War, innovations and cultural transfers in East-Central Europe: The Army of Transylvania in the age of transition from voivodeship to principality (second half of the 16th century)

Abstract

The scope of this article is to offer an overview on the process of early modern military innovation and adaptation in Transylvania, with a particular emphasis on foreign influences. A former province within the Hungarian Kingdom, Transylvania was gradually transformed during the second half of the sixteenth century into a distinct state, vassal of the Ottoman Empire. The political context had a significant impact on shaping the military organization of the emerging polity, situated in a borderland area dominated by the Ottoman-Habsburg rivalry. The armed forces of the Transylvanian rulers were marked by enduring medieval traditions and customs, especially in terms of recruitment, mobilization and organization. However, some innovations, coming from neighbouring war cultures, were introduced and adapted during the decades following the Ottoman conquest of Buda (1541). The evolution of recruitment methods, the increasing importance of light cavalry and irregular warfare and the evolution of infantry between western and oriental models are some of the most important topics approached in my analysis.

Keywords

• warfare
• Transylvania
• technological transfer
• war culture
• innovation

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