreement
with h i m on the payment of his soldiers: M O L E 211 M K A L y m b u s Series II. Item 24. fols.
74-75.
6 4
8. H i s appointment:
No.
32
west, and east of the Danube were to obey h i m / this d i d not come into
effect except for the castles south-east of Gyr designated as his head
quarters. '' I n the curtailment of Pallavicini's authority those interests can
be recognized w h i c h motivated the t w o captain-generals of the country
and first of all Tams Ndasdy, appointed palatnus i n 1554. They d i d not
w a n t to give u p the leadership of the defence system or at least active
p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n it. A n d the successes of the Ottomans between 1552 and
1554 prevented the Habsburg m i l i t a r y leadership and Pallavicini from
s o l v i n g the p r o b l e m of a u t h o r i t y amongst the most urgent defence
measures. The n e w system could not be organized w i t h o u t the Hungarian
landowners and m i l i t a r y leaders possessing castles near the border and
well-versed i n warfare against the Ottomans (such as Ndasdy, Balassa,
Bthory, Pernyi, Dersffy, Ferenc Tahy, or Jnos Krusith), not to mention
the Croatian-Slavonian bans. The reason for this was that there were
scarcely any L o w e r or Inner Austrian m i l i t a r y leaders at that time w h o
c o u l d have efficiently replaced the H u n g a r i a n nobles k n o w i n g the
H u n g a r i a n m i l i t a r y and political situation. It seemed advisable to involve
the H u n g a r i a n s in controlling certain units of the defence system at the
expense of some compromise. As palatimis, Ndasdy was practically in
charge of the fortresses around Szigetvr south of Lake Balaton; Jnos
Balassa organized the castles protecting the m i n i n g towns; Gbor Pernyi
and then Istvn Dersffy undertook the military control of the Upper Parts
of the country east of county Gmr (partes superiores).
5
"Dans
obedientiam
fols.
superioribus
108-112. C f . also
regni
nostri
"ipsique s i m u l c u r a m
Hungri
partibus,
ex
33
T H E H U N G ARI A N - H A B S B U R G B O R D E R D E F E N C E S Y S T E M S
GZA PLFFY
arcium
utraque
et
locorum
1552.
nostrorum
Danubii parte
in
existentium
d e m a n d a v e r i m u s " (Ebersdorf, November 16, 1552). Ibid., Fasc. 49. K o n v . A . 1542. Okt. fols.
Council
(1556-1566)
39-40 (under bad archival placement) and M . Khbach, op. t., 214-215, furthermore StA
K A M e m o i r e n 28/1334/11. pp. 268-269.
" V i g o r e instructions ratione officii mei bellimarsalcatus mihi datae universi praesidiarh
milites, equites et pedites ex utraque parte Danubii adusque Tijbiscum et D r a v u m existentes
m i h i subiacent, v e r u m deinde postquam bellimarsalcatus officio fungor, me inscio plures
capitanei et milites cum sunt dimissi vel noviter conducti, turn de uno in a l i u m locum
traducti ..." M O L E 185 Missiles. T h e letter of Sforza Pallavicini to T a m s N d a s d y . Gyr,
July 6, 1555.
Revolution,
Military Innovation
Rise of the West, 1500-1800. Cambridge, 1988. Jeremy Black, A Military Revolution?
Change and European
Revolution
Clifford
Society,
Boulder-San
Transformation
Francisco-Oxford,
1995.
of Early Modern
For
the
impact
Europe.
of the
revolution in Hungary, see the article of Jozsef Kelenik in the present volume.
