origins and development of the border defence

8/13/2019 Origins and Development of the Border Defence

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T H E O T T O M A NEMPIREA N D I T S H E R I T A G EPolitics; Society and conomy

E D I T E D B YS U R A I Y A F A R O Q H I A N D H A L I L I N A L C I K

Advisory BoardF i k r e t A d a n i r I d r i s B o s t a n A x n n o n C o h e n C o r n e llFleischerB a r b a r a F l e m m i n g A l e x a n d e r d e G r o o t K l a u s K r e i s e rH a n s G e o r g M a j e r I r e n e M e l i k o f f A h m e t Y a a r O c a kA b d e l j e l i l T e m i m i G i l l e s V e in s t e in E l i z a b e th Z a c h a r i a d o u

V O L U M E 20

O T T O M A N S , H U N G A R I A N S ,A N D HABSBURGSI N C E N T R A LEUROPEThe Military Confinesin the Era of Ottoman Conquest

E D I T E D B Y

G Z A D V I D A N D P L F O D O R

B R I L LL E I D E N B O S T O N K L N2000


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This book isp r i n t e d onacid-frcc paper.

L i b r a r y ofCongress Cataloging-in-Pu blication DataOttomans, Hungarians, andHabsburgs in Central Europe : them i l i t a r y confinesin the era ofOttoman conquest /edited by Gza Dvid and Pl Fodor.p. cm. (The Ottoman Empire and its heritage, ISSN 1380-6076 ;v. 20)Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 9004119078 (alk.paper)1. Europe, CentralHistoryTo 1500. 2. Europe, CentralHi story 16thcentury. 3. Europe, Centr alHi story 1 7th century. 4. Europe, CentralH i s t o r y , M i l i t a r y . I . Fodor, Pl. I I. Dvid, Gza. I I I . Scries.

D A W 1038 .0 88 2000943dc21 00-034284CIP

D ie Deutsche Bibliothek - C I P - E i n h e i t s a u f n a h m eOttomans, Hungarians, andHabsburgs inCentral Europe : them i l i t a r yconfinesin the era ofOttoman conquest / ed. byGcza D a v i d and Pal Fodor- Leiden ;Boston ;Kln : B r i l l , 2000(The Ottoman Empireand itsheritage ;Vol.20)ISBN 90-04-11907-8

ISSN 1380-6076ISBN 90 04 11907 8)Copyright2000 byKomnklijkeBrillMi Leiden,TheNetherlands

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P R I N T E D IN T HE N E T H E R L A N D S

CONTENTS

LIST OF MAPS V I INOTEONTRANSLITERATIONAND USAGE V I I IPREF CE(PLFODOR) I XINTRODUCTION (GZA DVIDand PLFODOR) XI

PART ONE: THE H U N GA RIAN-H AB SB UR G FR ONTIERGZAPLFFY The Origins and Development of the Border

Defence System Against the Ottoman Empire inHungary (Up to the Early Eigh teenth Centur y) 3

A N D R S K U B I N Y I The Battle of Szvasze ntdemeter -Nagyolaszi(1523). Ottoman Advance and HungarianDefenceon the Eve of Moh cs 71

J Z S E F K E L E N I K The Military Re volution in Hu ngar y 117

PART TWO: THE O T T O M A N FRONTIERKLRA HEGYI The Ot tom anNetwork ofFortressesin Hu ngar y ... 163GBOR GOSTON The Costs of the Ottoman Fortress-System m

Hungary in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 195PLFODOR Making a L i v i n g on the Frontiers: Volunteers in

the Sixteenth-Century Ottoman A r my 229GZADVID A n Ottoman Military Career on the Hungarian

Borders: Kasim Voyvoda, Bey, andPasha 265SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 299INDEX 315


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LIST OF MAPS

1 .T he castles of the Croatian and Wendish-Bajcsavar confines in1582 652. The castles of the Bajcsavar, Kanizsa , and Gyo r confi nes in 1582 673. The castles of the M i n i n g Town's and Upper H u n g a r i a n confinesin 1582 694. Southern H u n g a r y at the end of the f i f t e e n t h century 82

5. The battl e of Szava szen tdemet er, 1523 1066. Otto man fortresses in H u n g a r y 173


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E O R I GI N S A N D D E V E L O P M E N TOF THEB O R D E R D E F E N C ES YS T E M A G A I N S T TH EO T T O M A N E M P I R E I N H U N G A R YU P TO THEE A R L Y E I G H T E E N T H C E N T U R Y )

GZAPLFFY

T h e s y s te m of fortresses is theo n l y m e a n s by w h i c h Y o u r M a j e st y w i l lbe able toc o n t a i nthep o w e r a n d thea d v a n c eof the e n e m y , andb e h i n dw h i c h Y o u r c o u n t r i e s a n d p e o p le s w i l l bes e c u r e . 1 T h i sish o w H a b s b u r gm i l i t a r y l e a d e r s s u m m a r i z e d t h e i r o p i n i o n a b o u t the s i g n i f i c a n c eof theH un g a r i a n b o r d e r d e f e nc e s y s te m p r o t e c t i n g the i m p e r i a l c i t y ofV i e n n a ,th e A u s t r i a n h e r e d i t a r y l a n d s ,and theG e rm a n E m p i r ein 1577. It w o u l dbe d i f f i c u l t to f i n d a b e t te r e x p r e s s i o n to d e f i n e the r o l e of the d e f e nc esystem establ ished by the l at e s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r yon the f r o n t i e r z o n e ofH u n g a r y and its s o u t h e r n a n n e x e d p r o v i n c e s ( S l a v o n i a and C r o a t i a )against theO t t o m a n E m p i r e . Ev e n t h o u g h theH u n g a r i an d e f e nc e s y s te mc o n s t i t u t e d o n l y a s e c t i o n of the l o n g and v a r i e d f r o n t i e r z o n e w h i c hstretched f r o m N o r t h e r n A f r i c a via theM e d i t e r r a n e a n i s l an d s , I t a l y ,andH u n g a r y to theP o l i s h - L i t h u a n i a n and Ru s s i a n t e r r i t o r i e s andp r o t e c t e dE u r o p e a g a i ns t theO t t o m a n a t ta c k s ,it is e v i d e n t t h a t the d e c i s i v e e v e n t so f the c e n t u r y l o n g O t t o m a n - H a b s b u r g c o n f r o n t a t i o n o c c u r r e d on theterri tory of M e d i e v a l H u n g a r y .2 On thebasis of r e c e n t a r c h i v a l r e s e a r c ha n d the a c h i e v e m e n t s of A u s t r i a n , S o u t h e r n S l a v , and H u n g a r i a nh i s t o r i o g r a p h y , t h i s s t ud y a t t e m p t s top r o v i d e an o u t l i n e of the s y s t e ma n d its d e v e l o p m e n t , c o n c e n t r a ti n g on the s i x t e e n t h an d s e v e n t e e n t hc e ntu r i e s .T o w a r d s th e e n dof the t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r yit ise v e n m o r e t i m e l yas, w h i l e s e v e r a l m o n o g r a p h s h a v e b e e n p u b l i s h e d in d i f f e r e n t w o r l dl a ng u a g e s a b o u t the d e f e nc e s y s te ms on the C r o a t i a n andS l a v o n i a n

1 Pl S z e g , Vvaink szervezete a trk bet eleped l a t i zen es hbor kezdetg(1541-1593) [TheO r g a n i z a t i o n of the H u n g a r i a n B o r d e r Fortresses f r o m the E s t a b l i s h m e n tof the O t to m a n R u l e to the O u t b r e a k of the F i f t e e n Y e a r s ' War],B u d a p e s t , 1911, 52.

2 Cf. Pl F o d o r , " O t t o m a n P o l i c y T o w a r d s H u n g a r y , 1520-1541," A c t a O r i e n t taAcademiae cienti arum Hungancae 45:2-3 (1991) 271-345.


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4 GZA PLFFYt e r r i t o r i e s , 3 no w e l l documented study has been w r i t t e n about the systemof th e H u n g a r i a n defence districts and border fortresses w h i c h played am u c h more i m p o r t a n t role than the above mentionedareas in the wholes t r u c t u r e . 4E a r l i e r investigations have o n l y discussed the Croatian-Slavonianp a r t , that is a special section of the defence system established in thes i x t e e n t h century to resist the Ottoman advance, w h i c h was less decisivef r o m the p o i n t of v i e w of the whole area, and have treated it s i m p l y ast h e antecedent of the m i l i t a r y f r o n t i e r Militdrgrenze) organ ized at theb e g i n n i n g of the eighteenth century.5 But the development of the defence

3 The most important works in chronological order: Fr[antisek] Vanicek,Special geschicht eder Militgrenze. I-IV . Wien, 1875. Jakob Arnstadt,D ie k. k. Mili tdrgrenze 1522-1881 (mit e nerGesamtbibliographie). (Inaugural-Diss.) Wrzburg, 1969. Gunther E r i c h Rothenberg, The AustrianM i l i t a r i / Barder in Croatia, 1522-1747. (Illinois Studies in the Social Sciences, 48.) Urbana,1960, and idem, The Milttan/ Border in Croatia 1740-1881: A Study of an Imper ial Ins t itut ion.Chicago, 1966, and the two volumes together in German: Gunther Ejrich] Rothenberg, Diesterrechische Mi li tdrgrenze in Kroatien 1522 bis 18S1. Wien-Mnchen, 1970. Die k . k . Mil i t grenze. Bet ragezu ihrer Geschickte. (Schriften des Heeresgeschichtlichen Museums in Wien,6.) Wien, 1973. Di e sterrechische Mi lit grenze. Geschichte und Auswirkungen. Ed. by GerhardE m s t . (Schriftenreihe des Regensburger Osteuropainstituts, 8.) Regensburg, 1982. Vojna Kraj i n a . Povijesni pregled-histonografija-rasprave. Ed. by Dragurin Pavlicevic. Zagreb, 1984. Cfalso Winfried Schulze, Landcsdefension und Staat sbil dung. St udien zum Kri egswesen desinnersterrechischen Temtorialstaat es 1564-1619). (Verffentlichungen der Kommission fr neuereGeschichte sterreichs, 60.) Wien-Kln-Graz, 1973. K a r l Kser,Freer Bauer und Soldat. DieMilitarisierung deragrari schen Gese lschaft m der kroati sch-slawoni schen Mi li t grenze 1535-1S81). (Habilitationsschrift) Graz, 1985, and the most recent work by Jean Nouzille (Histoirede fronti es. L Autri che et l Empire ottoman. Pr face par Jean Brenger. Paris , 1991) w hich is,however, a d u l l summary of earlier results.

4 So far Kurt Wessel y has been the only one to realize that for an understanding of thewhole defence system against the Ottoman Empire it is indispensable to know the historyof the Hungarian border defence zones as w e l l : Kurt Wessely, The Development of theH u n g a r i a n Military Frontier U n t i l the Middle of the Eighteenth Century, Austr ian His toryYearbook 9-10 (1973-1974) 55-110, and idem, Die Regensburger 'harrige' Reichshilfe 1576,in Die russische Gesandschaft am Regensburger Re chstag 1576. Mit Beitrgen von EkkehardVlkl und Kurt Wessely. (Schriftenreihe des Regensburger Osteuropainstituts, 3.) Regensburg, 1976, 31-55. Cf. also Istvn Sinkovics, Obrana madarsk og pogranienog teritorija odT u r a k a u XVI i X V I I stoljecu, inVopna K raj ina, 163-174. The most important Hungarianmonographs: Szeg,op. cit., and Imre Sznt,A vvi rendszer kie /k ora M agya r-orszon 1541-1593 [The Organization and Golden Age of the Border Defence System inH u n g a r y ] . Budap est, 1980.

