Bujdosné Pap Györgyi et al.: Mozgó frontvonalak. Háború és diplomácia a várháborúk időszakában 1552-1568 - Studia Agriensia 35. (Eger, 2017)

Florin-Nicolae Ardelean: On the Foreign Mercenaries and Early Modern Military Innovations in East Central Europe. Castaldo's Army in Transsylvania and the Banat

STUDIA AGRIENSIA 35.

Florin-Nicolae Ardelean Foreign Mercenaries and Early Modern Military Innovations in East Central Europe.

The Army of Castaldo in Transylvania and the Banat 1551-1553

The early modern innovations in the field of warfare and military organization spread rapidly between the regions of Europe and even outside our continent, easily overcoming political, cultural and linguistic obstacles. Some of the most important factors that contributed to the wide spread of these new ideas were: the development of a specialized literature (including military treaties, exercise books and mémoires) and the mobility of the ”pr°fessi°nals of wars and military technology”, like craftsmen, architects, or simple soldiers seeking employment outside their homeland.1

Central and Eastern Europe were very receptive to the technological and tactical innovations of this period. The almost constant state of war between the two dominating powers of this region (the Ottoman Empire and the House of Habsburg) offered a favourable context for military improvement. Beginning with the second half of the sixteenth century the frontier between the two empires was the scene for some of the most important developments related to the so called military revolution: the modern fortification (trace italienne), the use, on a large scale of fire weapons (both artillery and smaller hand weapons) and also a considerable increase in the size of armies.2 The long years of war but also peaceful contacts have determined an intense circulation of military knowledge between the Christian world and the Islamic world. At the end of the Sixteenth century, when the two empires engaged in a long war, lasting about fifteen years 1591 ( 1593)-1606, both sides benefited from roughly similar war technique.3

Transylvania, situated both geographically and politically between the two empires, benefited from this transfer of knowledge and technology. The first significant contact with a mercenary army, organized according to modern

1 A very good example of this process is provided by the Ottoman Empire, which was very receptive

to the new military technologies developed in Christian Europe. Ágoston 2011.28-34.

2 Kelenik 2000.117-138.; Pálffy 2009.113-115.

3 Szalontay 2004.240-254.

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