and the
Military
Military
Ed. by
military
34
35
GZA P A L F F Y
After 1556, the duties of the War Council and diplomacy towards the
Ottomans were discharged by the staff of the Aulic War Chancery (Hofknegskanzlei Cancellaria Bellica) which was composed of t w o secretaries (Sekretr),
one Registrator, one Expeditor, several drafters (Konzipist) and scribes (Schreiher) some servants (Diener) and a translator (Dolmetscher).' A t the same time,
ue to the administrative reforms of Ferdinand 1, the financial matters of
Hungary and the A u s t n a n provinces had been managed for some decades
by separate offices also constantly meeting at certain headquarters and
working as a team. The Aulic Chamber (Hofkammer, Camera Aulica) set up
in 1527 was the leading organ of financial administration. As a result, in
certain matters it exerted some influence on the Hungarian Chamber
(Ungarische Kammer, Camera Hunganca) w o r k i n g in Buda i n 1528-1529, then
in Pozsony after its reorganization in 1531. Their role in financing the military
was of utmost importance as the War Council itself had only restricted
financial powers; the payment of the garrison soldiers was ordered by the
War Council, but it was actually assigned by the chambers. The Lower
Austrian Chamber (Niedersterreichische Kammer, Camera Austriaca) also had
special tasks in this respect as from the 1540s the payment of the soldiers
in the fortresses in the vicinity of Gyr that were defending Vienna was
taken up by the Austrian province.
0
op. cit., and E. Marosi, op. at.; on the chief fortification commissary (1578): StA K A Sonderreihe des Wiener Hofkriegsrates, Hofknegsrtliches Kanzleiarchiv [hereinafter H K R K1A]
VI. 6; on the chief food provisional officer (1558): StA K A Protokolle des Wiener H o f kriegsrates [hereinafter H K R Prot.] Reg. Bd. 140. fols. 89-90; on the chief muster master: O .
Regele, op. cit., 84: Anlage 9, and on the chief pontooneer (1557-1558): W i l h e l m Brinner,
h 8
Maximilian
Geschichtliche
1. bis zur
Vereinigung
bersicht.
sterreichs, 5.)
der sterreichischen
(Verffentlichungen
Wien, 1907,
234-241, and
der
Zentralvenvaltung.
und bhmischen
Kommission
Oskar Regele,
Der
fr
Hofkanzlei
neuere
sterreichische
I. Abt. Von
(1749). 1
Geschichte
Hofkriegsrat
m Verbindung
des
Knegs-Brcken-
Entstehung
des Hofkriegsrathes,"
Archiv
fur
Kunde
sterreichischer
Geschichts-Quellen
30
36
37
GZA PAI.FFY
T H E H U N G ARI A N - H A B S B U R G B O R D E R D E F E N C E S Y S T E M S
73
74
73
The field marshal Sforza Pallavicini had similar authority in the area
protecting Vienna in the period before the establishment of the A u l i c War
Council. His successor, A d a m Gall, appointed the captain-general of Gyr
(Obrist/Oberst zu Raab) at the same time as Lenkovic in M a r c h 1556,
practicallyif not by decreehad the authority of a captain-general over
the troops in the border, fortresses south-east of Gyr.'" From 1546 the
7 4
Staatsarchiv
7 5
fr
7 2
Geschichts-Queen
8 (1852) 155-173.
No.
Bestallungen [hereinafter
Hans U n g n a d , appointed
in 1553,
Best]
the first
(Obrister
Feldhauptmann)
captain-general
possessed bv L e n k o v i c (Grenzobnst).
7 1
(Rep
Cf
Rothenberg,
Die sterreichische
Militargrenze,
.37
and 236-237: n. 33
7 6
7 7
StA K A Best. No. 80 and StA K A H K R Prot. Reg. Bd. 141. April 12, 1559,
No. 77
7 8
pp. 213-215.'
28/1334/11.
38
39
GZA PLFFY
shrunk to the areas between counties Pozsony and Zlyom. This d i d not
District Captaincy-Generals
79
80
81
( A p r i l 28,1563): StA
a n d StA K A H K R Akten Exp. 1564. Juni No. 24. T h e survey of his forces as captain-general
(after January 19, 1564): StA K A H K R Prot. Reg. Bd. 143. fols. 8-9.
2.2-fc. The consolidation of the new defence system: the Border Fortress
and
(1566-1578)
82 Dersffy's Bestallung
instruction (after February 6, 1564): ibid., fol. 16. Cf. 1563: article 16. C J H 488-491.