5 In Austria n, German, Croatian and sometimes even Hungarian work s, the Croat i a n - S l a v o n i a n defence zones are called military frontiers Mi l i tgrenze) alread y from themiddle of the sixteenth century, which is, in my opinion, a capital mistake. The units ofthe defence system of the sixteenthth and seventeenth centuries, the respective areas of the

T H E H U N G A R I 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 5l ine against the Ottomans 1 can o n l y be understood m the knowledge ofthe whole Hunga ria n and Croatian-Sla vonianbo rder defence systeman d this is true for the history of its subsequent perio ds, too. Below thissystem w i l l be examined as a w h o l e , v i e w e d f r o m the admin istrat ivecentres, that is f r o m Buda u n t i l 1526, then t e m p o r a r i l y f r o m Pozsony andV i e n n a , and f r o m 1556 up to the a b o l i t i o n of the m i l i t a r y f r o n t i e r in then i n e t e e n t h century, f r o m the I m p e r i a l C i t y andfor an intermediaryp e r i o d f r o m Graz(1578-1705) respectively. This is the o n l y aspect w h i c hcan p r o v i d e us w i t h a more coherent and complete picture about thestrategy of defence of the medieval H u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m and that of theH a b s b u r g m i l i t a r y leadership, and about how the system was contro lled.THE PERIODIZATION O THE HISTORY O THE DEFENCE SYSTEM I NHUNGARY AGAINST THE OTTOMANSThe new approach makes itnecessary to establish a new penodization forthe history of Croatian and Slavonian territories w h i c h defines the mostimportant shifts based on the qualitat ivechanges w i t h i n the whole system.The former penodization advanced in 1960 by Fedor Moacanin, and o n l ypartly corrected by those w o r k i n g on the problem later on, can h a r d l y beused for the H u n g a r i a n territories in the n a r r o wsense c o n s t i t u t i n g the majoran d more decisive p a r t of the defence system. 7The Croatian author d i v i d e dthe nearly 500-year-old histo ry of the Croatian-Slav onian defence region i n t othe f o l l o w i n g two major and some m i n o r periods:

1. p e r i o d : From the beginning to 1593, the outbreak of the so-called'Fifteen Years War or ' L o n g War . W i t h i n t h i s , he differentiated threesubper iods :border fortresses (Grenzgebiet. Grenze, Grenzfestungen) were qualitatively different from the m i l itary frontiers organ ized in the early eighteenth century . Anot her rema rkabl e mistake ofA u s t r i a n historiography is to call the Croatian-Slavonian border territories Austrian MilitarvFrontiers sterrechische Mil i t grenze, see notes 3 and 25), as in the sixte enth-se ventee nthcenturies it was not these that were called Aust rian border fortress zone sterre chischeGrenze), but the border castles subordinated to Gyr. Therefore it is more accurate to usethe term 'the Habsburg defence system against the Ottoman Empi re' in the si xteenth-s eventeenth centuries for the imperial-royal border defence system in Hungary. Cf. Kurt Wessely,"Reply to Rothenberg's Comments, Austrian History Yearbook 9-10 (1973-1974) 119.

f It is to be noted that scholarly works have so far identif ied the border defen ce s yste magainst the Ottomans with the chain of fortresses, but this latter was, besides the mobilefield troops and soldiery kep t by the counties, etc., onlv one, though decis ive element init.

7 Fedor Moacanin, Periodizacija histonje Vojne Krajine (XV -XI X S t . ) , "Histori j ski zbornik13 (1960) 111-117.


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6 G Z A P L F F Y1 . 1 . F r o m t h e o u t s e t t o 1 5 22 , w h e n F e r d i n a n d I , A r c h d u k e o f A u s t r i a ,

sent a n a r m y a t h i s o w n expense t o h e l p t h e defence o f t h e A u s t r i a nt e r r i t o r i e s t h r e a t e n e d b y t h e O t t o m a n s .1 . 2. F r o m 1 5 22 t o 1 5 7 8, w h e n t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e C r o a t i a n a n dS l a v o n i a n b o r d e r fortresses w a s s u b o r d i n a t e d t o t h e n e w l y e s t a b l i s h edI n n e r A u s t r i a n W a r C o u n c i l (Innersterreichischer Hofkriegsrat, G r a z ) , sepa r a t i n g t h e m f r o m t h e H u n g a r i a ndefence d i s t r i c t s .1 . 3 . F rom 1578 to 1593.2 . p e r i o d : F r o m 1 5 93 t o 1 8 8 1 , t he e l i m i n a t i o n o f t h e s y s t e m o f m i l i t a r yf r o n t i e r s . W i t h i n t h i s p e r i o d M o a c a n i n d e f i n e d f i v e s m a l l e r sections, o u to f w h i c h t w o s h o u l d b e m e n t i o n e d i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h e e r a d i s c u s s e d

in t h i s p a p e r .2 . 1 . F r o m 1 5 9 3 t o 1 6 8 3 , t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e s o - c a l l e d r e c o n q u e r i n gT u r k i s h w a r (1683-1699). T h i s w a r m a d e i t p o s s i b l e t o e s t a b l i s h t h en e t w o r k o f b o r d e r fortresses a n d m i l i t a r y f r o n t i e r a l o n g t h e Sava, T i s z a ,D a n u b e , a n d M a r o s .2 . 2 . F ro m 1683 to 1755 , the f i r s t r e f o r m o f t h e m i l i t a r y f r o n t i e r sc o n s i d e r e d i m p o r t a n t b y M o a c a n i n . 8T h o u g h t h e a u t h o r s o f m o n o g r a p h s p r e p a r e d a f t e r 1 9 60 c o r r e c t e dM o a c a n i n ' s p e r i o d i z a t i o n i n some p o i n t s / t h e i r a p p r o a c h t o t h e b o r d e r

defence s y s t e m s h o w s n o r e a l change a t a l l . T h i s state of a f fa i r s can bea s c r i b e d t o t h e f a c t t h a t , d u e t o l a n g u a g e p r o b l e m s a n d a l a c k o f a r c h i v a lresearch, t h e y k n e w p r a c t i c a l l y n o t h i n g a b o u t t h e H u n g a r i a n b o r d e r defences y s t e m a n d t h e r e f o r e n e g l e c t ed i t . S o t h e p e r i o d i z a t i o n t o b e p r e s e n t e d herei s the f i rs t a t t e m p t t o d e f i n e n e w p e r i o d s f r o m t h e p o i n t o f v i e w o f t h e w h o l edefence s y s t e m i n H u n g a r y a g ai n s t t he O t t o m a n E m p i r e , a n dalso a p p l i c a b l et o t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e C r o a t i a n - S l a v o n i a n r e g i o n . I n m y o p i n i o n t h e f o l l o w i n gt h r e e m a j o r a n d s e v e r a l m i n o r p e r i o d s c a n b e d i f f e r e n t i a t e d :

T h e f i r s t o n e l a s t e d f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g t o 1 5 2 6 , t h e t e r m i n a t i o n o ft he m e d i e v a l H u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m .D u r i n g t h i s e r a , t h e s o u t h e r n defencen e t w o r k s t r e t c h i n g f r o m t h e A d r i a t i c S ea t o T r a n s y l v a n i a w a s a n o r g a n i c a l l y c o h e r e n t defence l i n e o f th e H u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m .T h e second p e r i o d b e g a n i n 1 5 2 6 ( t h e y e a r o f t h e b a t t l e a t M o h c s )a n d c o n t i n u e d t i l l th e peace t r e a t y o f K a r l o v i t z i n 1 6 9 9 , w h i c h c l o s e d t h ee p o c h o f t h e r e c o n q u e r i n g T u r k i s h w a r s (1683-1699) a n d O t t o m a n r u l e i nH u n g a r y . A f t e r t h e peace h a d been c o n c l u d e d i t a g a i n became p o s s i b l e8 F u r t h e r p e r i o d s : 2 . 3. 1755-1807, 2.4. 1807-1848, f ina lly 2 .5 . 1848-1881.9 S e e th e w o r k s c i t e d i n note 2.

T H E H U N GA R IA 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 7to create a q u a l i t a t i v e l y n e w defence s y s t e m c a l l e d t h e ' m i l i t a r y f r o n t i e r '(Mditdrgrenze).

In th e d e f i n i t i o n o f t h e s u b p e r i o d s o f t h e t h i r d phase (1699-1881),h i s t o r i a n s a r e m o r e o r less o f t h e same o p i n i o n , so i t i s w o r t h a c c e p t i n gt he p e r i o d i z a t i o n o f M o a c a n i n a n d R o t h e n b e r g .In th e f o l l o w i n g I w o u l d l i k e t o s u m m a r i z e t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h eb o r d e r defence s y s t e m u p t o t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e m i l i t a r y f r o n t i e r s i nt h e e a r l y e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . B y s h o w i n g b r i e f ly t h e s u b p er i o d s I w i l lm a k e a n a t t e m p t t o a n a l y z e t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n tsections o f t h e c o n t i n u a l l yc h a n g i n g n e t w o r k a n d t o e v a l u a t e i t s l a n d m a r k s g i v e n t he c o n s t r a i n t s o ft i m e a n d space. A t t h e same t i m e I w o u l d l i k e t o j u s t i f y t h e s i g n i f i c a n t

changes I ha v e a p p l i e d i n t h e p e r i o d i z a t i o n u s e d s o f a r .1 T H E D E F E N C E S Y S T E M O F T H E M E D I E V A L H U N G A R I A N K I N G D O M( F R O M T H E O U T S E T T O T H E B A T T L E O F M O H A C S I N 1526)

1. The origins of the defence system against the Ottomanslate fourteenth century-mid-M70s)

In th e 1360s, th e m i l i t a r y a n d p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s h i p o f t h e H u n g a r i a nK i n g d o m d i d n o t r e c o g n i z e t h e d a n g e r i t f a c e d w i t h th e appearance o ft h e O t t o m a n t r o o p s i n E u r o p e . A l t h o u g h th e conquests o f t h e g r o w i n gm i l i t a r y state w e r e f a r a w a y f r o m t h e b o r d e r s o f t h e s u b s i d i a r y p r o v i n c e sof K i n g L o u i s A n j o u I (1342-1382), t h e c o n s p i c u o u s p o l i t i c a l a n d m i l i t a r ye x p a n s i o n o f t h e O t t o m a n s w a s a clear s i g n a l t h a t t h e y w o u l d h a r d l ys t o p o n t h e s o u t h - e a s t e r n Balkans a f t e r g a i n i n g t h e u p p e r h a n d i n t h es t r u g g l e a m o n g t h e S o u t h e r n Slav r u l e r s a s t h e i r a u x i l i a r y t r o o p s . T h o u g hL o u i s I a t t e m p t e d e v e n i f i n a s o m e w h a t u n p r e p a r e d m a n n e r t oc o n t a i n t h e c o n q u e r o r s b y e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e B u l g a r i a n banate o f V i d i nb e t w e e n 1 3 65 a n d 1 3 69 a n d b y p l a c i n g H u n g a r i a n s o l d i e r s i n t h e castlest h e r e , t h e s t r i k e s b y t h e O t t o m a n s i n t h e 1370s a n d 1380s d i r e c t l yt h r e a t e n e d t h e s o u t h e r n f r o n t i e r s o f H u n g a r y . T h e s i t u a t i o n w a s m a d ew o r s e b y t h e f a c t t h a t , t o w a r d s t h e e n d o f h i s r u l e , K i n g L o u i s d i d n o tp a y t o o m u c h a t t e n t i o n t o t h e r e i n f o r c e m e n t o f t h e s o u t h e r n b o r d e rfortresses a l o n g t h e L o w e r D a n u b e , a n d t h e c o n f u s e d years a f t e r h i s d e a t hf u r t h e r a c c e n t u a t e d t h e p r o b l e m s o f s o u t h e r n defence.10

1 0 O n the history of the organiz atio n of the defence s y s t e m before 1526, cf. Ferenc S z a k l y ,Phases o f T u r c o - H u n g a r i a n Warfare Before th e Battle o f M o h c s (1365-1526), A c t a


