Veres Gábor - Berecz Mátyás (szerk.): Hagyomás és megújulás - Életpályák és társadalmi mobilitás a végváriak körében - Studia Agriensia 27. (Eger, 2008)

SARUSSI KISS BÉLA: Német katonák a 16. századi magyar végvárakban. A végvárakban állomásozó német katonák származási helye, motivációik

Béla Sarusi Kiss

GERMAN SOLDIERS AT THE 16TH CENTURY BORDER CASTLES

The Origins and Motivations of German Soldiers Stationed at the Border Castles

The paper examines where those “German” mercenaries originated from, who were recruited to serve in the field armies under the command of Jakob Raminger in 1563, and posted to three territorially separate Hungarian border castles at Murány, Ónod and Kanizsa. Using some recently discovered sources it has been possible to prove that the soldiers were enlisted in or around Vienna having arrived there from all over the Holy Roman Empire. With the aid of indirect proofs it would also appear from their place of birth and their original occupations that these were Landesknechte and not professional soldiers, from which one can conclude that their fighting capabilities would not have been particular high. The lives of some of the soldiers serving at Murány prove that these soldiers were given the opportunity to pursue either military or civil careers.

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