40
GZA PLFFY
choice but to use the resources of his provinces and the German Empire
to supply the H u n g a r i a n marches. The necessity of this step was soon
realized by the H a b s b u r g military leadership f r o m those m i l i t a r y registers
that were prepared nearly every year to calculate the a m o u n t needed to
pay the soldiers serving in the border fortresses i n H u n g a r y . It is w o r t h
selecting three muster- and pay-registers (Muster- and Soldliste) from the
sixteenth century (1556, 1576, 1593) and using them to determine to w h a t
extent H u n g a r y was i n need of the support of the n e i g h b o u r i n g provinces
and the German E m p i r e .
The incomes of H u n g a r y in the sixteenth century are not entirely
known due to the divergent financial administration and the lack of
sources. But we can rely on the estimates made by G y u l a Szekfu i n 1935,
which have been generally accepted. Szekfu put the total income of
Hungary in the second half of the sixteenth century at 750,000 Rhenish
forint (reinisch Gulden) at most. This sum could never be collected com
pletely as, on the one h a n d , most of it was locally remitted, and on the
other hand, it could not be entirely spent on m a i n t a i n i n g defence and on
the payment of the soldiers. According to Szekfu, a m a x i m u m of 350,000
Rhenish forint was spent on military expenses out of this amount. ' T h i s
is half of the total income, which seems an over optimistic estimate given
that the data suggest only 20.4% of the cash income of the H u n g a r i a n
Chamber was spent on the military in 1555-1562 Despite this it is w o r t h
comparing the t w o m a x i m u m estimated values w i t h the amounts of the
pay of the soldiers i n the three years mentioned above. The f o l l o w i n g
graph provides i n f o r m a t i o n on the ratio between the total annual income
of H u n g a r y and the sums spent on the military and the a m o u n t of money
needed for the p a y m e n t of the soldiers in the border castles.
84
85
8 4
"Milites autem
securiore permansione
essent,
die
noctuque
et
vicinae
promptos
Semper
(Pozsony,
July 14, 1567). C f . Gustav von Gmry, "Trkennoth und das G r e n z w e s e n in U n g a r n und
Croatien
whrend
K r i e g s - A r c h i v s , " Mitteilungen
des k. k. Kriegs-Archivs
bis 1582.
so v deleli ze. Turski vvadi na slovensko ozemlje v 15. m 16. stoletju. Celje, 1990,
172-196.
87
41
Kziemnvek
108:1
(1995) 114-185.
Trkenkrieges
von 1593-1606. 1. Vorgeschichte. (Prager Studien aus dem Gebiete der Geschichtswissenschaft,
Heft 6.) Prag, 1899, 19-29.
8 6
G y u l a Szekfu, Magyar
8 7
116
42
GZA PLFFY
1 800 000
1 658 736,5
1 600 000
1 400 000
43
1572
533
I
'
I annual payment
' in theory
the maximum
estimated
annual income
of Hungary
H the m a x i m u m part
^ of Hungary's
annual income
spent on military
expenses
1556
1576
1593
89
8 8
" E G 1st aber alhie Z u m e r c k h e n , das hierczue rut gerait wiirt, was auf die Jarliche
sachen, was auch durchs Jar auf Musterung v n d andere Comissions sach lauftt,
m a n nit eigeritlich wissen k h a n , Aber auft dise abbemelte Possten
welches
1613)
changed
its t e r r i t o r y
that w a s
financed b y
the
hereditary
by
the
rist/Grenzoberst,
T u r c k h i s c h e verehrung, alles nottwendig gepew, Artoloreij, Munition, Arsional, Prouiandt
b u t the s i t u a t i o n h a d
so-called
supretnus
border
fortress
captain-generals
capitaneus confiniorum).