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8 G Z A P L F F YA f t e r S i g i s m u n d o f L u x e m b u r g , t h e H u n g a r i a n K i n g (1387-1437)later H o l y R o m a n E m p e r o r (1410-1437), e x p e r i e n c e d t h e i m m e d i a t e t h r e a tby t h e O t t o m a n s o n t h e b a t t l e f i e l d o f N i c o p o l (1396) a n d h i s w e s t e r nn e i g h b o ur s d i d s o b y means o f t h e c o n s t a n t a t t a c k s , t h e r e r e m a i n e do n l y o n e p o s s i b i l i t y to d e f e n d H u n g a r y . It became i m p e r a t i v e t h a t t h e vla y t h e f o u n d a t i o n o f a b o r d e r d e f e n c e s y s t e m c a p a b l e o f c o m p e t i n geffec t ive ly w i t h t h e e n e m y a t t h e f r o n t i e r s i n t h e l o n g r u n . B e a r i n g t h i sp ur p o s e i n m i n d , S i g i s m un d o r d e r e d t h a t t h e b o r d e r f o r t r e s s e s a l o n g t h eL o w e r D a n ub e s h o ul d b e g i v e n i n t o r o y a l h a n d s , t h e y s h o ul d b er e i n f o r c e d , a n d t h a t n e w castles s h o u l d b e b u i l t b e t w e e n S z r n y a n dN n d o r f e h r v r ( f o r e x a m p l e S z e n t l s z l ) . I n a d d i t i o n , he s tar ted to placet h e m o b i l e t r o o p s o f t h e s o ut h e r n c o un t i e s , o f t h e banates e x i s t i n g sincet h e t i m e o f th e r u l e r s o f t h e r p d H o u s e , a n d t h e s o l d i e r s s e r v i n g i nthe border for tresses un der cen tra l co ntr ol . In the d ie t of 1397 , h e ld inT e m e s v r , w h i c h w a s o f c r uc i a l i m p o r t a n c e c o n c e r n i n g t h e d e f e n c e o f t h esouthern borders , he t r ied t o e n f o r c e h i s i n t e n t i o n o f q u a l i f y i n g theH u n g a r i a n m i l i t a r y o r g a n i z a t i o n f o r d e f e n c e p ur p o s e s b y means ofseveral m i l i t a r y l a w s .12The reforms led to the es tab l i shment of the so-ca l led militia portalisby w h i c h t h e r u l e r i n t e n d e d t o create a l i g h t c a v a l r y o f c o n s i d e r a b l en u m b e r w h i c h c o u l d b e d e p l o y e d o n t h e f r o n t i e r s . I n o r d e r t o increasethe number of s o l diers on the borders , Serb ian refugees w ere mo re an d

Or i en t ta Academiae Scient i aru n i Hungancac 33 (1979) 65-111.I d em , " T h e H u n g a r i a n - C r o a t i a nBorder Defense System and Its Collapse," in From H uny ad i t o Rc z i . Wa r and Soci e t y mlate Med i e v a l and Ea r l y Mode rn Hungary. ( W a r a n d S o c i e t y i n E a s t e r n Ce n t r a l E u r o p e , 3 . )Ed . by Jnos M. Bak-Bla K. Kirly . Brooklyn, 1982, 141-158. Cf . a l s o L e o p o l d K u p e l w i e s e r ,D ie K ampfe Ungarns mi l den Osmanen bis zur Schlacht bei M ohs, 3526. W i e n , 18992. (I usedthese works in presenting all three s u b p e n o d s , s o I a m n o t g o i n g t o refer t o t h e m s e p a r a t e l ybelow.)

11 For the earliest attacks a g ai n s t H u n g a r y , c f . B d o g M i l l e k e r , A trkknek els betreiD-M agyar orszgba Zsigmond Al bert k ir yok i dejen Keve Kr ass vmegy megszne.1393-1439 ( T h e F i r s t A t t a ck s b y t h e O t t o m a n s A g a i n s t H u n g a r y i n t h e T i m e o f K i n g sS i g i s m u n d a n d A l b e r t , a n d t h e E n d o f Co u n t i e s K e v e a n d K r a s s f T e m e s v r , 1 9 1 4 . O n t h eattacks a g ai n st T r a n s y l v a n i a , cf . G u s t a v G u n d i s c h , Z r berl ieferun g d er Turkenemfallc inSiebenbrgen. Kolozsvr , 1947. On the first raids in Au stria n territories , see Han s Pirch egger," D i e ers ten Trkeneinflle (1396, 1415, 1418)," Zeschnf t des His to nschen Veremes f u rSteerrrmrk18 (1922) 63-73. See also the latest s u m m a r y o f t h e S o u t h e r n S l a v l i t e r a t u r e b vV a s k o Simoniti,Vo jaskn organtzaa ja na Slovenskem v 16. s to le t j u . Ljub ljana , 1991, 5-23.

12 Elemr Mly usz, Ka i ser Sigismund in Ungarn 1387-1437. Budapest, 1990, 136-16613I t meant that well-to-do nob lemen had to field one moun ted archer for every 20, later ,after 1435, for every 33 peasants . A ndr s Borosy, " The M i l i t i a P o r t a l t s i n H u n g a r y B e f o r e1526," in From Huny ad i t o Rc z i , 63-80.

T H E H U N G A R I 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 9m o r e f r e q u e n t l y h i r e d as l i g h t hussars, b o a t m e n [naszdos) o n t h e D a n ub eor m o r e i n c r e a s i n g l y , t h o ug h t e m p o r a r i l y , a s p e as a n t s o l d i e r s (vopiiks,Soidatenbauer) i n r e t u r n f o r c e r t a i n e x e m p t i o n s . T h e i n c o m e s o f t h ec o u n t r y d i d n o t r e n d e r i t p o s s i b l e t o m a i n t a i n a r e g u l a r a r m y p a i d b yth e k i n g p r o t e c t i n g t h e f r o n t i e r s , a p a r t f r o m th e bandrium of the r u l e r .In p a r a l l e l t o t h e e n l a r g e m e n t o f t h e d e f e n s i v e m i l i t a r y forces, theo r g a n i z a t i o n o f b o r d e r d e f e n c e w a s m a d e m o r e c o h e r e n t . T h e m i l i t a r yf o r c e s o f t h e c o un t i e s o f t h e T e m e s k z w e r e s ub o r d i n a t e d t h o ug h o n l yt e m p o r a r i l y , f o r s o m e m a j o r a c t i o n s t o t h e h i g h s h e r i f f o f c o un t y Temes(comes Temesiensis), w h o , a t t h e same t i m e , w a s a p p o i n t e d c a p t ai n o f t h eg a r r i s o n s o l d i e r s , besides h e a d i n g h is o w n bandrium. A s i m i l a r processs t ar t e d i n th e n e i g h b o u r i n gbanate o f M a c s , l y i n g w e s t o f t h e T e m e s k z . 14T h r o u g h p e r s o n a l n e g o t i a t i o n , S i g i s m u n d , un d e r t h e t e r m s o f t h e t r e a t yo f T a t a i n 1 4 2 6, a c q u i r e d f r o m D j o r d j e B r a n k o v i c t h e castle o f N n d o r f e h r v r ( B e l g r a d e ) , w h i c h w a s e s s e n t i a l f o r t h e s t r e n g t h e n i n g o f t h edefence . Ten years la ter he a ttached the castle to thebanate o f M a c s , a n da s a r e s u l t a d e f e n c e z o n e s i m i l a r t o t h e o n e i n T e m e s k z came i n t o b e i n g ,since th e ban o f M a c s d i s p o s e d o f t h e m i l i t a r y f o r c e s o f t h e n e i g h b o u r i n gc o un t i e s o f B a r a n y a , B o d r o g , B c s , S z e r e m , a n d V a l k . T h e t w o ban o nt h e C r o a t i a n - S l a v o n i a n t e r r i t o r i e s h a d s i m i l a r m i l i t a r y a u t h o r i t y , w h a t i sm o r e , t h e f a v o u r a b l e n a t u r a l e n d o w m e n t s w e r e f u r t h e r e n h a n c e d b yr e i n f o r c i n g t h e f o r d s o n t h e Sava w i t h w o o d e n f o r t s . A t t h e same t i m e ,in t h e T e m e s k z , a c h a i n o f a b o ut t w e n t y f o r t re s s e s h a n d l e d b y t h e k i n gsecured the defence of the border .

Th e f o r m a t i o n o f t h e d e f e n c e n e t w o r k un d e r r e l a t i v e l y c a l mc o n d i t i o n s w a s f a c i l i t a t e d b y t h e f ac t t h a t th e O t t o m a n state u n d e r w e n to n e o f t h e m o s t c r i t i c a l p e r i o d s o f i t s h i s t o r y d u r i n g the so-ca l ledinterregnum b e t w e e n 14 02 a n d 1 41 3 . T h e H un g a r i a n m i l i t a r y l e a d e r s h i p ,h o w e v e r , d i d n o t m a k e us e o f t h e o p p o r t u n i t y tochase o ut t h e O t t o m a n s .St i l l , due to the a c t i v i t y of the comesTemesiensis, P i p o f O z o r a ( F i l i p p oS c o l a ri ) , w h o i m p l e m e n t e d th e m i l i t a r y r e f o r m s o f S i g i s m un d a n d t h eT h a l l c z i b r o t h e r s ( M a t k a n d F r a n k ) , a n d o w i n g t o t h e c a m p a i g n s a n d1 4 At the turn of the 1430s S i g i s m u n d p u t t h e T e u t o n i c O r d e r i n charge of thebannte ofS z r n y d e f e n d i n g t h e entrance a t th e L o w e r D a n u b e . B u t h i s h o p e s i n co n n e c t i o n w i t ht h i s p l a n s o o n f a i l e d . E r i c h J o a ch i m , " K n i g S i g m u n d u n d d e r D e u t s c h e Ri t t e r o r d e n i nU n g a r n 1429-1432. M i t t e i l u n g e n a u s d e m S t a a t s a r c h i v K n i g s b e r g , " M i t t e i l u ngen des I n s t i t u t s

fr sterre i ch i sche G eschichts forschung 33 (1912) 87-119, a n d r e c e n t l y J e n G l c k , " A n m e tl o v a g r e n d a X V . s z z a d i B n s g b a n [ T h e T e u t o n i c O r d e r i n t h e F i f t e e n t h -Ce n t u r y B a n a t e ] , "Z ounuk . A Jz -Nagy k un -Sz o l no k Megye Levt vk nyv e 8 (1993) 33-44


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10 GZA PLFFYo r g a n i z a t i o n a l a c t i v i t y of Jnos H u n y a d i in the 1440-1450s, the medievalH u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m managed to b u i l d up a system on the southernt e r r i t o r i e s of the country, w h i c h was s t i l l not coherent enough butadequate for permanent defence.1.2. The furination of a coherent defence system: the military reforms ofMatthias Corvinus and their aftermath 147S-152VT h o u g h the foundations of the border defence system were l a i d d u r i n gS i g i s m u n d ' s r e i g n , the siege of Nndorfehrvr in 1440 indicated that thoseb u f f e r states in the Balkans w h i c h had previously served to protect H u n g a r yw o u l d soon be r u i n e d by the Ottoman advance. In the l o n grun, neither theso-called w i n t e r campaign(1443-1444)by Jnos H u n y a d i , nor hissuccessinNndorfehrvr in 1456, nor even the Bosnian actions by Matthias Corvinusin 1463-1464 c o u l d stop theprocess by w h i c h the H u n g a r i a n m i l i t a r y forcewas once and for alld r i v e nback to the frontiers of the country by the 1460s,except for the north-western Bosnian fortresses aroundJajca.

The nearly f i f t y years' 'peace-time' starting in the mid-1460s, w h i c hwas characterized by the clashes of the r a i d i n g troops of the contendingp a r t i e s , offered an excellent o p p o r t u n i t y for the H u n g a r i a n K i n g to u n i f ya n d r e f o r m the defence system const ructed by his predecessors, th at isto make preparations for permanent defence. The s h i f t in the f o r e i g np o l i c y of Matthias Corvinus(1458-1490) f r o m the South-East to the Westm i g h t have served thesame purposes.15Presuma bly, he intended tocreatea n Eastern-Central-European great power w i t h material resources to beable to finance the reorganized defence l i n e and to compete successfullyw i t h the Ottoman Empire that had changed i n t o a European great powerw i t h the capture of Constantinople in 1453.

The reorganization of the defence system was accomplished in them i d d l e of the 1470s. The aims of the innovations were to create a morecoherent defence system, w h i c h c o u l d be controlledf r o m the centre and wasn o t d i v i d e d i n t o many p o l i t i c a l , m i l i t a r y a d m i n i s t r a t i v ecentres, furthermoreto establish an army that c o u l d be m o b i l i z e d faster and in a more u n i f i e dw a y to protect the borders. In the southern regions f r o m the A d r i a t i c to theEastern-Carpathians, Matthias Corvinus u n i t e d and integrated under thec o m m a n d of three m i l i t a r y officials the two basic elements of the defencesystem: on the one hand, the m i l i t a r y forces and the n e t w o r k of the border

1 3 G y u l a Rzs, Hun yad i Mtys trk politikja [The Ottoman Policy of MatthiasC o r v i n u s ] , Hadt te mi Kzlemyek 22 (1975) 305-348.