(Grenzob-
s u b o r d i n a t e d to a m a j o r key fortress d e s i g n a t e d
as
I n p a r a l l e l to t h e m , o n the same
Hungri,
44
prorex banus ) were operating. They directed the military affairs of the
counties i n the districts (Kreis, partes) under their authority and disposed
of the troops directly subordinated to them consisting of the out-of-date
n o b i l i t y , county, and t o w n insurgent troops and of the so-called district
captain-general a r m y of some h u n d r e d cavalry a n d infantry paid by the
k i n g . W h i l e the office of border fortress captaincy-general was filled bv
the representatives of the Austrian estates or H u n g a r i a n nobles accepted
by them, the district captain-generals were exclusively Hungarian
subjects. The separation of the border fortress and the district character
of the defence system is further complicated b y the fact that the two
offices were o f t e n i n some parts of the country alwaysheld by the
same person. A l l this depended on whether the War Council wished to
exercise complete control over a border defence zone or whether it ceded
the direction to Hungarians (mainly on territories w h i c h were not so
dangerous for the Austrian provinces). In order to understand the
seemingly complicated system w e have to enumerate the border fortress
and district captaincy-generals that had been created by the mid-1570s
f r o m the Adriatic Sea to Transylvania.
90
45
GZA PLFFY
'" The extract of T a h y ' s instruction (November 13, 1567): StA K A A F A 1566/11/1
also from 1567:
See
capitaneus"
46
GZA PLFFY
of that castle as well. In order to protect the border more efficiently and
to enhance cooperation, this practice was applied more often. This
explains w h y Gyrgy Zrnyi, son of Mikls Zrnyi (died i n 1566, Sziget
vr), could be both the captain-general of the border fortresses around
Kanizsa and the Transdanubian district captain-general (see map 2) at
the same time in t w o periods (1574-1575 and 1583-1592).
92
94
9 2
That the two offices were distinct is s h o w n by the fact that Z r i n y i received
two
in both
captaincy-generals
47
(Grenzobristleutnant
and
Kreisobristleutnant).
95
96
A u g u s t 14, 1574: "Instruction vber die Craihaubtmanschaff herdihalb der T h o n a w . " StA
K A H K R K1A I X . c. 1 and StA K A H K R Prot. Reg. Bd. 159. fol. 14. September 4,
1574:
"Instruction vber die oberst Haubtmanschafft Z u K a n i s c h a . " ibid., fol. 15. 1588: A r c h i v des
G e r m a n i s c h e n Nationalmuseums N r n b e r g [hereinafter A r c h i v G N M N r n b e r g ] , Weltliche
Frsten [hereinafter W F ] , Siebenbrgen Z R 7657. fol. 75 and fol. 80.
9 3
5 Wilhelm Janko, Lazarus Freiherr von Schwendi oberster Feldhauptmann und Rath Kaiser Maxi
milian's U. Wien, 1871, and Roman Schnur, "Lazarus von Schwendi (1522-1583). E i n unerledigtes
Thema der historischen Forschung," Zeitschrift fr historisclie Forschung
9 6
Landtagsverhandlungen
(Baumeister in Oberungarn)
archivu
ministerstva
k C e s k o s l o v e n s k y m dejinm vojenskym.
1937.
(Obrist-Zeugmeister-Leutnant
und Landtagsbeschlusse vom fahre 1526 an bis auf die Neuzeit. I-VTI. 1526-1591. E d . by Kniglich
vnitra
14 (1987) 27-46.
ivahrer in Oberungarn)
in Oberungarn,
judex
(Salitterver-
in Oberungarn),
war
paymaster
48
GZA
H U N G ARI A N - H A B S B U R G B O R D E R D E F E N C E S Y S T E M S
PLFFY
ra
a kirlyi Magyarorszgon
a XVI-XVIl.
n e x f
] i c
0 1 6
i n
a n
99
2.3.a. The endeavours to modernize and their results: the reforms of the great
military conference in Vienna
(1578-1591)
101
szzadban [Military Ju
49
9 7
9 8
1 0 1
The Ottoman advance is testified by those reports w h i c h were prepared by the military
administration of Vienna on the attacks and damages made by the enemy a n d sent to the
Uncelebrated Diet in 1642 (Dezember 1640-March 1643)]. (Esterhzy Mikls ndor iratai I
ambassadors to Constantinople in order to make a complaint to the sultan. See for example:
[Documents
1642.
vi meghisult
orszggyls
of palatnus
idszaka (1640
december-1643
mrcius)
iratok
[Administration
Documents].) E d . by Istvn Hajnal. Budapest, 1930, 129: No. 45. C f . also Lszl Kecsks,
KA H K R Akten Exp. 1589. A u g . No. 88 and ibid., Reg. 1591. D e z . No. 41. Cf. also G m r y ,
1984.