T H E H U N G A R I 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 11fortresses, and on the other, the bandena, county and noble troops, that isth e m i l i t a r y of the areas nei ghbo urin g the frontiers. This was the mostdecisive and most significant p a r t of his reforms.A s a f i rs t step, in 1476 Matthias u n i t e d the offices of the ban of Croatia-D a l m a t i a and Slavorua. His i n t e n t i o n was to subordinate the commanders ofb o r d e r fortresses, as w e l l as the mobile troops of the counties, barons andnobles of the area, under the u n i f i e d c o n t r o l of the Croatian-Slavonian banbanus CroatuieetSlavoniae) f r o m the sea to the Lower Danube. Tho ugh he hadal ready attempted to u n i f y the two offices as early as in the mid-1460s, hisendeavours were frustrated for a decade by the pursuits for independence ofth ebanof Macs, Mikls jlaki, who was appointed K i n g of Bosnia in 1471. '

Afterthe occupation of Szabcs in 1476 and the death of jlaki in 1477, n o t h i n gcou ldprevent himf r o m i m p l e m e n t i n g hisp l a n .A t thesame time, he organizedth e region of the Lower Danube i n t o a u n i f i e d border defence system, similarto the Croatian-Slavonian terntones. To this end he created the office of thecaptain-general of the Lower Parts supremus capitenuspaiiium regra Hungaruieinferiorum), w h i c h was, w i t h a few exceptions,17 assumed by the h i g h sheriffsof county Temes. From that time on, besides their bandena of considerablen u m b e r s , the captain-generals disposed of them i l i t a r y forces ofb o t h the borderfortresses and then e i g h b o u r i n g counties. At thesame t i m e , as h i g h sheriffs ofc o u n t y Temes, they were also responsibl e for the c i vi l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of thearea. W h i l ethe Croatian-Slavonianbanwas personally m charge of the m i l i t a r yan d c i vi l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of Dalmatia, Old Croatia,lh and the Slavonian counties

A ndr s K u b i n y i , Die Fragen des bosnischen Knigtums von N. jlaki, Studui SlavicaAcadermaeScientmrum Hungancae 8 (1958) 373-384

1 7 The captaincy-general of Pl Tomori (1523-1526), the Archbishop of Kalocsa, who hadhi s residence in Ptervrad and died in the battle of Moh cs, has to be ranke d among these.'8 It is appropriate to note here that Croatia and Slavonia as administrative and territorialnotions had different meanings during the middle ages and in the sixteent h-eightee nthcenturies. The medieval 'O ld' Croatia was situated south-west of the river Sava, and itsterritory extended between the Kapella Mountain and the Adriatic Sea, bordering onS l a v o n i a in the north-east Slavonia proper w as located between the Drav a valley and theK a p e l a Mountain, extending as far as the river Vrbas in the east. The Ottoman advancecreated a completely new situation by the second half of the sixteenth century. By that timethe southern parts of Old Croatia were lost, its population sought refuge in the north, andfor this reason in the sixteen th-seve nteenth centuries the name Croa tia design ated the areasstretching from the Adriatic to the Sava, then, in the eigtheenth century, to the Drava, whichwas formerly named Slavonia, then Upper Slavonia. For Slavonia proper shrank to theterritory between Drava, Sava, and Cszma by the 1570s. In the second half of the eighteenthcentury, however, it included the counties Pozsega, Valk, and Szerem (the so-called LowerS l a v o n i a ) , and from that time on, Slavonia meant exclusively that territory.


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12 G Z A P L F F Yof Z g r b , V r a s d , K r s , V e r c e , D ub i c a ,Szana, and Orbsz , due to ther e f o r m s o f M a t t h i a s , t h e c a p t a i n - g e n e r a l o f t h e L o w e r Par t s h a d t h esamer e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s o v e r t h e s i x c o un t i e s o f T e m e s k z ( K e v e , K r a s s , Temes,T o r o n t l , A r a d , a n d C s a n d ) , o v e r th e n e i g h b o u r i n g s i x c o un t i e s o fB o d r o g , B c s , C s o n g r d , B k s , Z a r n d , a n d B i h a r , a n d o v e r t h e c o un t i e sof Pozsega, V a l k , a n d S z e r e m b e t w e e n t h e D r a v a a n d Sava, that is allth e m i l i t a r y a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e d ut i e s o v e r t h e t e r r i t o r i e s c a l l e d t h e L o w e rPa r t s . ' 9 Th e t h i r d great u n i t o f t h e d e f e n c e l i n e w a s l e d b y t h e V o i v o d eo f T r a n s y l v a n i a (vajvoda Transilvaniae/Transilvaniensis) w i t h th e samea u t h o r i t y . 20A s a r e s u l t o f t h e r e f o r m s o f M a t t h i a s C o r v i n u s , t h e bases of thed e f e n c e s y s t e m a g a i n s t t h e O t t o m a n E m p i r e l a i d d o w n b y S i g i s m un d o fL u x e m b u r g w e r e t r a n s f o r m e d a n d c h a n g e d i n t o a c o h e r e n t s y s t e m . A tt h e e n d o f t h e f i f t e e n t h c e n t ur y t h e H un g a r i a n K i n g d o m w a s s u r r o u n d e db y a v e r t i c a l l y a n d h o r i z o n t a l l y d i v i d e d , u n i f i e d n e t w o r k o f d e f en c e . I nd e p t h i t cons i s ted of tw o para l le l l ines of bord er for tresses . The southernl i n e s t r e t c h e d f r o m S z r n y v i a O r s o v a , S z e n t l s z l , N n d o r f e h r v r , Z i -m o n y , S z a b c s , S z r e b e r n i k , Jajca, an d K n i n up to Skardo na an d Ki i ssza ,t h e s e c o n d , n o r t h e r n l i n e f r o m L g o s , K a r n s e b e s , a n d T e m e s v r v i aP t e r v r a d , t h e m i n o r castles o f t h e S z e r m s g a n d D ub i c a , K r u p a , andB i h c s t o Z e n g g o n t h e D a l m a t i a n coast. T he same s y s t e m w a s d i v i d e di n t o t h r e e s e c t i o n s v e r t i c a l l y t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e T r a n s y l v a n i a n t e r r i to r i e s :t h e C r o a t i a n - S l a v o n i a n p a r t w i t h B ih cs as i ts headq uarte rs , the areaeasto f i t r a n g i n g t o W a l l a c h i a w i t h the centre of Tem esv r ca l led Low er Partsa n d t h e T r a n s y l v a n i a n b o r d e r area. A l l t hr e e p a r t s h a d t h e f u n c t i o n ofs e r v i n g a n d s up p o r t i n g t h e b o r d e r fo r t r es s e s, i nw h i c h there w ere severa lt h o us a n d S o ut h e r n S l a v a n d H u n g a r i a n g a r r i s o n s o l d i e r s , b o a t m e n , a n d

' F o r t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e c a p t a i n c y - g e n e r a l o f th e L o w e r P a r t s , se e r e c e n t l y L s z l F e n y v e s i ," A t e m e s k z i - s z r n y s g i v g v r v i d k f u n k c i v l t o z s a i (1365-1718) [ T h e C h a n g e s i nF u n c t i o n o f t h e B o r d e r F o r t r e s s A r e a o f t h e T e m e s k z a n d S z r n y s g ] , " i n Vvak rik a X V I - X V I I . s zadban . ( S t u d i a A g r i e n s i a , 1 4 .) E g e r , 1 9 9 3, 238-246.

2 0 T h e o n l y debatable e l e m e n t o f th e r e f o rm i s w h y N n d o r f e h r v r d i d n o t become theseat o f th e n e w l y n o m i n a t e d c a p t a i n - g e n e r a l o f t he L o w e r P a r t s . A l l t h i s m i g h t be i nc o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h e d e v a l u a t e d o f f i c e of th eb an o f M a c s h e l d b y L r i n c , t h e s o n o f M i k l s j l a k i . T h o u g h i t m i g h t h a v e s e e m e d w i s e r to s e n d t h e c a p t a i n - g e n e r a l o f t he L o w e r Partst o N n d o r f e h r v r , t h e e v e n t s a f t e r w a r d s j u s t i f i e d t h e d e c i s i o n b y M a t t h i a s C o r v i n u s as t h eo f f i c e w i t h t h e seat i n T e m e s v r s u r v i v e d t h e fal l o f N n d o r f e h r v r i n 1 5 21 , a n d c o n t i n u e dto function until 1556 with different centres as wi l l b e d i s c u s s e d later on. C f . the dif ferento p i n i o n b y F e r e n c S z a k l y , A moh s i c s at a [ T h e Battle o f M o h c s i ( S o r s d n t t r t n e l m in a p o k , 2 . ) B u d a p e s t , 1977, 55-56.

T H E H U N G A R I A N - H A B S B L ' R G B O R D E R D E F E N C E S YS T E M S 13peasant sold iers p a i d by the k i n g .2 ' So in case o f d a n g e r , t h e c a p t a i n -genera ls of the border terr i t or ie s , as the leaders of the mo re secure i n t e r i o rc o un t i e s , d i s p o s e d o f a s i g n i f i c a n t n um b e r o f banderia, c o u n t y a n d n o b l et roops, a n d un a n i m o us l y c o n t r o l l e d b o t h t h e b o r d e r f or t r es s e s a n d t h emobi le f i e l d t r o o p s . T h e i r c o n c r e t e tasks w e r e d e t e r m i n e d b y t h e r u l e r ,w n 0 w i t h o u t h a v i n g a n i n d e p e n d e n t b o d y c o n t r o l l i n g th e m i l i t a r ya f f a i r s a r r i v e d a t d e c i s i o n s o n t h e d e f en c e o f t h e c o u n t r y a f t er c o n s u l tation w i t h t h e R o y a l C o u n c i l (consilium regis/regni) r e s i d i n g i n B ud a .3.3. Thefall of the defence system of the medieval Hungarian Kingdom(1521-1526)Before the loss o f N n d o r f e h r v r , t h e k e y f o r t r e s s o f t h e D a n ub e l i n e ,in 1 5 2 1 ,22 t h e s y s t e m o f b o r d e r d e fe n c e d i d n o t seem to d i f f e r m u c h f r o mt h e n e t w o r k t h a tcame i n t o b e i n g a f t e r t h e r e f o r m s o f M a t t h i a s C o r v i n us .W h i l e o n e e l e m e n t o f t h e d e f e n c e , h o w e v e r , t h e c h a i n o f f o r t r e s s e s s t i l le x i s t e d , t h o ug h i n a b a d state o f r e p a i r , t h e o t h e r m a i n c o m p o n e n t , t h emobi le t r o o p s o f th e n e i g h b o ur i n g a n d i n n e r p a r t s o f t he c o un t r ybecameprac t i cal ly un us a b l e . S o i n t h e d i s a s t r o us e c o n o m i c , s o c i a l , a n d p o l i t i c a lc o n d i t i o n s o f H un g a r y i n t h e J a g e l l o n - e r a (1490-1526), the defence systembecame m u t i l a t e d a lready before the f a l l o f N n d o r f e h r v r . T h e loss o ft h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t castle t h e n l a un c h e d a process t h a t c u l m i n a t e d i ntotal c o l l a p s e . G i v e n t h e l a c k o f a f i e l d a r m y t h a t c o u l d b e m o v e d a n dcontro l led q u i c k l y a n d c o h e r e n t l y , N n d o r f e h r v r c o u l d o n l y h a v e b e e nreplaced by a castle o f s i m i l a r s i z e a n d s i g n i f i c a n c e a l o n g t h e D a n ub e . As t r o n g h o l d o f s uc h s t r e n g t h , h o w e v e r , w a s t o b e f o u n d o n l y s e v e r a lh u n d r e d k i l o m e t e r s f u r t h e r n o r t h , i n t h e c e n t r e o f t h e c o u n t r y , i n B u d a .Th e f a l l o f N n d o r f e h r v r r e s u l t e d i n a h ug e b r e a c h i n t h e d e f e n c eline a n d b r o ug h t a b o ut t h e loss of severa l n e ig hbo ur i ng for tresses : Z i m o n yan d S z a b c s w e r e c a p t ur e d i n t h e same y e a r , O r s o v a , K n i n , a n d S k a r d o n aone year la ter , Szrny, the other b u l w a r k o f th e L o w e r D a n u b e , f e l l i n t oO t t o m a n h a n d s i n 1 5 2 4 . T h e p e r d i t i o n of the castles e n t a i l e d t h e loss o f

21 C f . A n d r s K u b i n y i ' s a r t i c l e in th e p r e s e n t v o l u m e2 2 F e r e n c S z a k l y h a s d e a l t w i t h t h e r e a s o n s a n d c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h e l o s s o f t h e k e y

fortress i n s e v e r a l s t u d i e s , w h i c h o b t a i n s v e r y u s e f u l p o i n t s o f reference F e r e n c S z a k l y ," N n d o r f e h r v r , 1 5 21 : T h e B e g i n n i n g o f t h e E n d o f t h e M e d i e v a l H u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m , "nHunga r i a n -O t t oman M i l i t a r y and D i p l om a t i c Re l a t i o n s i n t he Age o f Suleyman t he Magnificent.Ed . by G z a D v i d a n d P l F o d o r B u d a p e s t , 1 9 9 4 , 47-76. I d em , A mohs i cs a t a , 56-58, a n d'em, " N n d o r f e h rv r 1521-es o s t r o m h o z . E g y k i r l y i a d o m n y l e v l k z t r t n e t i t a n u l s g a i [ O n t he S i e g e o f N n d o r f e h r v r i n 15 2 1 . T h e H i s t o r i c a l L e s s o n t o B e D r a w n F r o m aRoyal Deed of G i f t ] , " Hadtrtelmi Kz lemyek 25 (1978) 484-499.


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14 G Z A P L F F Yt h o s e v i l l a g e s w h o s e i n h a b i t a n t s h a d p r e v i o u s l y s e r v e d a s p e a s a n ts o l d i e r s f o r a p a y o f s om e m o n t h s a n d f o r d i f f e r e n t e x e m p t i o n s . S oS l e y m a n t h e M a g n i f i c e n t , t h e n e w s u l t a n (1520-1566), e x t i n g u i s h e d t h es o u t h e r n l i n e o f t h e f r o n t i e r f o r t r e s s e s e x c e p t f o rJajca a n d K i i s s z a w i t h in a p e r i o d o f s o m e y e a r s . These castles s e r v e d a s s t e p p i n g - s t o n e s f o r h i mto d o a w a y w i t h t h e l a s t r e m n a n t s o f t h e s e c o n d l i n e as w e l l , e x c e p t f o rs o m e C r o a t i a n f o r tr e s s e s , i n t h e decades a f t e r t h e b a t t l e o f M o h c s i n1526.

W i t h t h e c o ll a p s e o f t h e s o u t h e r n c h a i n o f f o r t r es s e s , t h e H u n g a r i a nm i l i t a r y l e a d e r s h i p l o s t t h e z o n e t h a t w a s t o h a v e d e f e n d e d t h e w h o l ek i n g d o m . T h e s e c o n d , n o r t h e r n l i n e i n t h e i n t e r i o r o f t h e c o u n t r y w a s n o tf a c i l i t a t e d b y t h e n a t u r a l s u r r o u n d i n g s t o s u c h a n e x t e n t a s t h e p r e v i o u so n e t h a t w a s s i t u a t e d a l m o s t e n t i r e l y a l o n g m o u n t a i n s a n d r i v e r s . T h e r ew a s a t h r e a t t h a t i f t h e g a p s c o u l d n o t b e f i l l e d v e r y f a s t , P t e r v r a d ,w h i c h w a s c h o s e n t o s u b s t i t u t e N n d o r f e h r v r , c o u l d n o t be r e i n f o r c e d ,a n d n o m o b i l e t r o o p s w e r e f i e l d e d , t h e w h o l e i n t e r i o r p l a i n area o f thec o u n t r y w o u l d s o o n f a l l . A l t h o u g h s o m e measures w e r e t a k e n b y t h epalatnus I s t v n B t h o r v a n d t h e c a p t a i n - g e n e r a l o f t h e L o w e r P a r t s P lT o m o r i a i m e d a t b r i n g i n g t h e f o r t r e s s e s o f t h e s e c o n d l i n e i n t o ad e f e n s i b l e c o n d i t i o n a n d a t 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 na n d bandena, these f a i l e d o n e a f t e r t h e o t h e r , d u e t o t h e m o d e s t i n c o m e so f t h e c o u n t r y . A s a r e s u l t , t he e n t i r e s o u t h e r n d e f e n c e s y s t e m i n e v i t a b l yc o l l a p s e d i n 1 5 2 6 , w h e n t h e l a s t u n i t s o f t h e m o b i l e f i e l d t r o o p s a n d t h em a j o r b o r d e r f o r t r e s s e s p e r i s h e d . T h e d e a t h o f L o u i s I I (1516-1526) a t thesame t i m e b r o u g h t a b o u t t h e f a l l o f t h e m e d i e v a l H u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m .

B e f o r e t h e c o ll a p s e o f t h e m e d i e v a l b o r d e r d e f e n c e s y s t e m , a c h a n g et o o k p l a c e w h o s e e f f e c t s c o u l d n o t b e f e l t i n t h e 1520s, b u t w h i c h p r o v e dv e r y i m p o r t a n t i n t h e l o n g r u n . A l r e a d y i n t h e e a r ly 1500s, K i n g sV l a d i s l a v I I(1490-1516) a n d L o u i s I I a n d t h e C r o a t i a n b a r o n s a n d n o b l e st u r n e d t o E m p e r o r M a x i m i l i a n 1(1493-1519) f o r h e l p t o j o i n t l y a v e r t t h ed a n g e r t h r e a t e n i n g t h e A u s t r i a n p r o v i n c e s a s w e l l . B u t d u r i n g t h e r u l eof M a x i m i l ia n 1 , t h e e x t e r n a l m i l i t a r y s u p p o r t a s s i s t i n g t h e ban o f C r o a t i ar e m a i n e d o n l y a p l a n . H o w e v e r , a f t e r th e f a l l o f t h e f i r s t c h a i n o ff o r t re s s e s , A r c h d u k e F e r d i n a n d I ,assessing t h e d a n g e r t h r e a t e n i n g t h eA u s t r i a n p r o v i n c e s g o v e r n e d b y h i m m a i n l y C a r n i o l a (Krain), C a r i n t h i a(Kamten), a n d S t y r i a (Steiermark) r e s ig n e d h i m s e l f t o a s i g n i f i c a n t s t e p .D u r i n g th e siege o f N n d o r f e h r v r i n 1 5 2 1 h e s u m m o n e d h i s estates f o ra s p e c i a l m e e t i n g a n d , a t t h e r e q ue s t o f h i s b r o t h e r - i n - l a w , L o u i s I I , h e

T H E H L ' N C A R l 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 15p r o p o s e d t o s e n d s e v e r a l t h o u s a n d G e r m a n i n f a n t r y m e n t o s u p p o r tH u n g a r y . O n t h e basis o f t h e d o c u m e n t s a t o u r d i s p o s a l , i t c a n b e s t a t e dt h a t a b o u t 2,000 i n f a n t r y m e n s et o f f f o r H u n g a r y , a n d t h i s w a s t h e f i rs tt i m e w h e n t h e r e w a s a n a c t u a l a t t e m p t b y t h e A u s t r i a n p r o v m c e s t oassistin t h e d e f e n c e o f t h e H u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m . - 3 F r o m 1 5 2 2 t o t h e d e f e a t a tM o h a c s m o r e a n d m o r e f r e q u e n t l y d i d f i e l d t r o o p s a r r i v e f r o m t h en e i g h b o u r i n g A u s t r i a n p r o v i n c e s t o t h e area c o n t r o l l e d b y t h e C r o a t i a nban, b u t t h e y w e r e n o t p l a c e d i n t o t h e b o r d e r f o r t r e s s e s a s c o n s t a n tg a r r i s o n s y e t . 3 4 T h o u g h t h e r e g u l a r A u s t r i a n m i l i t a r y a i d s e e m i n g l ys t r e n g t h e n e d t h e d e f e n c e i n t h i s s e c t i o n o f t h e b o r d e r , i n f a ct i t d i s s o l v e dth e u n i f i e d l e a d e r s h i p o f t h e m i l i t a r y f o r c e t h a t h a d b e e n c o m m a n d e d b yth e ban u p t o t h i s t i m e . T h e c a p t a i n - g e n e r a l s (Obnstcr Feldhauptmann dernwderoblermchischen Landc) o f t h e t r o o p s s e n t b y t h e A u s t r i a n estates w e r ea p p o i n t e d b y t h e l a t t e r a n d w e r e n o t s u b o r d i n a t e d t o t h e ban, t h o u g h t h econsequences o f t h i s d u a l i t y d i d n o t m a n i f e s t t h e m s e l v e s i n these y e a r s ,b u t o n l y a f t e r t h e f a l l o f t h e H u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m i n 1 5 2 6 . A s t h e m o s td e c i s i v e e l e m e n t o f t h e d e f e n c e s y s t e m , t h e c h a i n o f f o r t r e s s e s s t i l lr e m a i n e d u n d e r t h e c o n t r o l o f th e ba n a t t h a t t i m e .

23 L a j os T h a l l c z y - A n t a l H o d i n k a , M ag i j a ror szg mel ltar tom nya inak ok levta CodexD i p l omi ca s Pa r t i um Regno Hungurtae Adnexarum). V o l . 1. A horv v helyek ok levta.1490-1527 [ A r c h i v e s o f t h e C r o a t i a n B o r d e r F o r t r e s s e s 1490-1527). ( M o n u m e n t a H u n g a n a eH i s t r i c a I . D i p l o m a t a r i a , X X X I . ) B u d a p e s t . 1 9 03 , 34-38: N o s . X X X V a n d L X U - L X X I I 1 : N o s .1 - 10 T h e y e a r 1 52 1 w h i c h Ipropose to start a n e w p e r i o d , i s b o t h a p p r o p r i a t e f o r m a r k i n gthe collap se of the f irst chain of fortresses and f or ref erring to the date w h e n F e r d i n a n d ,A r c h d u k e o f A u s t r i a b e g a n t o s u p p o r t t h e defence s y s t em o f th e m e d i e v a l H u n g a r i a nK i n g d o m w i t h h i s f i n a n c i a l a n d m i l i t a r y p o w e r . T h a t i s w h y t h e y e a r 1 5 2 2 i n R o t h e n b e r g ' sm o n o g r a p h The A us t r i a n M i l i t a r y Border) i s w o r t h m o d i f y i n g t o 1 5 2 1 .

; j I n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h i s , s e e G u n t h e r E . R o t h e n b e r g , T h e O r i g i n s o f t h e A u s t r i a n M i l i t a r y F r o n t i e r i n C r o a t i a a n d t h e A l l e g e d T r e a t y o f 2 2 D e c e m b e r 1522, Slavon i c and Eas tEuropean Rev iew 38 (1960) 493-498. C f . a ls o W i n f r i e d S c h u l z e , D i e s te r r e i c h i s c h e M i l i t a r -g r e n z e , Mi l i t rgesch i ch t l i che M i t t e i l ungen 9 (1971) 191-192 T h o u g h R o t h e n b e r g p r o v e d inhi s s t u d y p u b l i s h e d i n 1 9 6 0 that t h e a l l e g e d treaty o f D e c e m b e r 2 2 , 1 5 2 2 b e t w e e n L o u i s I Ia n d F e r d i n a n d , A r c h d u k e o f A u s t r i a i s m e r e l y t h e r e s u l t o f a m i s t a k e b y F r a n t i s e k V a n i c e k(F. V a n i c e k , op . o f . , 5 -6 ) w h o m i s i n t e r p r e t e d t h e t a l k s a t th e I m p e r i a l D i e t Re i chs tag) ofR e g e n s b u r g i n1522-1523, h e ( R o t h e n b e r g ) w a s n o t t h e f i r s t t o r e a l i z e t h i s . L a j o s T h a l l c z y ,in h i s i n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e above q u o t e d c o l l e c t i o n o f d o c u m e n t s h a d a l r e a d y corrected them i s t a k e ( L . T h a l l o c z y - A . H o d i n k a , op . a t . , N o s . L V 1 I I - L X an d L V L I I : n . 1 ) . R o t h e n b e r g ' sm erit is that h e a g a i n d r e w attention t o t h e p r o b l e m , a s T h a l l c z y ' s r e s u l t s w e r e o f t e ni g n o r ed e v e n b y H u n g a r i a n s c h o l a r s . P a l S z e g , op . a t . , 1 3 a n d 3 2 . C f . r e c e n t l y G e r h a r dR i l l . F r s t und H of i n sterre i ch von den habsburgischen Teungsver t rgen b i s zur Sch lacht vonM o l i s (7523/22 bis3526). B d . 1 .A unpo l i t i k und D i p l oma t i e . ( F o r s c h u n g e n z u r E u r o p i s c h e nu n d V e r g l e i c h e n d e n R e c h t s g e s c h ic h t e , 7 . ) W i e n - K l n - W e i m a r , 1 9 93 , 42-43: n. 17.