50
GZA PLFFY
launched more serious attacks; in addition to their raids, they captured the
castles of Divny, Kkk, Somosk in the mining district and Fonyd by
Lake Balaton, and they fought a nearly constant battle near Budacki by the
nver Korana in the Croatian confines, where the assistant captain-general of
the Croatian border fortresses (Obristleutnant der kroatischen Grenze), Herwart
Freiherr v o n Auersperg (1568-1575) fell, too. In the meantime the peace
treaty of Adrianople expired, and then Emperor Maximilian I I died; therefore
the Aulic War Council deemed it necessary to discuss the problems and,
based on the experience gathered i n the control of defence, to reorganize
the system i n an even more considered way. I n order to achieve this they
asked the central and local leaders of the border defence for preliminary
proposals concerning the shortcomings as early as 1576; they made the
Imperial Diet (Reiclistag) in Regensburg grant a considerable military aid;
and they summoned a great military conference i n Vienna (Wiener Hauptgrenzberatung) in the middle of August 1577 to solve the problems.
A t the m i l i t a r y conference, w h i c h lasted for one and a half months
and was chaired by A r c h d u k e Ernest, the basic questions concerning the
defence system and strategy were discussed. The problems of military
d i s c i p l i n e , the fortification of castles, w a r supplies, a n d food provision
were dealt w i t h . The Defensionsordnung
of the Austrian provinces a n d the
difficulties of financing the border fortresses were also d i s p u t e d , and
w h a t is more, the possibility of settling d o w n the Teutonic O r d e r in
H u n g a r y was also b r o u g h t upas it had been d u r i n g the rule of
Sigismund of L u x e m b u r g i n the finteenth c e n t u r y .
But the central
102
103
104
105
102 P [ t e r ] von Radics, Herbard VIII. Freiherr von Auersperg (1528-1575), em kramischer Held
e
und Staatsmann.
l u 3
51
'harrige'
Reichshilfe 1576," 38-49. Schulze, Landesdefension, 65-69, and extracts of the conference published
in H u n g a n a n by Istvn Gecze, " H a d i tancskozsok az 1577-ik vben [Military Conferences
in the Year 1577)," Hadtrtnelmi Kzlemnyek 7 (1894) 502-537 and 647-673.
W
1 0 5
75-77.
Hans von Zwiedeneck-Sdenhorst, " b e r den Versuch einer Translation des Deutschen
Geschichte
56 (1878) 403-445
1 0 6
Vereines fr Steiermark 12
Geschichte
des Historischen
Vereines fr
Steiermark
56
C
E Z A PALFFY
57
1 1 9
confines
(wmdische
which
und
petrimanische
was
situated
around
Zengg
tA
the
und
Croatiae et maritima)
Meergrenze,
by the early
ban along the river K u l p a (banische Grenze, confinia banalia) were often
named as the Kulpa confines (confinia
Colapiana).
w h i c h constituted the
decisive element of the defence system and the temporary captaincygeneral led by the ban survived until 1663 in an unchanged f o r m . The
captaincy-generals
Mikls Eszterhzy
i n his
facing Kanizsa,
the
Slavonian [that is the one of Vrasd], the Croatian [that is the one of
^ H K R KIA IX. c. 4, M O I _ P
trzsi
of
Kassa, [rsekjjvr,
Pf
west
regni
Grenze,
l e v l t r a k
- A herceg Batthyny
A k t n de.s n n e r s t e r r e i c h . s c h e n H o f k r i e e s r ^
'
i ' i a No. 237 and StA KA
H s r a t e s . C r o a t i c a 1600. Nov. No. 1.
M
58
GZA PLFFY
23
59
Frantisek Sedlk, " Z dejn pevnosti Leopoldov," Vlastivedny Casopis 12 (1963) 151-153
and Jozef Simoncic, "Mesto Leopoldovjeho v z n i k a v y v o j , " Vlastivedny Casopis 20 (1971)
72-73.