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16 GZA PLFFY2. THE DEFENCE SYSTEM AGAINST THE OTTOMANS IN THESIXTEENTHA N D SEVENTEENTHCENTURIEST h e d e f e a t a t M o h c s o p e n e d u p a n e w e r a i n t h e h i s t o r y o f H u n g a r yT h e c o u n t r y l o s t n o t o n l y i t s r u l e r , b u t a l m o s t t h e w h o l e o f i t s s o u t h e r ndefence s y s t e m , i n c l u d i n g b o t h t h e n e t w o r k o f b o r d e r fortresses and then e i g h b o u r i n g p a r t s s u p p o r t i n g t h e m w i t h t h e i r f i e l d t r o o p s . A l l t h isr e s u l t e d i n t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f O t t o m a n r u l e i n H u n g a r y , t h e c o r o n a ti o n so f J o h n S z a p o l y a i I (1526-1540) a n d F e r d i n a n d I (1526-1564) as k ings o fH u n g a r y , a n d t h e d i v i s i o n o f t h e c o u n t r y i n t o t h r e e p a r t s . T h o u g h t h es o v e r e i g n t y a n d i n d e p e n d e n c e o f th e c o u n t r y d i d n o t e n t i r e l y d i s ap p e ari n th e f o l l o w i n g c e n t u r i e s , i t s t e r r i t o r y became t h e b a t t l e g r o u n d o f t w og r e a t p o w e r s , t h e H a b s b u r g a n d t h e O t t o m a n E m p i r e . I n 1 5 2 6 , h o w e v e r ,t h e q u e s t i o n w a s w h e t h e r H u n g a r y w o u l d be able t o o r g a n i z e a n e wdefence s y s t e m o r w h e t h e r i t w o u l d share t h e f a t e o f w h a t h a d been itsvassal states i n t h e B a l k a n s . A n d i f t h e c o u n t r y w a s t o succeed, in whichp a r t o f i t , i n w h a t f r a m e w o r k , a n d u n d e r w h o s e l e a d e r s h i p w o u l d then e w defence s y s t e m come i n t o b e i n g .2.1.a. One and a half decades of confusion: the period of the commanders-in-chief of the royal army paid by Ferdinand I of HabsburgT h e f i f t e e n years a f t e r 1 5 2 6 r e m i n d u s o f t h e events a t the t u r n o f m i d d l eo f t h e f i f t e e n t h c e n t u r y . O n l y t h e p e r f o r m e r s o f t h e C h r i s t i a n p a r t y ha dc h a n g e d : n o w t h e A u s t r i a n p r o v i n c e s w e r e i n t h e same s i t u a t i o n a s t h em e d i e v a l H u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m h a d been e a r l i e r . T h e q u e s t i o n w a s t h esame: w o u l d t h e y m a n a g e t o s t o p t h e e n e m y i n f r o n t o f the borders , ont h e t e r r i t o r i e s o f H u n g a r y u n d e r t h e a u t h o r i t y o f F e r d i n a n d 1 , c r o w n e dth e k i n g o f t h i s c o u n t r y , o r , as t h e C r o a t i a n - S l a v o n i a n ban T a m s N d a s d yexpressed i t i n h i s l e t t e r t o F e r d i n a n d i n t h e s u m m e r o f 1 5 3 9 : " I f Y o u rH o l y M a j e s t v does n o t s u p p o r t t h i s c o u n t r y w i t h y o u r o t h e r p r o v i n c e s i tw i l l c e r t a i n l y h a p p e n t h a t , d u e t o t h e loss o f t h i s c o u n t r y , t h e o t h e rp r o v i n c e s o f Y o u r H o l y M a j e s t y w i l l b e l o s t . " 2 5 But the ex tent o f thed a n g e r w a s n o t a d e q u a t e l y assessed i n V i e n n a a t t h e e n d o f t h e 1520s.T o p u t i t m o r e a c c u r a t e l y : e v e n i f t h e y r e c o g n i z e d t h e O t t o m a n t h r e a t,t h e y d i d n o t h a v e t h e p o w e r t o a c t a g a i n s t i t e f f e c t i v e l y . F o r th e

3 5 N i s i V e s t r a Sacratissima Maiestas alicunde ex a li is regnis s u i s h u i c regno provident,actum erit de eo, et ex amissione h u i u s regni amittentur a l i a etiam regna Vestrae Sacra-tissimae Maiestatis. W i e n , s t e r r e i c h i s c h e s Staat sarchiv [hereinafter S t A ] , H a u s - , H o f - u n dStaatsarchiv [hereinafter H H S t A ] , Ungarische A k t e n (Hungarica) [hereinafter Hunganca),A l l g e m e i n e A k t e n [hereinafter A A ] , Fase. 3 9 . Konv. F . 1 5 3 9 . Juni-Juli f ols . 36-37.

TH E HUNGARIAN-HABSBURGBORDERDEFENCESYSTEMS 17r g a n i z a t i o n o f a n e w defence systemas h a d been i m p l e m e n t e d o n t h es o u th e r n f r o n t i e r s o f H u n g a r y i n M a t t h i a s C o r v i n u s ' - t i m e t h e r e w a s an e e d f o r a l o n g e r p e r i o d o f peace, f o r t h e a p p r o p r i a t e e c o n o m i c a n df i n an c ia l b a c k g r o u n d a n d p o l i t i c a l s u p p o r t , f o r a d i p l o m a c y t h a t w a sa w a r e o f th e O t t o m a n ' s c u s t o m s a n d m e t h o d s , f o r a n a p p r o p r i a t e a p p a r a t u s t o o r g a n i z e a n d c o n t r o l t h e s y s t e m , a n d l a s t b u t n o t least f o r at h o ro u g h k n o w l e d g e o f lo c a l H u n g a r i a n c i rc u m s t a n c e s . N o n e o f thesec o n d i t i o n s w e r e m e t a t t h a t t i m e .T h e c o n f l i c t b e t w e e n t h e t w o r u l e r s o f H u n g a r y b r o u g h t a b o u t c i v i l w a rc o n d i t i o n s i n t h e c o u n t r y a n d i t s a n n e x e d p r o v i n c e s ( S l a v o n i a a n d C r o a t i a ) .To save h i s t e r r i t o r i e s , J o h n I w a s f o r c e d t o c o o p e r a t e w i t h t h e O t t o m a n s ,

while t h ey a d v a n c e d c a p t u r i n g m o r e a n d m o r e fortresses i n t h e Szeremsegan d C r o a t i a . 26 Bu t these s o u t h e r n t e r r i t o r i e s o f H u n g a r y seemed f a r a w a yenough f r o m V i e n n a , n o t t o m e n t i o n t h e palace o f e m p e r o r C h a r l e s V^5 1 9 - 1 5 5 6 ) i n T o l e d o , f o r w h o m t h e H u n g a r i a n t h ea t r e of w a r w a so v e r s h a d o w e d b y t he M e d i t e r r a n e a n a n d I t a l i a n p r o v i n c e s also t h r e a t e n e db y t h e O t t o m a n s . A l t h o u g h i t w a s o b v i o u s t o those k n o w i n g theg e o g r a p h i c a l s i t u a t i o n o f H u n g a r y t h a t i f t h e castles o f B u d a a n d t h e p l a i nareas c o u l d n o t s t o p t h e O t t o m a n s , t h e y w o u l d g e t s e v e r a l h u n d r e dk i lometersnearer t h e c e n t r e o f t h e A u s t n a n p r o v i n c e s . I n v a i n d i d t h e siegeof Vienna in 1529 cause a s h o c k , t h e H a b s b u r g m i l i t a r y l e a d e r s h i p w a su n a b l e t o p e r f o r m t h e tasks of defence a g a i n s t t h e O t t o m a n s . 27 T h o u g ha m o n gthose A u s t n a n c o m m a n d er s w h o k n e w l i t t le a b o u t t h e c o n d i t i o n s i nHungary there were some w h o r e a l i ze d t h e severe consequences o f d e l a y , 28

2 6 G a b o r Barta, A Forgotten Theatre o f W a r 1526-1528 ( H i s t o r i ca l E v e n t s Precedingthe Ottoman-Hungarian A l l i a n c e o f 1528), in Hungarian-Ottoman M i l i t a r y a n d DiplomaticReati ons.93-130.

2 7 C h r i s t i n e Turetschek, D i e T r ke n p o l i t i k Ferdinands I . von 1529 b is 1532. (Dissertationender Universit t W ien , 1 0 .) W ie n, 1 9 6 8 .2 S After the royal troops l e d b y H a n s K a t z i a n e r captured the castle of Sz ep esv r, theresidence of the f am ily Sz ap olyai , Ulrich Ley sser chief field armoury officer Obrist-Fe dzeug-me ster) suggested to his ruler on March 28, 1528, that the arti lle ry arsenal here and inotherplaces should be transported to the southern border fortresses and the ruined cannon s h o u l dbe cast again with the same purpose: E u e r K u n i g l i c h e M a j e s t t et c . hetten so l h G e s c h u c z ,k la in vnd gro behaltenn, v n d d i e ortflegkhen gegen d e m T u r g k h e n n damit versechenn ...hetten E uer Ku niglich e Majestt e tc . new geschuez giessen v n n d d i e T u r g k h i s c h G r n i c z e ndamit versechen l a s s e n n . S t A K r i e g s a r c h i v [hereinafter K A ] A l t e F el d a k t e n [hereinafter A F A ]'528/3/16 c. It is not a coincidence that i t w a s L e y s s e r w h o made theseproposals as he hadalready taken part in the recruitment of the auxilia ry troops commanded to Croatia from 1522so he was among those w ho rightly assessed the real degTee of the Ottoman threat (see L.T h a d c z y - A . H o d i n k a , op . at . . 145-147: N o . X C I a n d 148-149: N o . X C O I ) .


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18 G Z A P L F - F YF e r d i n a n d ' s p o l i t i c a l , e c o n o m i c , a n d m i l i t a r y resources a l l o w e d twt h i n g s i n t h i s p e r i o d . O n t h e o n e h a n d , w i t h h i s troops sent to Hu ngaryh e g r a d u a l l y b r o k e t h e p o w e r o f hi s r i v a l k i n g , and on the other hand 'w i t h t h e h e l p o f th e m o s t e n d a n g e r e d p r o v i n c e s o f C a r n i o l a , C a r i n t h i a 'an d S t y r i a , h e s t a r t e d t o r e o r g an i z e u n d e r h i s o w n c o n t r o l t h e C ro a t ia nb o r d e r d e f e n c e s y s t e m c o o r d i n a t e d b y t h e ban.2vT h e t w o processes t o o k p l a c e i n a s i m i l a r f r a m e w o r k a n d w e r ea c c o m p a n i e d b y s i m i l a r p r o b l e m s . I n o r d e r t o s t r e n g t h e n h i s p o w e r b o t hin H un g a r y a n d i n C r o a t i a a n d Sl a v o n i a , F e r d i n a n d s e n t c o n s i d e ra b l en u m b e r s o f f o r e i g n ( m a i n l y G e r m a n ) t r o o p s . These w e r e s up p l e m e n t e dby th e p a i d s o l d i e r s o f t h e H u n g a r i a n a n d C r o a t i a n n o b l e s s up p o r t i n gt h e H a b s b ur g s , a n d b y t h e un i t s o f t h e c o un t i e s a n d i n s ur g e n t fi e l d edu n d e r t h e l a w s o f h e c o un t r y . T h e c o o p e r a t i o n o f t h e Ge r m a n a n dH u n g a r i a n t r o o p s w a s n o t un c l o ud e d . T h e q ue s t i o n o f c o n t r o l c a use ds e r i o u s c o n f l i c t s f r o m t h e m o m e n t t h e f i r s t l.nmisknecht set foot onH u n g a r i a n s o i l , a s t h e c o m m a n d e r - i n - c h i e f o f t h e t r o o p s s e r v i n g i nH u n g a r y o r C r o a t i a (Obnster Feldhauptmann de r mederosterreichischen Landein Ungarn/in Kroatwn) at the cost o f t h e ' L o w e r A u s t r i a n estates' (at thatt i m e s t i l l c o m p o s e d o f L o w e r A u s t r i a , C a r n i o l a , C a r i n t h i a , a n d S t y r i a )t r i e d t o e x t e n d h i s a u t h o r i t y b o t h o v e r t h e H u n g a r i a n a n d C r o a t ia nc o n t i n g e n t s . B ut a c c o r d i n g t o t h e s o - c a l l e d palatnus' artic les of 1485, thed e p u t y c o m m a n d i n g these t r o o p s i n t h e absence of the k i n g was thepalatnus regni Hungri.3 T h e s i t ua t i o n w a s f ur t h e r c o m p l i c a t e d b y th efact that th is off i ce had not been f i l l e d since 1530 and the governor(locumtenens regni Hungarme), t h e l e a d e r o f t h e g o v e r n o r s h i p{locumtenenttaregia), crea ted to replace the palatnus, d i d h i s best to keep control overt h e H u n g a r i a n t r o o p s . 31 T h e r e w a s a s i m i l a r c o n f l i c t b e t w e e n t h e C r o a t ia n

^ T h o u g h i n t h e s u m m e r o f 1 5 2 8 M a r t i n F l e u g a u s , t h e a r m o u r y o f f i c e r o f F e r d i n a n d i nC a r n i o l a (Z e u gwa r t i n K r am ) , m u s t e r e d t h e border fortresses ( S z e g e d , T e m e s v r , C s a n d ,a n d L i p p a ) i n T e m e s k z w i t h t h e a i m o f c h e c k i n g h o w t h e y c o u l d b e s t r en g t h e n e d t o s er v et h e p u r p o s e o f defence a g a i n s t t h e O t t o m a n s , t h e y c o u l d n o t p r e v e n t t h e m f r o m gettingi n t o t he h a n d s o f J o h n I . S t A K A A F A 1528/7/6. S e e a l s o S tA H H S t A H u n g a n c a A A .Fasc. 8 . K onv. 1 . 1528 . Jan. -Juni fols 175-176.3 M a g ya r t o r vy t. (C o r p u s j u r i s Hu n gia ) 1000-1526. i trvyczik kek (Ar ticles of1000-1526).Explained and referenced by Dezs M rkus. Budapest , 1899 , 398-399: article No 4.3 1 I s t v n R . K i s s ,A magyar he ly ta r t tan s l . Fe rd innd ko rban 1549-1551. i evees knyve( T h e H u n g a r i a n Locumtenentia u nder Fe rdin and I and its Letter Book from 1549 to 1551).B u d a p e s t , 1 9 08 , a n d G y z E m b e r , " A h e l y t a r t i h i v a t a l t r t n e t h e z a X V I . s z z a d b a n [ T ot h e H i s t o r y o f t h e Locumtenentia i n t h e S i x t e e n t h C e n t u r y ] , " i n Em lknyv Szen tpery Imre

szl etek hatvanadik fordul jnak nnepe. Budapest , 1938 , 142-156.

T H E H U N G A R IA 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 19

m

an d th e A u s t r i a n c o m m a n d e r - i n - c h i e f . W e c a n assume that the par t ies' ere per fec t ly aware of the h i g h stakes in the s truggle for the sphere ofthor i ty Th e p o i n t w a s t h a t t h e w i n n e r c o u l d t ak e c h a r g e o f t h eH u n g a r i a n a n d C r o a t i a n m i l i t a r y a f f a i r s a n d s i m ul t a n e o us l y t h e c o n t r o lf the border defence system . So in the nex t f i f teen years the Hab sbu rgl i tary l e a d e r s h i p m a d e a n a t t e m p t at w h a t S i g i s m un d o f L ux e m b ur g

n d hi s successors c o u l d n o t a c h i e v e . T h e y t r i e d t o e n s ur e t h e i r p o w e rb c a m p a i g n s l ed o ut s i d e t h e A u s t r i a n p r o v i n c e s a n d b y t a k i n g c o n t r o lof the m i l i t a r y a f f a i r s a n d b o r d e r d e f e n c e i n s uc h areas they sought tos t o p t h e O t t o m a n a d v a n c e . F o r t h i s p ur p o s e t h e e c o n o m i c a n d m i l i t a r yp o w e r of the A u s t r i a n p r o v i n c e s s uf f i c e d e v en i f C h a r l e s V w a s r e l uc t a n tto g i v e s up p o r t . F or H u n g a r y t o p r e s e r v e i t s s o v e r e i g n t y a n d t e r r i t o r y tosome extent, it seemed t h a t i t h a d t o p a y a n e n o r m o us p r i c e i n r e t u r n .T h e H un g a r i a n m i l i t a r y - p o l i t i c a l o f f i c e h o l d e r s a n d t h e estates f o r m e r l yc o n t r o l l i n g t h e c o un t r y a n d i t s d e f e n c e h a d t o r e n o un c e t h e i r p o s i t i o n sin leading the m i l i t a r y . T h e r e w a s h a r d l y a n y r e a s s ur i n g w a y o ut o f t h edead end.

U p to the peace of Vrad in 1538 made w i t h J o h n S z a p o l y a i , t h efore ign t r o o p s l e d t o H un g a r y b y t h e A u s t r i a n c o m m a n d e r s - i n - c h i e fs e c ur e d i f n o t q u i t e s a t i s f a c t o r i l y t h e t e r r i t o r y o n w h i c h t h e n e wdefence system co ul d be organ ized la ter on. A l t h o u g h Kassa, the key toU p p e r H un g a r y r e m a i n e d i n t h e h a n d s o f Jo h n 1 , a n d t h e n passed to hiss on , J o h n S i g i s m un d b e t w e e n 1 53 6 a n d 1 5 5 2 , a n a d e q ua t e c o un t e r p o i n twas created by s u p p l y i n g th e castle of Sros w i t h a s i g n i f i c a n t H a b s b u r ggarri son . T h e f o r t re s s es p r o t e c t i n g V i e n n a ( K o m r o m , E s z t e r g o m , T n t a ,an d Gy r ) w e r e s i m i l a r l y p r o v i d e d w i t h s o l d i e r s o f v a r i o us n a t i o n a l i t y(i.e. Ge r m a n s a n d S p a n i a r d s ) p a i d b y k i n g F e r d i n a n d . These m i l i t a r ydec is ions , how ever , la cked any k i n d of s tra tegy a imed a t the f o r m a t i o nof a c o h e r en t d e f e n c e s y s t e m . Pr a c t i c a l l y , t h e y w e r e d e c i s i o n s m a d e i nan e m e r g e n c y s i t ua t i o n .

Between 1526 and 1541 , the m i l i t a r y a f f a i r s o f H u n g a r y a n d t h eannexed areas w e r e a l m o s t e x c l us i v e l y c o n t r o l l e d b y t h e a b o v e m e n t i o n e dAu str ian c o m m a n d e r s - i n - c h i e f o f F e r d i n a n d . A f t e r the batt le of Mohcsthe only e f f i c i e n t a r m y w a s c o n s t i t u t e d b y t h e Ge r m a n t r o o p s a n d b y t h ecavalry u n i t s p a i d a lso f r o m a b r o a d b u t l e d b y H u n g a r i a n a n d S o u t h e r nS lav capta ins (B l int Trk , La jos Pekry , and P l Bakics ) . As the paymentofthese t r o o p s w a s c o v e r e d b y t h e r u l e r f r o m hi s A u s t r i a n p r o v i n c e s , h i sright to c o m m a n d t h e m c o u l d n o t b e d e b a t e d . S o i n these c o n f us e d t i m e s


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20 G Z A P L F F Ythe ' task ' o f the governors locumtenens regni Hungri) i n P o z s o n y w a so n l y t o c o n s ul t th e c o m m a n d e r s - i n - c h i e f n o t w e l l - v e r s e d i n t h e H u n g a r i a nc o n d i t i o n s a n d t o q u a r r e l a b o u t t h e spheres of a u t h o r i t y . T h e r e a l m i l i t a r yassistants o f t h e c o m m a n d e r - i n - c h i e f w e r e t h e f i e l d m a r s h a l s (Feld-marschall) c o m m a n d e d t o h e l p h i m a n d t h e w a r c o u n c i l l o r s verordneteKnegsrdte) e i th e r s ta y i n g be s id e h i m o r i n V i e n n a i n c l u d i n g a w a rsecretary (Knegssckretdr): S o i n t h i s p e r i o d a n e w m i l i t a r y a d m i n i s t r a t i v eorganiza t ion came i n t o b e i n g , w h i c h , t h o u g h s u b je c t t o changes i n i t sp e r s o n n e l , s h o w e d s o m e s i g n s o f s t a b i l i t y a n d became o f g r e a t s i g n i f i cance as the precedent o f the A u l i c W a r C o u n c i l (Wiener Hofknegsrat).

In C r o a t i a t h e changes i n t h e m i l i t a r y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d b o r d e rd e f en c e w e r e s i m i l a r a n d e v e n f a s t e r t h a n i n H u n g a r y . J o h n I , a f t e r t h ed e a t h o f h i s c a p t a i n - g e n e r a l a n d ban* K r i s t f F r a n g e p n i n S e p t e m b e r1527, had less p o w e r t o s u p p o r t h i s f o l l o w e r s t h e r e . A f t e r t h e r e s i g n a t i o nin 1528 of Ferenc B a t t h y n y , t h e C r o a t i a n - S l a v o n i a n ban w h o h a d s u p por te d F e r d i n a n d , t he v a c a n c y o f t h e o f f i c e o f f e r e d a n e x c e l l e n t o p p o r t u n i t y to c urta i l the sphere o f a u t h o r i t y o f t h e ban, a n d t h e locumtenensin Pozsony had h a r d l y a ny w o r d i n th e d i r e c t i o n o f these r e m o t e t e r r i tories. At the same t i m e , t h e O t t o m a n s a s i n t h e n e x t o n e a n d a h a l fc e n t u r i e s r e g a r d e d t h i s t e r r i t o r y a s a s e c o n d a r y t h e a t r e o f w a r besidesth e main H u n g a r i a n f r o n t i n i t s n a r r o w sense. I n s p i t e o f t h i s f a c t , t h eAus tr ian p r o v i n c e s w e r e m o s t l y t h r e a t e n e d i n these areas i n t h i s p e r i o d ,an d therefore the estates o f C a r n i o l a , C a r i n t h i a , a n d S t y r i a s o o n m a n a g e dto t r a ns f e r c o n t r o l o f t h i s s e c t i o n o f t h e d e f e n c e s y s t e m o f t h e m e d i e v a lH u n g a r i a n K i n g d o m t o A r c h d u k e F e r d i n a n d a n d r e o r g a n i z e i t f o r t h e i ro w n p r o t e c t i o n . 34T h u s t h e H a b s b u r g m i l i t a r y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s t a r t e d t o f o r m th e f i rs tu n i t o f t he n e w d e f e n c e s y s t e m a g a i n s t t h e O t t o m a n s i n t h e C r o a t i a nb o r d e rarea. It h a s a l r e a d y b ee n m e n t i o n e d a s a p r e c e d e n t t h a t a f t e r 1 5 2 1f i e l d troops p a i d by the A u s t r i a n estates r e g u l a r l y m a r c h e d t o C r o a t i a ,

On the war council lor s , see th eHungarica c o l l e ct i o n o f O S t A H H S t A ( A A . F a s e 2 - F a s e .70. passen) from th e per iod 1526-1550C n s t o fo r u s d e F r a n g e p a n i b u s r c g n o r u m D a l m a c i a e , C r o a c i a e e t S c l a v o n i a e b a n u sa c c ap i ta n e us r eg i u s g e n e r a l i s ( V e h k e . A u g u s t 27 , 1 52 7 ) O S t A H H S t A H u n g a r i c a A A F a s c .7. Kon v. 3. 1527. fol. 38. Cf. Gbo r Barta , L a route qu i me I s t a nbu l 1526-1528. ( S t u d i aHis tr ica A cademiae Scientiar um Hu ngar i cae. 195 .) B ud apest , 1994 , 12-13 and 86 . On th e h elp given by th e Styr ianestates: G n t h e r B u r k e r t ,Ferdinand I . u nd d i e stemschen

Stande Darges te l l t anhand d er stemschen Lmd l a g c 1526-1541. ( I n a u g u r a l - D i s s . ) G r a z , 1 9 7 6 ,57-173.