1 2 2
1 2 4
missionariorum
de Hungria
el Transilvania
11627-1707). (Bibliotheca
Academiae
H u n g r i in Roma. Fontes 1.) E d . by Istvn Gyrgy Tth. Roma-Budapest, 1994, 151: No. 14
1 2 5
Hajnal, op. cit., 128-131: No. 45. It was only after the 1663-1664 Ottoman w a r that the
hadgyi
fejldsnek
60
GZA PLFFY
61
T H E H U N G ARI A N - H A B S B U R G B O R D E R D E F E N C E S Y S T E M S
an
127
,;R
n e
,w
Kzlemnyek
for a N e w E s t a b l i s h m e n t in
449-488.'
]
~ Apart from the works quoted in note 3, see recently Kurt Wessely, " N e u o r d n u n g der
]
29-93
From
1974.
62
GZA
PLFFY
border
in the g u a r d houses
(cardaks) situated between them. Their central control was entirely taken
over b y the A u l i c W a r Council after the dissolution of the Inner A u s t r i a n
W a r C o u n c i l i n 1705. The H u n g a r i a n estates were f u l l y excluded f r o m
the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the new border defence system established i n the
territories of H u n g a r y . The m i l i t a r y leadership i n Vienna solved three
p r o b l e m s w i t h the creation of the m i l i t a r y frontiers. It decided the
struggle for the central and local a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of m i l i t a r y affairs and
b o r d e r defence i n the sixteenth and seventeenth
century to its o w n
63
protect
H u n g a r y and
the
Habsburg
Empire against
the
GZA PLFFY
64
APPENDIX
ABBREVIATIONS
B = Bosnia; Cro = Croatia; H = H u n g a r y ; R = Romania;
Slo = Slovakia; Slov = Slovenia; U = Ukrainia
MAP l : THE CASTLES OF THE CROATIAN AND WENDISH-BAJCSAVAR
CONFINES IN 1 5 8 2
1 . Laibach, Ljubljana, Slov
2. Sankt Veit a m P f l a u m , Fiume,
Rijeka, C r o
3. Ledenice, C r o
4. Z e n g g , Segnia, Senj, C r o
5. Bag, K a r l o b a g , Cro
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Brinje, C r o
Brlog, Cro
Otocac, Otocsc, C r o
Dabar, C r o
Jesenica, Licka Jesenica, C r o
11. O g u l i n , C r o
12. Svetica, C r o
42. N o v i g r a d , N o v i g r a d - P o d r a v s k i ,
Cro
13. M o d r u s , M o d r u s , C r o
14. D r e z n i k , D r e z n i k G r a d , C r o
43. K a p r o n c a , K o p n n i z , K o p r i v n i c a ,
Cro
15. Trzac, C r o
44.
45.
46.
47.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Izacic, Izacsics, B
Bihac, Bihcs, B
Ripac, Ripcs, B
Slunj, C r o
C e t i n , C e t i n g r a d , Cro
Mala Kladusa, B
22. Hresno, C r o
23. Smrckovic, C r o
24. Blagaj, C r o
25. Budacki, C r o
26. Karlstadt, Krolyvros,
Karlovac, C r o
27. Petrova gora, Petrovac, C r o
28. H r a s t o v i c a , Hrasztovica, C r o
29. Srednji Gradac, Cro
30. W a r a s d i n , Varasd, V a r a z d i n , Cro
31. V a r a z d i n s k e Toplicc, C r o
32. Remetinec, C r o
33. L u d b r e g , C r o
Dernye, Drnje, C r o
Keresztr, Murakeresztr, H
Ftyehza, H
Bajcsavr, Bajcsa, H
; E
66
HUNGARIAN-HABSBURC
GZA PLFFY
Keresztr, Murakeresztr, H
Fityehza, H
Bajcsavr, Bajcsa, H
Lgrd, L e g r a d , C r o
Kanizsa, N a g y k a n i z s a , H
Szentmikls, Miklsfa,
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tt
4-
67