T H E H U N G A R 1 A N - H A B S B U R G BO R D E R D E F E N C E S Y S T E M S 21b ut i t d i d n o t e n t a i l a n d i t c o u l d n o t w i t h i n t h e m e d i e v a l H u n g a r i a nK i n g d o m t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f t he d e f e n ce s y s t e m . H o w e v e r , F e r d i n a n dm h i s c a p a c i t y a s K i n g o f H u n g a r y a n d C r o a t i a , s en t t r o o p s p a i d b y h i sA u s t r i a n estates to the castles o f Z e n g g a n d K i i s s z a i n 1 5 2 7 a n d t o B i h c sa f t e r t h e r e s i g n a t i o n o f Ferenc B a t t h y n y i n 1528.35 In a d d i t i o n t o t a k i n gc h a r g e o f t h e m a j o r b o r d e r f o r t r e s s e s , m o r e a n d m o r e f i e ld t r o o p s a l s oa r r i v e d i n t h e Sava r e g i o n t o s t o p t h e O t t o m a n r a i d s , a n d t h e i rc o m m a n d e r s - i n - c h i e f ( M i k l s J u r is i c s , H a n s K a t z i a n e r ) b e g a n t o o r g a n i z et h e b o r d e r f o r tr e s s es u n d e r r o y a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i n t o a co h e r e n t s y s t e m .A s a f i r s t s t e p , i n 1 5 3 8 t h e y s e t u p t h e p o s t o f t h e c a p t a i n - g e n e r a l w h o s er e s p o n s i b i l i t y e n c o m p a s s e d t h e r e g i o n ca l l e d t h e O l d C r o a t i a n c o n f i n e salte krabatische/kroatische Grenze) i n l a t e r s o u r c e s . I n t h e la s t d a y s o f A p r i l ,w h e n th e ba n P t e r K e g l e v i c h , d e f e n d i n g B i h c s a g a i n , r e n o u n c e d h i sc o n t r o l o v e r t h e castles h e h a d b e e n i n c h a r g e o f , F e r d i n a n d a p p o i n t e dE r a s m v o n T h u r n t h e c a p t a i n - g e n e r a o f Z e n g g , B i h c s , R i p a cs , a n dO t o c s c , a n d t h e m i n o r f o r t r e s s e s b e l o n g i n g t o t h e m , t h a t i s o f t h e O l dC r o a t i a n c o n f i n e s . 36 W i t h t h e a p p o i n t m e n t of T h u r n t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o ft h e w e s t e r n s e c t i o n o f t h e C r o a t i a n b o r d e r d e f en c e s y s t e m e x t e n d i n g f r o mt h e U n a t o t h e A d r i a t i c S e a a c t u a l l y s t a r t e d , a n d t h e w o r k w a s c o n t i n u e dby t h e c o m m a n d e r s - i n - c h i e f i n C r o a t i a a n d S l a v o n ia (Obnstcr Feldhaupt-

mann windischer und krabatischer/kroatischer Lande) a p p o i n t e d a f t e r 1 5 4 0 ,f i r s t l y b y H a n s U n g n a d . 3 ' I n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h e p r a c t i c e f o l l o w e d i n t h ecase o f t he c o m m a n d e r s - i n - c h i e f i n H u n g a r y t he y w e r e a l s o a s s is t e d b y

35 L . T h a l l c k z y - A . H o d i n k a , op . a t . , 671 : No D X X I V , 672-674: N o . D X X V I an d 677-686:N o s . D X X X U - D X X X V a n d L V1 1.3 6 P r o c o n s e r v a n d i s p a r t i u m i s t a r u m a d c o n f i n i a T u r c h a r u m i a c e n t i u m l o c i s . .. i nC a p i t a n e u m a s s u m p s i m u s e t c o n s t it u i m u s i l l iq u e C a s t r o r u m e t O p p i d o r u m n o s t r o r u mB i h i g i j e t R e p a t z , C i v i t a t i s q u e nostrae S e g m e n si s et O t t o s ch u t z c u m o m n i b u s e o r u n d e m

a t t i n en t i i s c u r a m a d m i n i s tr a t i o n em q u e d e m a n d a v i m u s , a n d i n s u p r e m u m C a p i t a n e u mu n i v e r s o r u m r e g n i n o s t r i C r o a t i a e l o c o r u m f i n i m o r u m s i m u l e t g e n t i u m i b i d e m n o s t r o r u m ,n e c n o n C i v i t a t i s nostrae S e g n e n s i s et A t t a t s c h v z a c praeterea et o p p i d o r u m n o s t r o r u mB i h i g i j et R e p a t h a ss u m p s i m u s c t c o n s t i t u i m u s . S t A H H S t A H u n g a r i c a A A . F a s c . 3 5K o n v . 1 . 1538. A pr . fols . 94-95. C f.ibid., fols 86-87, 89 , 93 and 96-99.1 7 B u d a p e s t , M a g y a r O r s z g o s L e v l t r [ h e r e i n a f t e r M O L ] E 14 4 , M a g y a r k i n c s t r i l e v l t r a k , M a g y a r K a m a r a A r c h v u m a [ h e r e i n a f t e r M K A j T r t n e l m i e m l k e k . B e l g y b o x 1f ols. 63-64. J a n u a r y 1 2 , 1 5 40 . W i t h o u t p l a c e T h e Bes ta l l ung o f F e r d i n a n d I f o r H a n s U n g n a dO b e r i s t e r V e l d h a w b t m a n v n n s e r e r F u n ff N i d e r o st e r r c i ch i s c h e n , W i n d i s c h e n v n d C r a b a t i -s c h e n L a n n d e . C f . B e r n d Z i m m e r m a n n , L a n d e s h a u p t m a n n H a n s U n g n a d v o n S o n n e g g

(1493-1564). E i n B e i tr a g z u s ei n e r B i o g r a p h i e , i nS edlung, M a ch t und W i r t s cha f t . Fes t s ch r i f tFr i t z Posch zum 70. Gebur ts tag . ( V e r f f e n t l i c h u n g e n d e s S t e i e r m r k i s c h e n L a n d e s a r c h i v s , 1 2 .)E d . b y G e r h a r d P f e r s c h y . G r a z , 19 8 1, 2 1 0.


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22 G Z A P L F F Yw a r c o u n c i l l o r s d el e g a te d b y n e i g h b o u r i n g p r o v i n c e s .3 I n p a r a l l e l t o t h i st h e s e t t l e m e n t o f a n d o f f e r i n g o f p r i v i l e g e s t o t h e V l a c h s (Valaclu) andU s k o k s (Uscoci) s t a r t e d i n t h e C r o a t i a n - S l a v o n i a n areas, w h o s e c e r t a i ng r o up s l a t e r o n p l a y e d an i m p o r t a n t r o l e i n th e d e fe n c e o f b o r d e rfor tresses and then f r o m t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t ur y i n t h m i l i t a r y f r o n t i e r s . *

In t h e p e r i o d l a st i n g f r o m the batt le of Mohcs to the f al l of Budath e f o r m a t i o n o f a n e w d e f e n c e s y s t e m w a s i n i t i a t e d b y t h e H a b s b ur gm i l i t a r y l e a d e r s h i p o n l y i n t h e C r o a t i a n b o r d e r area b e t w e e n Z e n g g a n dB i h c s . F e r d i n a n d I t o o k t h enecessary steps o n l y i n t h e t e r r i t o r i e s m o s t l yt h r e a t e n e d b y t h e O t t o m a n s a n d e v e n i f h e r e c o g n i z e d t h e r e a l n a t ur e o ft h i s d a n g e r ( n a m e l y t h a t V i e n n a w a s a l s o m e n a c e d ) h e w a s un a b l e t ocreate a c o h e r e n t d e f e n c e s y s t e m t o a v o i d i t . W i t h h i s t r o o p s r e g u l a r l ys en t t o C r o a ti a - S l a v o n i a a n d H u n g a r yeach year , he o n l y s p o n t a n e o us l yr e t o r t e d hi s r i v a l k i n g John I ; a t the same t i m e , h e c o m m i s s i o n e dc o m m a n d e r s - i n - c h i e f t o t a k e c h a r g e o f t h e m i l i t a r y a f f a i r s a n d b o r d e rd e f en c e i n H u n g a r y . A n d t h o u g h h e d i d n o t seek t o o r g a n i z e a n e wd e f e n c e s y s t e m i n these f a r a w a y areas o f H u n g a r y , t h a t i s h e w a s n o te n e r g e t i c a l l y i n v o l v e d a g a i n s t t h e O t t o m a n s , w i t h these steps he s t i l le n s ur e d t h o s e r e g i o n s w h e r e l a t e r o n t h e n e w c h a i n o f f o r t r e s s e s c o u l dbe b u i l t up as the basis f o r th e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e n e w d e f e n c e s y s t e m .H e c o u l d a l s o b e n e f i t f r o m t h e se r i o us m i s t ak e s c o m m i t t e d b y t h e O t t o m a nm i l i t a r y l e a d e r s h i p ; i n 1 52 9 a n d 1 5 3 2 , S l e y m a n I w i t h d r e w h i s t r o o p sto t h e l i n e o f t h e L o w e r D a n ub e a n d D r a v a a n d d i d n o t r e t a i n t h o s efor tresses w h i c h a f t e r w a r d s f ac e d h i m a s t h e b u l w a r k s o f th e n e w d e f e n c en e t w o r k a n d c o u l d o n l y be rega ined a t the expense of severe losses.2.1.b. The first attempts to organize a new defence system (1541-1556)Th e f al l of Buda in 1541 and of the for tresses of S ik ls , Pcs , Szkesfehrv r , T a ta , N g r d , H a t v a n , t h e n o f E s z t e r g o m o n t h e D a n ub e , a n d t h eloss o f V a l p a n d A t y i n a i n S l a v o n i a d u r i n g th e 1543-1544 c a m p a i g nj u s t i f i e d t h o s e f e w w h o w e r e o f th e o p i n i o n a l r e a d y i n t h e 1530s thatthese for tresses w o u l d h a v e t o b e r e i n f o r c e d a n d a n e w d e f e n c e s y s t e mc o v e r i n g t h e w h o l e c o un t r y o r g a n i z e d . T h e r e p e a t e d a d v a n c e o f t h eO t t o m a n s c r e at e d a c o m p l e t e l y n e w s i t u a t i o n . W h i l e u p t o th i s p o i n t thec r e a t i o n o f th e n e w s y s t e m w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f t h e m o s t e n d a n g e r e d

3 S c h u l z e ,Landesdefension, 60-61.3^ K a s e r , op. at . , 60-79. C a t h e r i n e W e n d y B r a c e w e l l , The Uskoks of Sen/ . P i racy , Bandi t ry ,

a n d H o l y W a r i n t h eSixt eenth-Century A d r i a t i c . I t h a c a - L o n d o n , 1 9 9 2 .

T H E H U N G A R 1 A N - H A B S BU R G B O R D E R D E F E N C E S Y S T E M S 23C r o a t i a n a r e a s c o u l d b e p o s t p o n e d , n o w t h e r e w a s n o f u r t h e r p o s s i b i l i t yf d e l a y d ue t o t h e t h r e a t to S t y r i a , L o w e r A u s t r i a (Niedersterr

origins and development of the border defence

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